Yet, at the Golden Globes<\/a> in Hollywood being held on Sunday, the Irish will again set foot on the red carpet to be feted by the international press. <\/p>\n Jessie Buckley<\/a> is nominated for best female actor in a motion picture for her portrayal of Shakespeare\u2019s wife Agnes in Hamnet, while her costar Paul Mescal<\/a> is in contention for best supporting actor. <\/p>\n Buckley\u2019s best actress win<\/a> in the Critics Choice Awards in California last weekend puts her in strong contention for further gongs in this year\u2019s awards season.<\/p>\n Elsewhere, Blue Moon<\/a>, which was filmed in Ireland and co-produced by Wild Atlantic Pictures, is among the Golden Globe nominees for best picture in the musical or comedy category.<\/p>\n \u201cThe talent agencies in LA are now watching who is coming through here,\u201d says Andrew Lowe, co-founder of Element Pictures<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lowe and Ed Guiney launched their production house 25 years ago and have been at the forefront of the Irish success story. <\/p>\n The Lenny Abrahamson<\/a>-directed Room<\/a> garnered Oscars and Golden Globes, while Element\u2019s hugely successful television adaptation of Normal People brought Mescal to a global stage.<\/p>\n Element is regularly represented at the industry\u2019s most prestigious award ceremonies such as this weekend\u2019s Golden Globes. The company\u2019s black comedy Bugonia<\/a> is nominated for best picture in the musical or comedy category along with its lead actors Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons.<\/p>\n Lowe says the snowball effect of Irish success has been \u201cdiscernible\u201d in the level of interest being shown in Irish acting and production talent.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no question that there is an awareness and interest in Ireland that just wasn\u2019t there 25 years ago,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n \u201cThere is a curiosity about the country \u2013 and how one so small produces so much talent.<\/p>\n \u201cJessie Buckley, Saoirse Ronan<\/a> and Paul Mescal are all at the top of their game and are actors who can get a film made on the strength of their profile. They would regularly be on a list of five to 10 actors who can get a movie made in Los Angeles.\u201d<\/p>\n Lowe says the work of the national development agency Screen Ireland<\/a>, in particular, has been critical to the boom in talent.<\/p>\n \u201cYou could always sort of expect there would be one or two people who make it \u2013 say the likes of [film directors] Neil Jordan and Jim Sheridan \u2013 talent just rises \u2013 [Gabriel] Byrne, [Liam] Neeson \u2013 people of that ilk. But we are now undoubtedly seeing a much deeper talent base \u2013 in acting, directing and producing.\u201d<\/p>\n Screen Ireland deserves \u201cthe lion\u2019s share of credit\u201d for talent development for the past decade or so, he says.<\/p>\n \u201cThey have put a lot of money into both production and development finance for the whole industry \u2013 allowing it to evolve and grow\u201d.<\/p>\n Other production houses agree that Screen Ireland\u2019s role, along with the Section 481 film tax credit, have underpinned much of the success.<\/p>\n The rebate is worth 32 per cent to producers of film, TV and gaming projects and is subject to a cap of \u20ac125 million. Last year it was enhanced with an additional 8 per cent tax relief to production companies producing small- to medium-sized feature films or animated feature films. <\/p>\n Despite the extensive support extended to film-makers choosing to make movies in Ireland, many smaller domestic players still describe the industry as a tough place to operate in.<\/p>\n Yvonne Donohoe is creative director and producer at Dublin\u2019s Keeper Pictures. While this is an undoubtedly \u201camazing\u201d moment for Irish film and TV talent, big challenges remain for many companies such as her own, she says.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is incredible support from Screen Ireland and there is so much that they are doing to foster the local industry, but their resources are limited,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n \u201cMore success has meant more competition for funding and the cost of production is at least a third more expensive since Covid.\u201d<\/p>\n Donohoe says rising costs have made it extremely challenging to produce a film for under \u20ac4 million. While the high profile earned by many Irish actors now means they can help deliver a project financially, they are \u201cout of reach\u201d to many smaller producers.<\/p>\n \u201cLocal producers struggle to get access to that A-list talent that would make a difference to getting the finance for your project,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Donohoe believes the implementation of the proposed \u201cstreamer levy\u201d \u2013 which will funnel some money from the big online streamers such as Netflix and Prime Video towards local productions \u2013 would be \u201ctransformative\u201d. It was shelved last year amid concerns that the Irish consumer wouldn\u2019t stomach the levy.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t really accept that,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n \u201cIf it did lead to a big increase in local production, I think the Irish customer would be willing to pay an increase of a few cents. The streamers would have to keep their subscriptions competitive \u2013 all of it wouldn\u2019t be passed on.\u201d<\/p>\n [\u00a0\u2018Spotify levy\u2019 could fund next generation of CMATs and Fontaines DCs, says trade bodyOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n Donohoe says it is still a good time to be working in film and TV in Ireland, but it remains a tough business to operate in regardless of the overall economic picture. <\/p>\n \u201cWe are boom and bust resistant,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Brendan McCarthy, co-owner of Fantastic Films, agrees that while the international spotlight on Irish talent is to be welcome, the day-to-day business of making films in this country remains a \u201clabour of love\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cYou still have to fight your corner and everything takes much longer than you think it will \u2013 but it\u2019s what we want to do,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Fantastic Films<\/a> are in what McCarthy calls the \u201chorror-related, horror-adjacent space\u201d, making smaller movies that attempt to punch above their weight and budget. <\/p>\n He points to their production of the Kate Dolan-directed You Are Not My Mother<\/a> in 2021 as a good example of \u201ca modestly budgeted Irish film that did really well and found an audience all over the place\u201d.<\/p>\n![\"Jessie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5WJH7UHUIAA3IPWET7PMEVRZDA.jpg\")
Jessie Buckley at Critics Choice Awards in Santa Monica, California, earlier this month. Photograph: Matt Winkelmeyer\/Getty Images for Critics Choice Association <\/p>\n![\"Andrew](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/JQMGFY3OIFEZNKGTSBO4IE7YXA.jpg\")
Andrew Lowe of Element Pictures. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill<\/p>\n