Creative BC and Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board (IFB) have announced a new funding partnership that will encourage the development of motion picture projects between British Columbian and Irish motion picture production companies. This is the first international co-development fund of its kind in Western Canada with each partner contributing $75,000 toward the total $150,000 fund that opens for applications today.
Originating through a trade mission to Ireland in November 2016, our funding partnership has grown from a successful pilot program in 2017 to this new funding program agreement in 2018. Creative BC is proud to partner with the Irish Film Board on this collaboration that will support BC’s domestic creators’ to leverage their expertise internationally and develop external networks.
Prem Gill, CEO – Creative BC
The original pilot program supported a BC-Irish collaboration delivering a script for a new adventure series called The Gulliver Curse. As the first co-development project to receive program funding from Creative BC through the Project Development Fund, this successful pilot became the catalyst for today’s new agency-to-agency agreement.
Securing support for The Gulliver Curse through an international program elevated our project and opened up new opportunities for us worldwide. The new fund delivered in collaboration between the Irish Film Board and Creative BC will support storytellers in each region to expand their content’s reach and their business horizons.
Brian Hamilton, Principal and Executive Producer – Omnifilm Entertainment
Importantly, the partners have been able to evaluate the preliminary pilot program and insights gained from that process have contributed to define the formal BC-Ireland co-development fund’s criteria, which will include the following requirements:
- projects must be scripted fiction;
- projects must have an Irish resident producer and a BC resident producer; and
- at least 50% of the $150,000 fund will be dedicated to projects with a female writer or director attached to the project.
We are delighted that this new partnership will facilitate the development of new voices in both Ireland and British Columbia, and will allow both regions to develop screen content that will have the capacity to reach global audiences. Driving gender parity with dedicated funding for projects with female writers or directors will also ensure that we champion diverse stories, perspectives and influencers in the international marketplace.
James Hickey, Chief Executive – Irish Film Board
More information about the fund, including guidelines and detailed application criteria, will be published on both creativebc.com and irishfilmboard.ie in due course.