With creative industries hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, the funds will be very welcome.
Further details of the fund, initially announced by Screen Ireland and Minister for Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht Catherine Martin as part of the July stimulus package, have now been revealed.
€900,000 is set to be allocated to five new TV drama projects which are set to be filmed in counties Galway, Cork, Claire and Limerick.
There will also be a specific focus on regional development, diversity and emerging talent with €600,000 invested in a new National Talent Development Academy for drama and scripted production. Screen Ireland said additional details about the academy will be revealed shortly but it will be based outside of the Dublin/Wicklow region.
The fund also includes €1 million for a number of joint development initiatives across comedy, young people’s drama programming, Irish language TV drama and a diverse range of short films with the leading Irish broadcasters including RTÉ, Virgin Media and TG4.
Screen Ireland Chair Dr Annie Doona said: “Throughout the pandemic, Screen Ireland’s focus has been to support the sector in getting back into production as safely as possible. There are now a number of projects up and running with strict COVID-19 guidelines in place. The industry is demonstrating resilience and creativity in making sure that production can go ahead, whilst also keeping strict protocols and procedures in place to control the spread of Covid-19.
“As the pandemic continues to evolve, the stimulus support fund made available from Government has provided us with a clear path of investment for the television sector, ensuring further opportunity for employment and creative development in the months ahead and into 2021."
