That's a wrap: First major production filmed at West Cork Film Studios

The expression ‘All good things come to those who wait’ is most certainly appropriate for the West Cork Film Studios based in Skibbereen.

Since opening for business in 2023, they have been waiting in anticipation to have the magic word ‘Action’ resounding through their premises.

Now, their first major production has been filmed there and is safely ‘in the can’. A family-friendly Hallmark film, it was produced by Dublin-based Edwina Forkin and John Norton of Zanibar films, in conjunction with American executive producer San Spray and creative producer Lexi Lewis.

While details of the title and the actors remain ‘hush hush’, it will be a romantic ‘feelgood’ movie about a woman who falls in love with a local man after travelling to Ireland with her mother.

The film has employed a lot of local talent. with an Irish actor cast as the ‘love interest’, and it’s understood  the leading female actors are from the US. The film has also employed a lot of locally based extras, make-up artists, and set designers, with West Cork locations used throughout.

The directors of the film studios - the O’Donnell family, in conjunction with Steve Park, a set carpenter and construction manager - were thrilled to see the West Cork Film Studios transformed into a hive of activity for the first time.

Their all-purpose facility is just beside their family-run O’Donnell furniture factory on the Baltimore Road in Skibbereen.

'Worth the wait'

A fanfare of enthusiasm greeted its opening in 2023, when they welcomed a star-studded array of guests such as local residents Jeremy Irons, who planted a tree on the premises, along with his wife Sinead Cusack, and actors such as Ciarán Hinds.

Several other actors, directors and producers, who were in West Cork at the time for the annual Fastnet Film Festival, all travelled by minibus from nearby Schull to celebrate the opening and have a look around.

Then, after all the jubilations, the studios faced a delay before action began.

“It was a hard time for us, we were 18 months waiting to get this particular project across the line,” itted Jim O’Donnell, founder of the O’Donnell furniture factory, and a director of the West Cork Film Studios.

“It was very frustrating, but now we are delighted to finally have had a film made here at the studios in Skibbereen - it’s very exciting and it was so worth the wait.”

“It’s a massive relief from what has been a challenging journey since we opened,” said his daughter Édain, an artist who has worked in many art departments of films sets, including Mission Impossible.

“It coincided with the writers’ strike which affected the film industry everywhere, but we held on to our belief and ion in the project, and we have had unerring from many quarters, including Screen Ireland, as well as many producers and filmmakers.”

One of their most stalwart ers is multi-award winning film producer David Puttnam, whose credits include Chariots Of Fire, The Mission, and Midnight Express.

He lives in Skibbereen and, from the start, has retained a firm belief in the development of a buoyant film industry, both locally in West Cork, and in Ireland in general.

“Seeing the car park full at the West Cork Film Studios is the best possible news for the people and the economy of West Cork, as well as being another shot in the arm for the Irish film industry,” he said.

Irish film industry on the rise 

Clearly, the Irish film industry is on the rise and in the spotlight, with many recent Oscar-winning films and actors, including Cork’s own Cillian Murphy.

Now there is also an attractive tax incentive, Section 481, offering a tax credit of up to 32% of eligible Irish expenditure.

Ireland has a home-grown plethora of talent which includes not only actors, writers and directors, but all those who work behind the scenes in set construction, sound, lighting, costume and make-up, not forgetting the many other subsidiary industries working in tandem with the filmmaking process such as driving and catering.

The town of Skibbereen greatly benefitted from having the film being shot in the local area, not just for the 80 local crew employed to work on the production itself, but also the spin-off to the restaurants, bars, hotels, bed and breakfasts, printers, cafes and the ‘extras’ who were employed on the film.

Three sets were built on site at the West Cork Film Studios that were used for the production.

The film, TV and animation sector in Ireland is estimated to be worth over €692 million, comprising 11,960 jobs by way of direct, indirect and induced employment across the economy.

The scenery in Ireland also offers a very strong attraction for creative directors, with the beauty of West Cork already well established and showcased in David Puttnam’s War Of The Buttons, Ken Loach’s The Wind That Shakes The Barley, and the recent Netflix offering Bodkin, filmed on location in Union Hall.

'Absolutely magical'

Now West Cork once again has had the opportunity to highlight its unique landscape, and Lexi Lewis the Creative Producer of the new film, was delighted with locations such as Baltimore, Skibbereen, Galley Head, Glandore, Ballydehob and Bantry.

“The experience of working in West Cork with the West Cork Film Studios has been absolutely magical,” said Lexi. “The unmatched beauty of the landscape speaks for itself, but it’s truly the people who make this place like no other.”

Stan Spry, founding partner and CEO of Cartel Entertainment, is a producer and literary manager who represents top-tier writers, directors and producers and is across all aspects of the film industry.

He has produced over 200 film feature films and television movies and sold and packaged hundreds more.

He has also thoroughly enjoyed working at the film studios in Skibbereen and said: “Producing this movie in West Cork has been an amazing experience.

“The locations and beauty are first class and the people are some of the kindest and hardest working anywhere in the world.

“The town has been extremely welcoming and accommodating and I’m thrilled to see West Cork grow its film production business, I know that I will certainly be back to make more movies soon.”