Tax fix brings Hollywood back to Ireland

It’s a sequel the Irish film industry has been awaiting for years: the return of Hollywood. After a hiatus of almost six years, American movie cameras are set to roll on Irish soil again thanks to improvements to the film tax-relief system, known as section 481, introduced last December.

Next month shooting will begin on Leap Year, a romantic comedy starring the Oscar-nominated Amy Adams and boasting Simon Beaufoy, who won an Oscar for best adapted screenplay for Slumdog Millionaire, as script writer. Adams, best-known for her role in Enchanted, the box-office hit about a fairytale princess who finds herself in New York, will play an American who travels to Ireland to propose to her boyfriend on February 29. According to the film, not only is it Irish tradition for women to propose on “leap day” but their men have to say “yes”. When weather forces Adams’s uptight character to veer off course, she finds herself forced to rely on a surly local innkeeper to help her find her beau. The two trek across the countryside to try to get to Dublin to pop the question before time runs out. The pub owner will be played by Matthew Goode, an actor hailed as one of Britain’s rising stars.

Producers from Spyglass Entertainment arrived in Ireland a week ago and are currently scouting for remote and picturesque locations for the shoot. Jake Weiner, a creative producer on the film, said shooting is due to begin at the start of April for two months. He said: “We are looking for the most beautiful remote places in Ireland to shoot the movie. It’s going to be a great project and we’re thrilled to be here.” Irish cast and crew will be employed on the movie, which will be directed by Anand Tucker, who directed Shopgirl. “The idea is she winds up in the furthest place from Dublin and it’s about her journey and how she changes as a character,” said Weiner. “We are trying to figure out where is the most remote place to be coming from.” Adams was nominated for a best supporting actress at last week’s Oscars for her role in Doubt, losing out to Penelope Cruz. It was her second supporting-actress nomination, having received the nod for 2005’s Junebug.

Ireland’s film incentive, introduced in the mid-1990s by Michael D Higgins, was copied and bettered by other countries. Britain has had a more attractive tax break for several years. The amount of money spent on the Irish film industry slumped by about a third in 2007 — from €280m in 2006 to €198m, according to a report published by the Irish Business and Employers Confederation’s Audiovisual Federation last year. However, the fall in incoming production was more marked: at €19.3m, it was down 77% on 2006. The only international film made in Ireland was European. In December Martin Cullen, the arts minister, announced improvements to section 481 to bring it back in line with other countries. The cap for individual investors will increase to €50,000 a year, up from the current limit of €31,750, and there will be a 100% relief on that investment when previously it was set at 80%. Ardmore Studios, which once hosted blockbuster movies such as Reign of Fire, has been surviving on television work since 2003, when King Arthur was made there.