Business

2015's screen activities pump millions into north's economy

Thanks to the ongoing success of Game of Thrones which has generated £115 million here, Northern Ireland Screen can take a bow and enjoy the applause for turning the north into a film-making hotspot. But as Jennifer Maloney discovers in her exclusive look behind the scenes, there’s much more to its work than creating the wonders of Westeros

Director Michael Lennox on the set of A Patch of Fog
Director Michael Lennox on the set of A Patch of Fog Director Michael Lennox on the set of A Patch of Fog

WHILE production continues on season six of HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones, NI Screen is continuing to work behind the scenes to put the area on the map as a centre of excellence for the big screen and small screen.

Cameras have been rolling this year on productions such as The Frankenstein Chronicles, The Truth Commissioner, Line of Duty series three, Morgan, Millie Inbetween, Lost City of Z, The Journey, We’re Doomed! The Dad’s Army Story, The Secret and series three of The Fall.

Its biggest success story is the worldwide hit Game of Thrones and this year saw the series, filmed at locations in Northern Ireland, take home 12 Emmys – more awards in a single year than any other show. The wins included awards for local production mixer Ronan Hill and casting director Carla Stronge.

Recently audited figures for Game of Thrones show the production of season five injected £26.3 million to the Northern Ireland economy, bringing the total amount across seasons 1-5 to £115 million with an investment of £12.45m from NI Screen.

While Northern Ireland is a backdrop for large scale TV series, smaller productions are also being made here.

TV presenters Zoe Ball and Ashley Banjo came to Belfast to present BBC One prime time gameshow Can’t Touch This, due to air early 2016. Devised and produced by local talent Kieran Doherty and Matthew Worthy of independent production company Stellify Media, it has already caught the attention of US network Fox who came to Belfast to pilot the show.

The success of the animation sector is also set to rise with Lily’s Driftwood Bay winning a Broadcast Award, Puffin Rock hitting our screens, Zig and Zag set to air in 2016, and Pablo, the first children’s series to be made about a character on the autism spectrum, going into production. NI Screen worked in conjunction with DEL to establish an animation academy to address the industry need for additional animators.

Support for local companies involved in digital and interactive content will also continue with the launch of Greenshoots NI in partnership with Microsoft, a funding and technical support initiative for early stage start up game studios.

It worked with DEL on the establishment of a Game Development Academy that aims to equip people with the skills and experience for the game development industry.

Northern Ireland Screen from Northern Ireland Screen on Vimeo.

2015 was a cultural high for NI Screen on the international stage with short film Boogaloo and Graham directed by Michael Lennox winning a BAFTA and receiving an Oscar nomination for Best Live Action Short Film. Later in the year Michael’s feature debut A Patch of Fog made it into official selection in the Toronto International Film Festival.

Writer/director Stephen Fingleton’s debut feature film, The Survivalist, received critical acclaim following its screening at Tribeca Film Festival in New York. The film went on to be short-listed for two British Independent Film Awards, with Stephen winning the Douglas Hickox Award for Best Debut Director, as well as being named as one of this year’s BAFTA Breakthrough Brits alongside local actor Martin McCann who starred in the film.

NI Screen’s Digital Film Archive went online in 2015; the archive contains almost 80 hours of moving images from 1897 to 2014. Over time cine film deteriorates and the archive aims to digitise and preserve film heritage for future generations.

Northern Ireland Screen also had a successful year in terms of its education activity.

In June delegates from all over Europe gathered at the Cinémathèque Française in Paris to discuss the future of film education.Moving Image Arts, Northern Ireland’s film education course for 14–19 year olds, was presented to delegates as an exemplary project.

Belfast's Ashfield Girls' High School won the Into Film Club of the Year (13 and over) award.

The club was one of only three clubs out of over 10,000 running across the UK to have reached the finals of Film Club of the Year.

Richard Williams, chief executive of NI Screen, said: “2015 has been a great year for the screen industries and we have only skimmed the surface here. 2016 already looks to be a busy year with new BBC drama My Mother and Other Strangers already in pre-production and lots more exciting projects in the pipeline.

“When we launched our four-year strategy in 2014, Opening Doors, we aimed for a direct spend of £250m in the local economy based on an investment of £42.8m, I am delighted that as we approach the final quarter of the second year of this strategy we are well on our way to achieving this with an estimated £119m Northern Ireland spend to date on an investment of £14.1m by Northern Ireland Screen.

“These are exciting times and we appreciate that this is the result of tremendous support given to the screen sector here by Invest Northern Ireland, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and DCAL.”

INITIATIVES CELEBRATE CULTURE AND LANGUAGE

NORTHERN Ireland’s rich diversity of language has been enriched this year with a number of initiatives.

Northern Ireland Screen’s Irish Language Broadcast Fund (ILBF) celebrated its 10th anniversary this year.

The fund has become a key element of the growing independent production sector, contributing approximately £3.5 million in turnover to a sector worth approximately £20 million.

2015 saw a variety of ILBF funded programming  including Mary McAleese & An Chéad Eorpach in which Mrs McAleese looked back on the life of Columbanus and Daniel O’Donnell’s music show Opry an Iúir was back for a a third series.

The Ulster-Scots Broadcast Fund continued to support a range of local programming.

Imagining Ulster explored the social and political influences defining identity in Northern Ireland from its creation, while Paul and Nick’s Big American Food Trip brought the story of Ulster Scots in American to 350,000 viewers across UTV in Northern Ireland and STV in Scotland. 

The documentary series Brave New World Canadaexplored Canada's cultural connections with Ulster.