Industry leaders including Irish Film Board Deputy CEO Teresa McGrane and Wildcard Distribution’s Patrick O’Neill are involved in the thriving conversation underway at the Fleadh.
The role of digital advancements in shaping the landscape of content consumption and distribution in the Irish film industry became the focus at this year's Film Forum.
This current phase in the evolution of the systems in Ireland is described in the podcast below, from this Morning Ireland as “turbulent.” Technological changes ascribed to the change in audience behaviour, such as the tendency to view online or utilise video on demand subscription services rather than attending the cinema.
Widespread piracy is also noted by IFB Deputy CEO Teresa McGrane as adversely affecting the health of the Irish film industry, as is downloading and streaming. In terms of future models, a hybrid approach consisting of both a digital lifespan and theatrical release (which is relied upon for upfront marketing) is regarded as most successful.
A good example of this comes with co-production ‘Love and Friendship’, which benefits from an online backing with Amazon Prime. On both Amazon Prime and Netflix, Patrick O’Neill (Wildcard Distribution) expects both platforms to launch in Ireland sooner rather than later.
Video on demand has now evolved full-circle to become a key element of distribution in 2016, having started off as piracy. The full podcast is available below:
