Oooh. Where to start? Well, I’ll take the positive highroad. Instead of starting local, I’m going to throw out an overseas project that I found to be really interesting for budding film enthusiasts.

I caught up with Anton Gill to see how one international company is assisting film-makers in recessionary times, by offering constructive schemes that support newcomers into the industry. Anton is a screenwriter/producer based in California, who successfully saw his creative ideas become reality thanks to Scary Cow Productions. This company assembles moviemakers, uses digital film technology, pools technical and human resources to create short films. Anton talked very positively about his experience.

“Even if a new member has had absolutely no production experience (as I did), joining a team means that that there is always an opportunity to learn on the spot and/or shadow a crew member. `The cast and crew for my film, “The Weekend,“ numbers 43. (This may seem excessive for a short, but remember it was filmed over three weekends, and that number includes personnel stepping in for others no longer available). My point is: even if I were to pay all of these individuals HALF the going rate, the cost would be prohibitive”.

“You get out of it what you put in, hope springs eternal.”, comments Anton.
So, it seems, where there is a will, there is absolutely a way.

Of course there are some wonderful local projects such as the Filmbase/RTE Short Film Awards

But more on that next time… in the meantime, what are your thoughts on innovation in the film industry (in Ireland and/or abroad)?