Screen Skills Ireland Announces Recipients of Screen Stakeholders Funding 2021

Funding worth over €200,000 awarded to 13 organisations delivering skills development opportunities and initiatives to address priority areas for the Irish screen sector.

Screen Skills Ireland, the skills development unit within Screen Ireland, has today announced the 13 organisations awarded funds from the third round of the Screen Stakeholders Funding Scheme, worth over €200,000.

The scheme was launched last year, 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 first two rounds of the scheme saw a total of 19 organisations and initiatives access funding.

For the 2021 round of Screen Stakeholders, applicants were asked to address at least one of seven 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; and the development of a competency framework for sectoral roles.

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 13 organisations.

• Cork International Film Festival for the IGNITE Documentary Talent Development Programme, a cross-border training and development programme for documentary filmmakers embarking on their first or second non-fiction feature film. The scheme will champion diversity in subject matter as well as gender parity and equal representation from Ireland and Northern Ireland in the final selection for the programme.
• Cracked Egg Productions for Envision, a 12-week screenwriting training programme for ten writers who identify as marginalised, delivered in a writers’ room environment.
• Dublin International Screenwriting Festival for Megaphone: Diversity & Inclusion Script Lab, which pairs eight writers from diverse backgrounds with eight credited writers.
• Galway Film Centre for the FÍS Games Summit 2022; Art Direction for Games with Greg Foertsch; and a research project entitled The Impact of S481 Regional Development Uplift, on the development of the audio-visual industry in the regions.
• Irish Film Institute for Screen Starts: Exploring Careers in the Film, TV and Media Sectors for young people aged 15-18.
• Irish Film and Television Academy for Skills in Focus, a series of online masterclasses and panel events to help address skills gaps and needs of the industry, including a panel event covering Equality, Diversity and Inclusion on screen.
• Screen Composers Guild of Ireland for the development of a competency framework for music department roles; and a three-year strategic development plan for SCGI.
• Screen Directors Guild of Ireland for the development of a competency framework for directors.
• Screen Guilds of Ireland for research into different working hour regulations and their impact on competitiveness, productivity, and well-being of crew.
• Screen Producers Ireland for the development of a competency framework for producers and a skills gap analysis at the producer level.
• Screen Wexford for Immersive Wexford: VR & Virtual Production, an online training programme focussed on immersive technologies and virtual production.
• Writers Guild of Ireland for a diversity and inclusion audit and action plan; the development of a competency framework for writers; and online resources for writers.
• X-Pollinator for ELEVATOR, an online programme to support 20 diverse and emerging female and non-binary writers and directors.

Speaking about the funding awards, Gareth Lee, Screen Skills Ireland Manager, said, “Screen Skills Ireland is delighted to support these 13 recipient organisations. The activities they will deliver over the next 6-12 months have enormous potential to bring about beneficial change in the Irish screen industry, such as improving access to the industry and providing clarity around career paths. We look forward to seeing the progress of these initiatives.”

For more information about the Screen Stakeholders Funding Scheme, please visit the scheme’s webpage.