Irish and Uk Co-Productions

Brooklyn
Nominated for three Oscars including Best Picture, Best Actress (Saoirse Ronan) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Nick Hornby), Brooklyn is an Irish/British co-production from Wildgaze Films, Finola Dwyer Productions, Parallel Films and Item 7, with co-finance from Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board. The film is an adaptation of Colm Tóibín’s best-selling novel by the equally best-selling British author Nick Hornby. Set in the 1950s, the film sees a young woman (Saoirse Ronan) move from a small town in Ireland to Brooklyn, where she has the opportunity for work, for a future and for love. Intermission director John Crowley has gathered an all-star Irish and British cast, that features Saoirse Ronan, Domhnall Gleeson, Emory Cohen, Jim Broadbent, and Julie Walters.

Room
Another example of Irish/UK co-productions is Room - which is currently nominated for four Oscars (Best Picture, Best Actress for Brie Larson, Best Director for Lenny Abrahamson and Best Adapted Screenplay for Emma Donoghue). Also produced by David Gross of Canadian Production company No Trace Camping, Element Pictures’ Ed Guiney (The Lobster, Frank, What Richard Did) produced Room with Andrew Lowe serving as Executive Producer (The Lobster, Frank, The Wind that Shakes the Barley) for Element Pictures with Rose Garnett (Film 4), Tessa Ross (Film 4), and David Kosse (Film 4) also on-board as Executive Producers. Irish finance for the film came from the Irish Film Board while development funding came from the IFB and Film4. Room is told through the eyes of a five year old who is held captive in a room along with his mother. The film stars Brie Larson, William H. Macy and Jacob Tremblay.

Lobster
Another recent success story is Yorgos Lanthimos’ surrealist love story The Lobster. A co-production between Element Pictures in Ireland and Scarlet Films in the UK (as well as Faliro House, Haut et Court and Lemming Film in association with Limp), the independent film was acclaimed by many critics and made over €1 million in Ireland and the UK during its’ theatrical run. The film, which won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and was recently selected for Sundance 2016, is a love story set in the near future where single people, according to the rules of The City, are arrested and transferred to The Hotel. There they are obliged to find a matching mate in 45 days. If they fail, they are transformed into an animal of their choosing and released into The Woods. A desperate Man escapes from The Hotel to The Woods where The Loners live and falls in love, although it is against their rules. Colin Farrell is the lead actor alongside Rachel Weisz, Olivia Colman, John C. Reilly, Ben Whishaw and Michael Smiley.

Ripper Street
On the television side, Ripper Street, a co-production between Ireland’s Element Pictures and the UK’s Tiger Aspect Productions and Lookout Point with funding from BBC, BBC Worldwide and the Irish Film Board, is currently shooting its’ fourth season in Dublin. The series tells the story of Detective Inspector Edmund Reid and his team of officers, who aim to maintain law and order in a place once terrorized by Jack the Ripper. The show stars Matthew Macfadyen, Jerome Flynn, Adam Rothenberg, MyAnna Buring and Charlene McKenna.

Penny Dreadful
Supernatural drama series Penny Dreadful is currently shooting its’ third season in Ardmore Studios in Bray. Penny Dreadful is created, written and executive produced by Oscar nominee John Logan (Hugo, The Aviator, Gladiator) and executive produced by Logan’s Desert Wolf Productions, along with Oscar winner Sam Mendes (‘American Beauty’, ‘Skyfall’) and Pippa Harris (‘Revolutionary Road’), both from Neal Street Productions. ‘Penny Dreadful’ is co-produced in Ireland by Octagon Films and Neal Street Productions in the UK and is created and written by Oscar nominee John Logan who also Exec Produces along with Sam Mendes. The show has so far been nominated for IFTA and BAFTA Awards as well as Primetime Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe and stars Eva Green, Timothy Dalton and Josh Hartnett.