Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland has announced that funding worth over €700,000 has been awarded under the Screen Stakeholders Funding Scheme to 30 organisations for the delivery of skills development opportunities and initiatives to address priority areas for the Irish screen sector.
The Screen Stakeholders Funding Scheme was first launched in 2020, as part of the overall measures announced by Screen Ireland to support the creative screen industry in response to the unprecedented levels of disruption caused by COVID-19. The 2022 round represents the largest investment into the funding scheme with the highest number of organisations receiving funding to date.
For the 2022 round of Screen Stakeholders, applicants were asked to address at least one of eight priority areas, which reflect some of the most significant challenges and opportunities for the Irish screen sector. These priority areas were equality, diversity, and inclusion; sustainability and green production; future technology and virtual production; improving workplace culture and well-being; regional development; careers in the screen industry for young people; the development of a competency framework for sectoral roles; and company/business development.
Screen Ireland would like to congratulate the recipient organisations for the latest round of funding awards through our Stakeholders Scheme. This year’s round of funding yielded a strong selection of proposals, and we were pleased to see Stakeholders engaging with the key priority areas set out. The significant increase of investment into this scheme year-on-year also reflects our continued commitment to empower and collaborate with Stakeholders to deliver targeted skills development initiatives that address the ongoing skills needs and support the sustainable growth of the sector in line with Screen Ireland’s Building for a Creative Future 2024 strategy and Sustainability Plan. We look forward to working with all of the funded organisations on the development and roll out of their activities throughout 2022 and into 2023.
Gareth Lee, Skills Manager – Screen Ireland
The quality of applications for this round was again extremely high, resulting in a competitive selection process. Following a rigorous panel assessment of the applications, funding has been allocated to the following organisations:
- Animation Ireland for the development of a competency framework for the animation sector to provide a comprehensive overview of roles and career paths in the industry.
- Ardán for the FÍS Games Summit 2023; FÍS Games Development Clinic / FÍS Games Workshop; and the development of a skills needs analysis for the Games sector.
- IMIRT for a series of online workshops for upskillers and new entrants to the Games industry and the development of an industry survey and report for the Games sector.
- X-Pollinator for Creator, an immersive residential talent development lab for 10-12 diverse female and non-binary Directors.
- Writers Guild Ireland for the development of a Diversity Action Plan to widen membership, a DEI writers membership scheme to pair diverse/under-represented writers with mentors, a Writer as Executive Producer workshop and a Writer/Producer networking event.
- Cork Film Centre for a series of in-person and online masterclasses and workshops focusing on immersive technologies.
- Screen Producers Ireland for the development of the Mosaic Programme for new producers with a specific focus on under-represented voices.
- Raising Films Ireland for Let’s Get Back, a return-to-work scheme for screen sector professionals who have taken a caring break.
- Screen Composers Guild of Ireland for Women Composer for Screen Day and a series of weekend courses on composing for Video Games and New Media.
- VFXAI (VFX Association Ireland) for Convergence VFX, a research project exploring how VFX digital production dialogues with the diverse fields and sectors of the screen industry.
- Screen Wexford for Going Remote, a programme to raise awareness and normalise remote post-production workflows.
- Women in Film & Television Ireland for research into work culture in the Irish screen sector, an inclusive industry event, panel discussions and camera training workshop.
- Atticus Education for Screen Careers for TY Students, a mentoring programme for Transition Year students with no access to film education.
- Createschool for in-person workshops and online programmes for Transition Year students covering various filmmaking skills.
- Fresh Film Festival for a series of activities aimed at young people interested in working in the screen sector.
- Irish Film Institute for IFI Screen Starts, an event for young people aged 15-18 to explore careers in the film, TV and media industry.
- Young Irish Filmmakers for the National Youth Film & Animation School, a series of practical pre-college courses for 16–19-year-olds.
- Cork International Film Festival for IGNITE, a cross-border training collaboration with Docs Ireland for documentary filmmakers.
- Bodecii Films for a structured on-the-job training and mentorship programme for writers.
- Climate Innovation for Kick Starting Change, a project to engage and empower industry stakeholders to reduce emissions on productions.
- Screen Guilds of Ireland for research into established working models that balance operational delivery and positive culture and wellbeing on productions.
- Irish Film & Television Academy for Through the Lens, a series of international talent and skills masterclasses and panel discussions.
- Screen Directors Guild of Ireland for the development of a competency framework for non-scripted film roles and a bespoke training programme for Documentary Directors.
- Fishpond for The Basics of the Business, a free online course for new entrants interested in pursuing a career in screen acting.
- Aspire Productions for delivery of an educational programme on the benefits of diversity and development of a neurodiversity training session for crew.
- Black Irish Media for a number of activities and events for Black Irish creatives.
- ACE Producers for the ACE Animation Special and the ACE Network, a six-day project-based workshop for Animation Producers.
- Torino Film Lab for the Green Film Lab workshop, a three-day residential workshop focusing on sustainable filmmaking.
- Stowe Story Labs for a retreat session for international and Irish writers to collaborate on feature film or TV pilot script development with mentors.
- MediaXchange for a series of interactive and modular workshops on creative and business vision programme focused on advancing the scripted drama genre.
For more information about the Screen Stakeholders Funding Scheme and to see a full list of previously funded organisations and initiatives, please visit the scheme’s webpage here: Screen Stakeholders Funding Scheme.