Bollywood Hollywood: rish welcome mat for Bollywood

Bloomberg News

THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2006

Ireland, deserted by Hollywood moviemakers in favor of cheaper East European locations, is courting the next best thing: Bollywood.

Foreign spending on movies in Ireland fell to a nine-year low in 2005 after countries like Romania and Hungary lured filmmakers away with lower costs and bigger tax incentives. But by courting India, the Irish hope to turn the exodus around while promoting an even bigger Irish industry: tourism.

Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, who is on a weeklong trade mission to India, has joined his arts minister, John O'Donoghue, this week in pitching Ireland as the next great location for Indian movies.

"Bollywood is the second-largest film industry in the world, and we are anxious to attract inward investment," O'Donoghue said during an interview in Dublin before the trip. "We have very experienced film crews and the locations are quite unique."

Ireland, which served as the backdrop for "Braveheart" and "Saving Private Ryan" in 1997, is now seeking to attract Indian stars like Abhishek Bachchan, ShahRukh Khan and Bipasha Basu.

While Bollywood budgets pale in comparison with Hollywood's, India's filmmakers are prolific. The Bollywood film industry, which is based in Mumbai, formerly Bombay, produces about 800 films a year. It has shot scenes for 11 movies in Ireland since 2002.

"If Ireland blends into the script and the budget is affordable, why not?" said Sujoy Ghosh, whose recent Hindi films include "Jhankaar Beats" and "Home Delivery," in a telephone interview from Mumbai.

Overseas spending on film production in Ireland fell to E51 million, or $62 million, in 2004, the lowest level since 1996, from E211 million the previous year, according to the Irish Audiovisual Federation. Provisional figures indicate investment declined again in 2005, it said.

"The international market has become incredibly competitive," Louise Ryan, information officer at the Irish Film Board, said in a telephone interview. "We look at India as diversifying. You can't put all your eggs in one basket."

O'Donoghue's delegation from the Irish Film Board is specifically looking to attract investment from Mumbai. Most of the Indian filmmakers who have already used Ireland are based in Madras, in the southeast, and produce lower-budget titles.

"To date, most of the shoots have been small scale," said Brendan Goss, a line producer on seven Indian films made in Ireland, in a telephone interview. "We would hope to spread the word to the bigger film industry centers in India and see if a couple of the big boys might come over."

In the past, tax breaks for film production helped make Ireland a major stop for Hollywood productions. The main tax break, known as Section 481, allows filmmakers to save as much as 12 percent of their budgets in tax rebates. The amount of a film's budget on which the relief can be claimed is limited to E15 million.

The Irish government also helped draw investment by providing extras. It allowed the armed forces to act for the D-Day scene of "Saving Private Ryan." Many soldiers also took part in battle sequences for "Braveheart."

Then, in 2004, Hungary began providing a 20 percent rebate on production costs, the most generous in Europe.

In 1997 Steven Spielberg shot the D-Day landing sequence of "Saving Private Ryan" on beaches in Wexford, 90 miles, or 150 kilometers, south of Dublin. His latest movie, "Munich," about an Israeli squad assigned to track down Palestinian terrorists who killed 11 athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games, was filmed in Budapest.

Another factor in Ireland's success was skilled and relatively cheap film crews.

"The real nuts and bolts - the construction crews, the camera crews - these people came from Ireland and they were great," said Jonathan Glikman, president of Spyglass Entertainment Group, which made "The Count of Monte Cristo" and "Reign of Fire" in Ireland in 2001. "I had no complaints about anything."

But Hungary and other competitors for Hollywood budgets like the Czech Republic are offering even cheaper labor these days. East European wages are about a fifth of those in Ireland, the euro region's fastest growing economy.

"We're up against it in terms of what is on offer in Budapest or Prague," said Goss, the Irish producer. "They've got nonunionized labor forces in the film industry and tax incentives coming on stream. It's cheaper labor, yet highly skilled."

Scenes from Tom Cruise's "Mission Impossible," "XXX" with Vin Diesel, and "From Hell," starring Johnny Depp, were shot in the Czech Republic.

And while the Irish have talked about sweetened tax incentives, the country may have to struggle again in competition for Bollywood money.

"Eastern Europe wouldn't be alien territory to these guys," Goss said. "They are always looking for new locations."

With 10 million people in India going to the movies every day, Bollywood could help Ireland improve tourism.

Helped by Bollywood films shot in the Swiss Alps, Switzerland attracts about 75,000 visitors from India a year, said Jim Paul, head of Tourism Ireland's developing markets division.