Written by new-contact on May 21, 2012. Posted in Incentive News

Ireland and South Africa sign location filming co-production deal in Cannes

Ireland and South Africa have signed a location filming co-production deal at the Cannes Film Festival. The agreement will mean each country will benefit from the other’s filming incentives and both will be aspiring for more productions of the scale of Steven Soderbergh's Haywire.

Ireland has seen its international profile rise recently with shoots like Haywire, while South Africa has hosted Safe House and Chronicle.

Jimmy Deenihan TD is Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in Ireland: “Today's agreement aims to allow Irish filmmakers and production companies to forge closer links with their South African counterparts, for the benefit of both parties.

“South Africa has a growing film production industry, with recent box office successes to its name, and I would like to see closer links between Ireland and South Africa in growing our joint film sectors into the future.”

South Africa has a growing film production industry, with recent box office successes to its name, and I would like to see closer links between Ireland and South Africa in growing our joint film sectors into the future.

Jimmy Deenihan, Irish Arts Minister

Paul Mashatile is Minister for Arts and Culture in South Africa: “This partnership will bring new opportunities for the talent that we have in our country, so that they and the industry reach its full potential. It will also allow creatives from both countries to share experiences and jointly develop content.”

Both Ireland and South Africa have been looking at their international appeal in the weeks since the UK announced a new TV location filming incentive. Ireland is in the process of reviewing its incentive programme and South Africa has broadened its own scheme to include post-production.