It was announced last Friday that Coillte aims to become Ireland’s largest provider of outdoor TV and film locations by the year 2018. Mr Jimmy Deenihan, T.D., Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht launched Coillte’s new location online portfolio the same day.
The website coillteonfilm.ie exhibits a nationwide portfolio of twenty five Coillte properties, which includes ten forest parks and one hundred and fifty recreation sites. These have been specially selected as ideal filming locations, and key information regarding the sites is provided in a brief, easy format which highlights the Irish landscape and is easilt accessible to interested overseas film production companies.
Minister Deenihan stated, “Ireland has long been a popular location for TV and film production, the natural beauty of the country providing a backdrop to some of the most popular TV shows. In 2012, there were twenty two feature film projects produced in Ireland, twelve of which were official international co-productions and the film and television industry is worth approximately €550m annually in Ireland supporting about 6,500 full time jobs in the audio visual production sector. Therefore it is important to remain competitive and innovative and by increasing the opportunities to showcase Ireland as a real space to film we can continue to make the film industry one of our most successful industries.”
Mark Foley, MD of Coillte’s Enterprise Division, said “The launch of CoillteOnFilm.ie will provide the overseas TV & Film industry with immediate access to the extraordinary breadth of the Irish landscape, and will help maximise the opportunities to bring TV & Film productions to Ireland. This is another example of how Coillte is constantly seeking new ways to capitalise on our expansive woodland resources, in this case through a partnership model with industry leaders.”
For more information on the new website log onto http://coillteonfilm.ie/
