Interview with Desirée Finnegan, CEO, Screen Ireland

18 Oct Interview with Desirée Finnegan, CEO, Screen Ireland

Ireland has emerged as a major force in the global screen industry in recent years, not only through the success of its own films and television productions but also as an increasingly important destination for international shoots and co-productions. Ireland’s creative screen sector now generates more than €1 billion annually.  Since you stepped into the role in 2019, how has Ireland’s screen industry evolved and what major trends are now shaping its growth and international reputation?

The Irish screen industry has achieved record-breaking levels of success and been on a remarkable growth trajectory since 2019. Coming out of the pandemic, Screen Ireland introduced a number of strategic initiatives to support the industry and maintain a consistent pipeline of work and production. One key focus was investment in development. When production shut down, we increased our focus on developing projects and ensured that the quality of scripts and productions was as strong as possible. That investment helped drive record levels of production activity in 2021 and that record was broken again last year.

Alongside the production development, we have Irish talent increasingly recognized internationally, from production and acting to visual effects and animation. Richard Baneham, for instance, had multiple Oscar-nominations for visual effects on the Avatar series. Our animation sector in particular has performed incredibly well, both commercially and critically. We have also been supporting a new generation of filmmakers. This year, for example, a seven-minute animated short ‘Retirement Plan’ received an Academy Award nomination. It’s wonderful to see the breadth of talent emerging across the industry from a small nation as Ireland. The industrial results of this sustained investment by the government and Screen Ireland have been quite remarkable.

One trend that really stands out is the growth of Irish-language cinema. We have seen a global appetite for local-language film and TV and so we wanted to invest in filmmakers from the Gaeltacht areas and support them in telling their stories on the big screen. One of our early investments was The Quiet Girl, based on the work of Irish author Claire Keegan. It received an Academy Award nomination showcasing the potential of Irish-language filmmaking. We are now seeing more filmmakers choosing to tell stories in their native language, not just in cinema but across television as well. The increase in government investment has enabled us to support this new generation of filmmakers and that has been an incredible trend to see in recent years. For example, a Celtic noir thriller called Crá is doing very well.

Another area that has really developed is TV drama. A few years ago, there was relatively little Irish-produced TV drama, so the government introduced a stimulus fund specifically for the sector. Our first investment was Normal People, which came out in 2020 and was hugely successful internationally. It showcased Ireland’s landscapes and talent and launched a number of careers. TV was a relatively new area for Screen Ireland, which had focused on cinema for almost three decades. But the increased investment in 2019 and 2020 has transformed the sector. We now have around 30 TV dramas in development, and last year alone, eight were launched through that funding.

Screen Ireland remains at the center of Ireland’s recent creative boom as the national development agency for film, television, animation and now gaming. In January, the organization launched its 2026 production slate featuring 87 projects spanning multiple formats and genres. Can you give a brief overview of Screen Ireland’s role and explain how the agency supports the country’s growing screen industry?

Screen Ireland has a broad statutory remit: to develop the screen industry, attract international productions to Ireland and support the expression of Irish culture on screen. Our statutory remit covers the full life cycle of a project, from skills and development through to production, distribution and marketing. We support filmmakers at every stage, from new entrants to established talent.

Between 2021 and 2024, we invested €120 million in the industry, supporting more than 115 feature films, over 60 TV series and more than 100 short films. We are very filmmaker-led, with a strong emphasis on talent development. Alongside project funding, we support emerging writers and directors through programs such as Spotlight and The Voice. We have seen that investment lead to international recognition, including a recent project from The Voice called A Want in Her that received a BAFTA nomination.

We also have a dedicated office in Los Angeles, which supports the two-way relationship with the U.S. — bringing international productions to Ireland while helping Irish filmmakers and companies build connections and partnerships in Los Angeles.

Ireland offers a range of financial incentives for the screen sector, including Section 481 and enhanced tax relief for visual effects work. What recent legislation is helping Ireland build a more competitive screen industry?

Recent government fiscal incentives have had a significant impact, supporting everything from large-scale international productions to independent films, where raising equity can be particularly challenging. More recently, incentives have been introduced for digital games. A visual effects incentive is about to become operational, helping us scale a sector with significant creative and technical talent. We have also invested in talent academies across the country, including one focused on visual effects, to help develop the skills and talent needed to grow the industry.

The other two areas are the Audiovisual Media Services Directive and the Copyright Directive. With the former, we work with stakeholders to promote European cultural diversity and ensure that different cultural perspectives are represented on screen. The Copyright Directive is also important to us, particularly in ensuring that Irish producers and artists can generate and retain their intellectual property.

We are committed to supporting that across all our projects and helping filmmakers and production companies retain ownership of their work. Visual effects is another area with huge potential. Ireland has built a strong VFX sector over the past 15 years, with talented creative and technical artists working across major international franchises. The government’s new visual effects incentive recognizes that potential, while skills development remains a key priority for us. We also want to strengthen partnerships with U.S. studios and bring more talent into the sector. Hopefully, this will support significant growth in the years ahead.

What progress has Ireland made in building its gaming industry and how is the agency helping support the development of this fast-growing creative sector?

Digital games are a relatively new part of Screen Ireland’s remit, but we see significant potential in Ireland’s games industry, with more than 50 studios across the country, from smaller companies to multinationals. We are developing a national strategy to support the sector through incubation, accelerator and development programs, including prototype funding. We also want to help Irish studios grow internationally while creating opportunities to tell culturally Irish stories through games. It’s an area with enormous potential and we hope to support these companies as they scale in the coming years.

Screen Ireland has established five National Talent Academies while also increasing support for entrepreneurs and regional productions. What sort of creative and technical talent has Ireland built across the screen industry and how are you working to close the remaining skills gaps and prepare the next generation of professionals?

Skills development is a key priority for Screen Ireland. One of the first measures introduced was linking tax incentives to skills development, making Ireland one of the first countries in Europe to do so. This has had a significant impact in addressing skills gaps, supporting new entrants while also providing opportunities for upskilling, mentoring and shadowing. We already have world-class crews in Ireland and our focus is on creating structured opportunities to strengthen and expand that talent base.

The national network of Talent Academies, launched in 2020, has been highly impactful. We now have academies covering live-action production, animation, visual effects and post-production, all working closely with industry to identify skills gaps and provide hands-on experience. Together, these programs have created around 18,000 placement opportunities. They are an important part of Screen Ireland’s wider skills strategy, helping ensure that talent development is aligned with the needs of the industry.

How is Screen Ireland helping spread economic opportunity beyond major urban centers through regional productions and investment in local talent development?

Production across the country is very important to us. We introduced a nationwide production fund to encourage filming outside the main metropolitan areas and it has made a real difference. It supports productions in some of Ireland’s most beautiful locations while strengthening production companies and creative talent in the regions. Our aim is to build local skills and capacity and develop creative clusters across the country.

Screen Ireland opened its Los Angeles office in 2019 and conducted another major trade mission to LA ahead of the Oscars this year. How does Ireland stand out as a co-production partner for U.S. film and television companies and what role has Screen Ireland’s Los Angeles office played in strengthening these relationships?

We really value our strong relationship with the U.S. and want Ireland to be seen as a leading European co-production partner. The depth of creative talent that you can find here, as well as the quality of the work being produced here are ultimately what makes Ireland particularly attractive to U.S. partners. Ireland has strong creative strengths, from world-class talent and crews to excellent studio infrastructure, locations and competitive fiscal incentives.

We have several recent co-productions with U.S. partners. Power Ballad, directed by John Carney, is currently out, while Small Things Like These was made with Artists Equity. More recently, Hokum, a genre project, was also produced in partnership with the U.S.

Filmmakers are central to everything we do and we hope the stories created by Irish filmmakers can reach audiences around the world. We have also launched Where to Watch Ireland, a platform showcasing Irish content internationally. It’s another way to connect Irish stories with global audiences.