The Irish Film Board (IFB) has announced that the Regional Support Fund has been increased by 100% to encourage more film and television productions to shoot outside of Dublin, with the scheme increasing from €125,000 to €250,000 per project.
The Regional Support Fund was set up as a pilot scheme in 2003 to act as an incentive for film and television projects funded by the IFB to shoot on location outside of the traditional Dublin / Wicklow area and to use the more remote locations across Ireland.
It has proved effective over the past four years with over 14 projects taking advantage of a variety of film locations around Ireland. These include ‘The Wind that Shakes the Barley’, filmed on location in Cork and Kerry, Neil Jordan’s ‘Breakfast on Pluto’ which filmed in Kilkenny, Paddy Breathnach’s ‘Shrooms’ which filmed on location in Cavan and RTE series ‘Showbands’ starring Kerry Katona, which filmed in Co. Galway.
The latest production to take advantage of the scheme is the upcoming feature film ‘Eden’ from ‘Pure Mule’ director Declan Recks, which filmed on location in Tullamore.
The Fund has a 2:1 spend requirement so to avail of the maximum €250k production must spend in excess of €500,000 in the region. Spend includes monies allocated to cast, crew, local goods and services, location and post-production costs.
More information on the Regional Support Fund can be found at www.irishfilmboard.ie.
