A new Irish distribution company, Wildcard Distribution, has launched at the European Film Market in Berlin.
Patrick O’Neill, currently an executive at the Irish Film Board (a post he is soon to leave after seven years), will run Wildcard Distribution with the backing of Macdara Kelleher and Morgan Bushe’s Fastnet Films.
The new distribution house will release Irish and international titles theatrically, as well as on DVD/VOD across Ireland and the UK.
The first batch of films Wildcard will distribute in Irish cinemas are Fastnet’s ‘Life’s a Breeze’, which stars Fionnula Flanagan and Pat Shortt; ‘The Swell Season’, in a deal brokered at this week’s European Film Market at Berlinale; and ‘Cyclone’, a documentary on the 1985 world title fight between Barry McGuigan and Eusebio Pedrosa.
Additionally, Wildcard will distribute Mark O’Connor’s ‘King of the Travellers’ in Ireland and the UK.
Wildcard joins the ranks of the small number of Irish-owned distribution houses, including Eclipse Pictures and Element Distribution, which is a subsidiary of Element Pictures.
In addition, six of the main distribution companies have Irish bases; Disney, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Brothers and Fox.
Speaking of his new venture and Wildcard’s upcoming releases, O’Neill said: “It’s a fantastic slate of films and I’m sure audiences will love them as much as I do. It’s been a great seven years at the IFB, and the staff and board have provided me with wonderful opportunities, my heartfelt thanks to everyone who works there.”
O’Neill and the Fastnet duo are currently attending the Berlinale Co-production Market, along with fellow Irish filmmakers from Ripple World Pictures, Blacksheep Productions, Bootstrap Films, Subotica, Rúnda Films and TooOldTooUgly Productions, who have all been selected to take part in various different markets, as well as Northern Ireland Screen, which is shopping ‘Good Vibrations’.
The Berlinale Co-production Market runs until February 17.
