Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board have introduced a number of amendments to its current policy and procedures for its development funding schemes, which came into effect as of January 2015.
These new guidelines have been introduced due to increased pressure on limited resources at the IFB. There has been a marked increase in the volume of applications being submitted for consideration for funding to the IFB. In the period from January – June 2014 the IFB processed 220 applications for development funding across all its schemes in comparison to 144 in the same period of 2013.
One of the most interesting addition is the introduction of a new initiative on a trial basis aimed at applicants whose project is not deemed to merit a screenplay development award but whose writing indicates promise and would perhaps benefit from working in a mentored script environment. Successful candidates will only be drawn from those who have submitted applications for the Screenplay Development Scheme (there will not be a separate application process for this initiative). This initiative will run on a trial basis. Candidates may not be chosen on a regular basis, nor will there be a fixed number of selected participants. As there will be no funding made available to the candidates, it will be for them to choose if they wish to avail of the opportunity.
Within its development funding schemes the IFB wishes to balance, in an efficient way with the limited resources available, the demands for funding with the need to support the Industry across a diverse slate of multi-genre projects from both new and established talent. The full details of the changes can be found in the published PDF.