Selling Galway to the filmmakers

Date Published: 07-Feb-2013

BY CIARAN TIERNEY

A group of influential film producers were brought to Galway last weekend as part of an initiative to highlight what the city and county can offer in terms of locations, expertise, and facilities for film-makers.

The aim of the Galway Film Showcase is to highlight the county’s attractiveness for filmmakers and to encourage those in the business of making features to consider filming, editing, and producing in the West of Ireland.

It was the second year in which a group of ten key industry professionals were invited to the city to learn of the facilities on offer before exploring locations in Connemara such as the Inagh Valley and Kylemore Abbey over two days.

The initiative, organised by the Galway Film Centre in conjunction with the city and county councils, aims to show influential people that Galway is “open for business” when it comes to making feature films.

The idea for the Galway Film Showcase, now in its second year, followed the successful production of ‘The Guard’, which was filmed almost entirely in Co Galway in 2011.

“You can sit down and wait for the next ‘Guard’ to happen or you can go out and try to make it happen,” said Declan Gibbons of the Galway Film Centre yesterday.

“The idea is to encourage producers, production managers, and location managers to come to Galway and use the facilities here.” Section 481 of the Taxes Consolidation Act provides incentives to invest in Irish film and international firms who locate here are required to hire Irish co-producers. The ten people who took part in last weekend’s event are among the leading co-producers based in Dublin.

A website, www.screenwest.ie, provides an information resource for film production companies while promoting Galway as an attractive location for film-makers.

For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune