Screen Skills Ireland, the skills development unit within Screen Ireland, has today announced the organisations that have been awarded funds from the Screen Stakeholders Funding Scheme, worth €200,000.
The scheme was launched in April as part of the overall measures announced by Screen Ireland to support the creative screen industry as it continues to experience unprecedented levels of disruption as a result of COVID-19.
The scheme received a high number of quality applications and, as a result, the selection process was extremely competitive. Following a rigorous panel assessment of the applications, funding has been allocated to 11 organisations and initiatives. These initiatives will benefit a wide range of roles and departments at all levels across the sector, and across the regions.
- Bow Street Academy for Screen Acting: A series of online webinars, workshops, and masterclasses, as well as a networking event, for actors.
- Film Network Ireland: FNI@Home, monthly online events which include workshops, masterclasses and networking events for grassroots industry professionals.
- Galway Film Centre: The well-established Script Mentorship Scheme will receive support, as well as two new initiatives: The Dark Art of Comedy Screenwriting and The Games Summit 2020
- Irish Film Institute: Screen Starts, a series of activities including webinars and screenings, aimed at 15-18 year olds interested in exploring career opportunities in the screen sector.
- Raising Films: A research project aimed at supporting parents and carers to return to careers in the screen sector.
- Screen Directors Guild of Ireland: A series of live Q&As with directors hosted on a new online platform.
- Screen Guilds of Ireland: The development of a competency framework for live-action film and TV departments to provide a comprehensive overview of career paths in the industry.
- Screen Producers Ireland: The development and publication of protocols for restarting live-action film and television production in a safe and phased manner in compliance with Irish government guidelines.
- Writers Guild of Ireland: A programme of online events for writers, including panel discussions, networking events, information-sharing and exchange hosted on a new online platform.
- X-Pollinator Incubator: Following the success of last year’s professional development and networking initiative, Incubator aims to support selected participants to develop feature film or TV drama pitches and treatments.
- Young Filmmakers Network Ireland: The National Youth Film and Animation School 2020, a practical pre-college course for young people thinking of a career or college placement in film or animation.
I want to congratulate the recipients of these Screen Ireland Awards and thank Screen Ireland for the very positive role they’ve played supporting the audio-visual sector during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Government will continue to work closely with, and support, the sector to ensure it resumes activity as soon as possible.
Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Josepha Madigan T.D
Screen Skills Ireland remains committed to supporting Irish industry professionals throughout this challenging time by providing a wide variety of free skills development courses and webinars. We are also pleased to provide funding to these stakeholder organisations for a range of quality skills development proposals which we believe will be of significant benefit to the screen sector.
Désirée Finnegan, Chief Executive – Screen Ireland
The fund was made available for applications from Irish organisations or guilds that support the screen sector in Ireland, to enable them to deliver a series of remote or online events and other activities across a 12-month period.
Eligible activities included courses, events, masterclasses, workshops, seminars, webinars, conferences, panel discussions, networking events, mentoring, coaching, consultancy support, research, data gathering, publication of reports, and the provision of initiatives that support access to the sector.
For more information about the Screen Stakeholders Funding Scheme, please visit the scheme’s webpage.