By Business & Finance 
Saoirse Ronan starred in Irish film Brooklyn, which finished its successful Irish run at over €3.1m
Bord Scannán na hÉireann/Irish Film Board (IFB) today published its slate of all IFB supported productions coming to audiences in 2017.
With Irish films achieving record global box office figures, and production activity surpassing the €250m mark for the first time, the industry continues to grow.
The IFB has ambitious plans to maintain the momentum currently being enjoyed in the thriving Irish film, television and animation industries, and to support the industry in its ambitions to scale to the next level.
In 2017, the IFB will work with industry and all of its stakeholders to build on the recent period of unprecedented critical and commercial success at home and abroad for Irish film and to sustain growth for the sector.
Dr Annie Donna, IFB chair, said: “We have an exciting opportunity to continue to grow the film, TV and animation sectors, ensuring that we have high-quality work coming from Ireland which is being watched and enjoyed by local and international audiences.
“Recent growth in production activity for the sector can be directly attributed to investment from the IFB and substantial changes made to the Irish tax incentive for film and television by the Irish Government, demonstrating a strong return on Government support.
James Hickey, IFB chief executive, added: “The slate of productions we are launching today is exciting and impressive, showcasing diverse themes and genres by both experienced and new creative talent. The quality and quantity of the work demonstrates our long-term commitment to investing in talent and developing sustainable career paths for Irish storytelling on screen. Together with our ambition to spread production activity across the country and to strengthen our relationship with industry stakeholders, we aim to create a broader range of opportunities for writers, directors, producers and all the creative talent working across the film, animation and TV drama industries.”
Building on the success of international films which chose Ireland as a film location in the last year (Star Wars Episode VIII, The Professor and the Madman and The Man Who Invented Christmas), this year the IFB will embark on an international advertising campaign to promote Ireland as a location for production. The campaign will be backed by a greater focus on the North American marketplace.
There will also be a focus on spreading production activity across the country with a particular focus on the regions and building regional hubs.
