I want to make a quality short film in Arklow and Wicklow.
How will this benefit us?
Arklow and Wicklow will look beautiful in a professional film that will be seen by many thousands of people, and when it goes onto a streaming platform, it will be seen by millions.
There are short film funding grants available in many counties in Ireland, managed by the local County Council. But Wicklow County Council does not have any funding scheme. I have written a detailed proposal showing how to create and manage a short film bursary for the county. I gave it to Wicklow County Council months ago. They said they will look into it. So far, there is no reported development on it.
In 2018/2019, I won the FilmOffaly Short film funding and the criteria was that I shot my film in the county, so I chose Tullamore. The film has been seen by many thousands of people as it is now streaming, plus it has been in-flight entertainment on Aer Lingus. Before that, it had been screened at major national and international film festivals from Ireland to Canada, the UK to America, Australia to Russia to India and all over Europe.
This gave Offaly and more so Tullamore free positive publicity and marketing, as everyone saw Tullamore on the silver screen. Offally County Council have utilised this opportunity for tourism and as a promotional tool for the town. Offaly have been funding short films for years, and have benefited from this.
I continue to ask Wicklow County Council to create a short film bursary, whereby the winning applicant must shoot the film in the county, and use local talented actors and crew, avail of local services like carpentry, transport, catering etc.
In the meantime, I want to make a quality short film in the summer and submit the film to Oscar qualifying film festivals. This will be excellent marketing for the County. It will also show Wicklow County Council what can be achieved, and showcase what they can do if they had a film bursary like many other counties.
Independent short films are very difficult to fund. Why?
Because they are not commercial. They don’t make money. Yet filmmakers continue to make them because they often tell engaging stories with a heart, with meaning, with a positive message - films driven by the need to share a good story, and not focused on Box Office Sales.
I’m looking for your help.
So far I have 31 generous donators. With your support I can make this independent film, tell an important story, provide lunch for the cast and crew, and showcase the town and county where I live to a global audience.
Please donate whatever you can. 100% of donations go into the making of this film.
My GoFundMe campaign is below.
* Businesses can avail of a special marketing opportunity. Please email for further details davethomasfilms@gmail.com
