Northern Ireland Screen has launched its new strategy Stories, Skills and Sustainability detailing its ambitious plans for the next 4 years.
Despite pandemic-related challenges the combined budgets for productions supported by Northern Ireland Screen during its last strategy (Opening Doors Phase II, 2018-22) exceeded a billion pounds, with more than £330m of that staying in the local economy, surpassing the £300m target set in 2018. Building on that success, Northern Ireland Screen’s new strategy has increased that target by more than 40% to £430m.
At an event today at the Waterfront Hall, Northern Ireland Screen will celebrate the success of the screen industry over the last 4 years, reflecting on the huge successes including Lisa McGee’s Derry Girls, Kenneth Branagh’s Oscar for Belfast, record breaking audiences for Line of Duty and Bloodlands and the upcoming release of Netflix’s The School for Good and Evil.
The event will also highlight the great strides made within the games cluster in Northern Ireland with Soft Leaf Studios, Level 91 Entertainment and Bellular Studios showcasing their games to the large screen industry audience.
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Northern Ireland Screen will also stress the critical importance of preserving and showcasing Northern Ireland’s rich moving image archive with footage from its Digital Film Archive on display.
Ministers for the Economy and Communities have endorsed the launch of Stories, Skills and Sustainability which is strongly aligned to DfE’s 10X strategy and DfC’s focus on tackling inequalities.
Highlights within the strategy include: Northern Ireland Screen’s commitment to creating ladders for the next generation of storytellers, emphasis on the growth that will be driven by Ulster University’s virtual production facility, the ongoing importance of Northern Ireland Screen’s partnership with the BBC including the delivery of ‘CINE’’, the Creative Industries New Entrant programme designed to create new entrant opportunities for those most socially marginalised and the introduction of environmental sustainability as a key consideration.
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Speaking ahead of the launch, the Economy Minister Gordon Lyons MLA said: “I have had the opportunity to visit some of the productions supported by Northern Ireland Screen and I have seen at first hand the impact that these investments have. The scale of the largest productions is really something that you cannot fully appreciate until you see ‘behind the camera’ and it is clear to me that our screen industries will be a focus for growth as we deliver the Department’s 10x Economic Vision. These productions provide highly skilled job opportunities, placements to develop our growing screen workforce, and establish significant supply chains that all contribute to stronger economic activity.”
Richard Williams, Chief Executive of Northern Ireland Screen added: “While we recognise that there is considerable market turbulence right now and that there are big challenges ahead, we are confident that there will still be sufficient opportunities for the industry to continue to grow and we will do what we can to assist with these challenges. We must keep chasing the opportunities and upskilling our workforce because there are many more stories that need to be told.”
Source: Written from press release.
