Mr. James Hickey:

Thank you, Chairman. I am the chief executive of Bord Scannán na hÉireann, the Irish Film Board. Anyone who has stayed in a cinema after a film is over to watch the credits will know how many people it takes to make a film. People working on films include writers, directors, producers, actors, camera operators, set designers, costume designers, hair and make-up, electricians, set construction supervisors and crews, location managers, editors, post production supervisors, music composers and performers, animators and visual effects artists, equipment hire, transport and a range of specialist services depending on the particular needs of each feature film, television drama or television animation project. These teams are assembled for each project and then work for varying lengths of time on the project, both because of the particular needs of each project - for example, an actor with a small part is only needed for a day or two - and because of the overall scale of the project. A lower budget feature film produced for €1.5 million and supported with IFB funding will have a four to six week pre-production period, a four week shoot and eight to 12 weeks post production. A ten by one hour television series made for more than $2 million an episode will have months of pre-production and a shooting period of at least six months, if not considerably more, and further months of post-production. A television animation series can take two years to make. Each time the creative and technical team is assembled and then each member of the team goes his or her separate ways when his or her particular part of the work is done and-or the overall project is completed.

Film studios do not employ on a full-time long-term basis all the creative and technical personnel needed for the production of films and television dramas. In most places, including Hollywood, film studios operate on the basis that a small team of staff manage the infrastructure of the studio and rent out the premises to production companies which then organise their creative and technical teams for the project which is using the studios. Sometimes service companies are based in the studios but they too are renters of the space. This is the case with all the studio space in the EU, including the UK and Ireland. As demand for screen content has increased, there is a more regular, if not a constant, flow of production through the studios - this is particularly true most recently in Ireland - which results in regular work for many of those involved.

The competition in getting productions to locate in a particular territory is intense. As a result only those territories with strong skills bases, suitable infrastructure and competitive financial incentives are able to attract that work. Ireland has been very successful in this area in recent years. As well as a vibrant film production sector made primarily on location and indigenously driven. It also has three major television series currently operating in Ireland, one each in Ardmore Studios and Ashford Studios both in Wicklow, and Troy Studios in Limerick. The feature film, television drama and television animation sector alone has an estimated annual spend in Ireland on personnel working in Ireland and goods and services sourced in Ireland of approximately €250 million. This is on top of what broadcasters, including RTÉ, and other producers of screen content spend on the programmes they make largely for the local audience.

It is estimated there are more than 17,000 full-time equivalent jobs in the sector and the gross value added of the sector exceeds €1 billion annually. Detailed figures are expected to be published shortly in the Department-commissioned Olsberg SPI report. It is understood the report will make recommendations for the sector to promote its growth and development over the next five years. Also recently published is the BAI-IFB Crowe Horwath report on a strategy for the development of skills for the audiovisual sector. This report, a copy of which has been circulated to the members of the committee, has a number of recommendations on training and education which are being worked on by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in conjunction with the Irish Film Board and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland.

The Irish Film Board has a dual remit of supporting the culture of film and screen content production and the promotion of an industry for making film and screen content in Ireland. Last week we launched our production catalogue for 2018 and we provided the committee with a link to it. It has details of the following levels of production. In 2017, the Irish Film Board provided funding for the production of 16 feature films, five creative co-production feature films, 13 feature documentaries, five animation TV projects, 21 short films and the cinema release of 27 feature films in Irish cinemas. The IFB also provides development funding for all these forms of production and is the largest public funder of creative development, which is the equivalent of research and development funding, for the feature film, TV drama and TV animation sector. In addition, there has been a particular focus on production in the regions, with film and TV dramas shooting in Cork, Limerick, Galway and Roscommon as well as in the Dublin-Wicklow region.

The Irish Film Board also includes Screen Training Ireland which undertakes a range of activities in training in the audiovisual production sector. In light of the Crowe Horwath report, Screen Training Ireland is working on plans for the development of training across the audiovisual production sector and is engaging with the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht on the development of its training services. The IFB has published a report, Screen Training Ireland – A Year in Review 2017, and a link to it has been provided to the committee. In the report, under the heading “Looking Ahead: 2018 and Beyond”, Screen Training Ireland sets out its work plan for 2018.

There are huge opportunities given the greatly increased demand for screen content worldwide. There was a report today in the newspapers that Netflix, Hulu and Amazon will spend $10 billion a year on screen content TV series production in each of the next five years. This is an enormous opportunity for Ireland. As a central part of the creative industries, the sector can create a strong developmental environment for growth and job creation in Ireland. In the five years from 2011 to 2016, employment at least doubled in film, television and animation production and it is anticipated that in the next five years it could, with the proper supports, double again.

The IFB hopes that with the publication of the two reports referred to earlier and the implementation of the strategies set out in them, the sector will continue to deliver on pillar 4 of the Creative Ireland programme promoted by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht of making Ireland a centre of excellence for media production.