In this, the first QUBAMCP Research Seminar of 2024, O'Brien (Lecturer in Arts Management & Cultural Policy at QUB) interrogates the well-known favourable tax credit regimes in Ireland for audiovisual industries from a law and political economy perspective. Prosaically known as Section 481 (for film and TV) and Section 481A for digital games, these tax credits encourage production in Ireland through the tax code. However, whether they encourage the development of an Irish film industry is another question. The recent introduction (in 2022) of a tax credit for digital games allows for a fresh perspective. O'Brien will skilfully bring these together to ask if such regimes are friend or foe to the industries they support.

The event will comprise a short talk followed by a Q&A by Frank Delaney (Media & Broadcast, School of Arts, English & Languages) and opportunity for informal networking. It is in-person and open to all (students, researchers and industry). It will not be recorded.

The event is free to all but pre-booking is required due to limited venue capacity.

Content

In a short overview of her research (which will be published in book form in 2025), Dr O'Brien will analyse the key features of the Irish audiovisual tax incentive regimes available for film, TV and games production. She will put this into a wider context of political economy theory on Irish and European Union (EU) policy. O'Brien's work has argued that both national and supranational taxation policies should be seen as a form of cultural policy with all the attendant complexities this brings - including considerations of the role of the state in shaping the audiovisual industries and the role of the EU as regulator of state aid in shaping national policies that serve to support cultural production. Overall, she interrogates the role of state intervention in the logics of cultural capitalism and sets up the lens through which tax incentives for audiovisual production are critiqued: that of spatialization, i.e., the commodification of the physical and cultural space of audiovisual production.

Dr Maria O’Brien is a Lecturer in Arts Management & Cultural Policy at the School of Arts, English & Languages in Queen’s University Belfast. Her work focuses on the intersection of state policy and industrial rationales for film and digital games in Ireland. She previously worked as a property and taxation lawyer but left to undertake a PhD on tax incentives for film in Ireland. Her research interests include all aspects of cultural and creative industries policy. She is co-organiser and co-founder of the Arts Council Ireland funded East Asia Film Festival Ireland. She also sits on the board of Imirt, the Irish games advocacy body. In April 2024, she will take up the role of Lecturer in Taxation at University of Galway, a role shared between the Cairnes Business School and School of Law.

Frank Delaney is a Senior Lecturer and the Subject Lead for Media & Broadcast at the School of Arts, English & Languages. He is also a Film and TV director, producer and editor of more than 25 years' experience as well as working composition and sound design. He is an active member of the Screen Directors Guild of Ireland and Directors UK and an associate member of the Screen Composers Guild of Ireland.