Irish Film & TV Academy Launches

DUBLIN, July 21: John O’Donoghue, Ireland’s Minister for
Arts, Sports and Tourism, has announced the formation of the Irish Film and
Television Academy.

Now open for membership, the organization aims to encourage
excellence in the Irish television and film industries. The drive to form the
academy was led by the IFTN (the Irish Film Television Network), the organizers
of the country’s IFTA Awards.

The Irish Film and Television Academy has now been
established with full representation from across the industry, including RTÉ,
BBC, TV3, UTV and TG4, as well as the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism,
the Irish Film Board, the Northern Ireland Film Television Commission, Screen
Producers Ireland, Screen Directors Guild and IFTN, among others.

The first decision of the Academy has been to move the IFTA
Awards to February each year in line with the international awards season and
to build a strong membership of industry professionals who will be entitled to
vote in the annual awards. The next awards will be held on February 9.