Donegal’s rugged and atmospheric beauty has made it an ideal location for film and TV production over the decades, but a new expansion of the WRAP investment fund will show the county has more than just scenery to offer.
WRAP (Western Region Audio-Visual Producer’s Fund) is expanding from funding individual productions to investment of up to €200,000 in film, TV, games, and animation companies based in the West of Ireland.
It will also empower producers and companies in the region through more direct support via the newly established WRAP Screen Commission. This aims to ensure the WRAP Region – Galway, Mayo, Roscommon, Sligo, Leitrim, Clare, and Donegal – can compete with the east coast in terms of the kind of production which can be attracted here.
Donegal’s potential has been underlined by the WRAP-funded TV series Obituary, which was shot in Bundoran and Ballyshannon. Starring Siobhán Cullen and Michael Smiley, it was described by The Irish Times as “ghoulishly good fun”.
Since WRAP’s inception in 2018, it has supported 32 projects, including Obituary, which was IFTA nominated and has recently been picked up by several global broadcasters, including Netflix, as well as to services across Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
WRAP has already had a significant impact on the AV industry in the West, supporting award- winning TV series Smother, and Ireland’s Wild Islands, as well as the films Calm With Horses, Wild Mountain Thyme, My Sailor, My Love, and Death of a Ladies’ Man.
Together, these projects have received 98 award nominations and 13 wins. The fund has seen upwards of €33 million (€40.2 million including non-regional cast) spend in the region.
Allan Mulrooney, CEO, Western Development Commission has welcomed the creation of the WRAP Screen Commission, saying, “This scaling of funding to support the whole AV ecosystem in the Western Region is very much complementary to WDC’s ongoing strategy of fostering the emerging CreaTech sector in the region. Through this clustering of investment, the Western Region is strengthening its competitive advantage of offering stunning and unique film locations complete with the necessary infrastructure that enables us to attract international interest.”
The screen industry in the West of Ireland is also undergoing a period of expansion in the number of production studios and facilities based in, and building their businesses, here. WRAP’s focus on longer-term support and development of the film, TV, games and animation industries in the WRAP Region will help create a sustainable, self-propagating AV sector in the West.
