Galway City of Film and RTÉ announce a new Short Film Commission.

RTÉ, in partnership with Galway Film Centre and Galway Film Fleadh, are delighted to announce a new Short Film Commission Scheme. Writers are invited to submit a story idea and the best three ideas will be selected and receive a prize of €500 each. These three writers will then be mentored by an experienced Script Editor to bring their idea from a story outline to a finished script. From this, one script will be selected and the winning script will be made into a short film.

New and up-and-coming directors are also invited to submit a short CV to be selected through a competitive process to direct the winning script. The directors will also be mentored by an experienced director through prep, casting right through to being supported on set. The directors mentoring panel will include Dearbhla Walsh (Penny Dreadful, Roald Dahl’s Esio Trot), Paddy Breathnach, (Shrooms, I Went Down), and David Caffrey, (Love Hate, Divorcing Jack) and, depending on the shooting schedule, one of these will mentor the director.

Young producers and production companies are also encouraged to register for the scheme and will be selected on a CV and interview basis.

Manager of Galway Film Centre, Declan Gibbons adds “We’re delighted to be collaborating with RTÉ on a new short film initiative and to be doing so under our new UNESCO Galway City of Film banner. We’re also really happy with our directors mentoring panel where emerging talent will get the benefit of such a wealth of experience of directing talent. Galway Film Fleadh are also on board and have agreed to have the finished film shown in competition in next year’s festival so this is a terrific opportunity for young writers and directors to cut their teeth.”

RTÉ’s Drama Development Executive David Crean said “ we’ve ring-fenced a total budget of €23,000 for this project to cover both the prizes, mentoring process and the production process. This gives us a healthy budget to work from and we really want to spend time finding and nurturing new writing and directing talent and to bring them through a supportive process to get the best results possible. We’ve spent a good bit of time developing this with Galway Film Centre and so it’s great to be announcing it now.” Around 65% of this €23,000 will become the production budget once all other costs are covered.

Writers are now invited to submit a short film story idea by September 4^th.

How to enter:

Writers: What’s the Story? Writers are asked to submit a one page story outline (about 500 words) and a 2 page writing / script sample based on any part / scene from this story. That’s a maximum of 3 pages. Please send:

• 3 hard copies of the story outline and 2 page sample.
• Put the title on each page but not your name.
• Please also email the story outline and 2 page sample in PDF format to info@galwayfilmcentre.ie
• Attach a one page CV and a completed application form.
• The fee for a writer to enter is €25.00. Entry is free to current Galway Film Centre members.
• The closing date is 12 noon Friday September 4^th.

All submissions will be read by three readers without them knowing the identity of the writers. Based on the three-page submission around 10 writers will be shortlisted and invited for interview.

Based on the interview three writers will be selected and each will receive a cash prize of €500.00. All three will also get to work with an experienced Script Editor to develop the story outline into a finished script. One finished script will be selected around 4 weeks after the interview date to become the film that goes into production.

Who’s going to direct the short film? Directors are invited to put their names forward for consideration. Please submit:

• A hardcopy short CV to Galway Film Centre.
• An email short CV to info@galwayfilmcentre.ie
• A Vimeo or online link to one sample of your work.
• A completed application form.
• The fee for a director to enter is €15.00. Entry is free to current Galway Film Centre members.
• The closing date is 12 noon Friday September 4^th.

 Directors will be shortlisted on the basis of their submission material and invited to interview. Through this process one director will be selected.

Who’s going to produce the short film? Producers are invited to put their names forward for consideration. Please submit:

• A hardcopy short CV to Galway Film Centre.
• An email short CV to info@galwayfilmcentre.ie
• A Vimeo or online link to one sample of your work.
• A completed application form.
• The fee for a producer to enter is €15.00. Entry is free to current Galway Film Centre members.
• The closing date is 12 noon Friday September 4^th.

Producers will be shortlisted on the basis of their submission material and invited to interview. Through this process one producer will be selected. Producer / Director teams may also enter.

Proposed Timeline:

Announce. Call for Writers / Producers / Directors: July 20t
Closing Date: 6 weeks later: September 4th
Five weeks to read all submissions and select 10 writers for interview: Oct 9th
One month for 3 writers to write several drafts of short script: Nov 6th
Interview Directors and Producers: Nov 10th. The team are now in place.
Shooting Schedule and delivery of final film and rough cut to be agreed by Nov 27th.