KIRSTEN SHERIDAN SHOULD WORK FOR ANGLO IRISH BANK!

It's nice to be nice. Especially in the Irish film industry. Why? Because then you can do whatever you want and get respect. Take one of our 'top' female directors Kirsten Sheridan. Not only does she get to make rubbish features, sit on our Film Board, and attend festivals as a jury member but now she even gets an article written about her in the Sunday Tribune* newspaper!

You see she's a very respectable filmmaker. So popular that most people in Ireland cannot see that she has little talent. It's the system see. You can make rubbish features like Disco Pigs and August Rush and no-one complains. Because then you are considered a begrudger. Because the Irish film industry has a hierarchial structure. Once you're at the top you stay there! It doesn't matter if you make crap when you're a respected director. In fact we've more talented female directors than her but who cares about them. Because they are not 'respectable'. So why should Kirsten Sheridan work for Anglo Irish Bank? Well there's a small problem of her sitting as a Film Board member and receiving their funds. Kind of like the fuss when Neil Jordan got funding for Angel from the first Board when its producer John Boorman was a member. How much did she get then? €217,000. She received funding for eight separate projects of which only one (a short) got made. Not bad for a director who averages one feature each decade! The Irish Film Board state that these are loans and will be paid back. How many IFB movies have returned profit again? Maybe we need an Irish Film Regulator? Or would the 'nice' filmmakers be exempt?

* Page 6, 25/4/2010