Three Irish production companies have been awarded funding for four films in the latest round of i2i audiovisual funding from MEDIA Europe.
Fastnet Films, Magma Productions and Fantastic Films will receive insurance, completion guarantee, and financing costs for four films.
Dublin-based Fastnet Films will receive the funding for two films, ‘Life’s a Breeze’ and ‘Love Eternal’.
‘Life’s a Breeze’, a film by IFTA Award-winner Lance Daly (Kisses), tells the story of a family dealing with the loss of a fortune. Irish actors Fionnula Flanagan, Eva Birthistle and Pat Shortt all star.
The production previously received €300,000 in Eurimages funding in 2011. ‘Life’s a Breeze’ is a co-production between Fastnet and Swedish production company Anagram Produktions. The film is currently in post production
Adapted from Kei Oishi’s Japanese novel ‘In Love with the Dead,’ Fastnet’s other feature, ‘Love Eternal,’ is centered on a man who is forced to enter a world he has shut out for 10 years.
Brendan Muldowney directed, with Fastnet’s Conor Barry, Macdara Kelleher and Morgan Bushe all producing. The film previously received funding from the IFB, as well as more than €38,000 in a Media Award from the Council of Europe.
Magma Productions, located in Galway, received funding for its feature film ‘Jack Taylor – Priest and the Sorrows’. The film is based on the crime series which previously aired on RTÉ, and is adapted from Ken Bruen’s novels. Stuart Orme directed.
Dublin-based Fantastic Films was also awarded funding for its horror ‘Stitches’, which follows the escapades of a ghost clown seeking revenge on the kids responsible for his death. Conor McMahon (Dead Meat) wrote and directed the script, with Ross Noble starring as Richard ‘Stitches’ Grindle.
John McDonnell and Brendan McCarthy produced for Fantastic, with Ardmore Sound, Tailored Films and Emc all working on post production. Stitches’ is screening at Cannes Market this weekend as part of the 2012 festival.
The four films were awarded €122,767 in total. The audiovisual scheme is designed to provide production companies with subsidised costs for the production of a film, through insurance, completion guarantee and financing.
The next deadline for 2012’s i2i audiovisual scheme is June 6.
MEDIA Desk Ireland also announced results of the November 2011 deadline for the Development Funding Scheme, which awarded €420,000 to three Irish production companies. Blinder Films was awarded funding in the Single Project Development round for ‘La Domestique’, while Ferndale Films and Element Pictures received Slate Funding and 2nd Slate Funding respectively.
The development scheme provides support for the development of fiction, creative documentary, animation and interactive projects. The financial support is intended to assist with costs related to the acquisition of rights, research, writing, the production of storyboards, pilots and demos, the identification of industry partners and financiers and the preparation of financing, marketing and distribution plans.
The next call for development applications will be announced in September.
For more information on all MEDIA Europe’s funding schemes, log onto www.mediadeskireland.eu.
