A new website - www.screenwest.ie - is being launched this week by the Galway Film Centre as an information portal which seeks to attract film makers and television producers to the west of Ireland.
The website will be launched tomorrow by City Mayor Declan McDonnell, County Mayor Tom McHugh, and Labour Party president Michael D Higgins.
The website provides information on finance and co-production; a comprehensive list of all of the main production companies and facilities in Co Galway; a database of locations and qualified crew working in the west; a guide to getting permissions and permits to shoot in Galway city and county; a full list of all of the key related services, funding/tax incentives, and support services.
The next phase is to actively market the site to help attract production companies to the West and develop a film commission as an initiative of the Galway Film Centre.
“There has been talk of setting up a screen commission for Galway for a good number of years,” said Galway Film Centre manager Declan Gibbons. “Through close consultation with the industry, we decided the best way forward was by setting up a dedicated website which is essentially a well resourced database for every conceivable contact you’d need if you want to shoot in the west.”
The Galway County Council is the principal source of funding for this new website.
“This project is all about making it easier to come and do business in Galway,” said the Mayor of Co Galway, Cllr Tom McHugh. “We are delighted to be working in partnership with the Galway Film Centre and that our support has helped to realise a key step in ensuring Galway is ‘film friendly’.”
The Galway Film Centre is currently chair of the Western Audio Visual Forum which is made up of 18 organisations which have supported and contributed to the setting up of the website, Údarás na Gaeltachta, TG4, Galway County Council, Galway City Council, the GMIT, The Huston School of Film & Digital Media at NUI Galway, Telegael, EO Telifis, Magma, Abú Media, Gaelmedia, Galway Film Fleadh, Cinemobile, Studio Solas, Power Pictures, Media Antenna, and Galway Picture Palace. The website is also endorsed by the Irish Film Board/Bord Scannán Na hÉireann.
