Tag: Arts

“Facing into the relentless negativity of recessionary depression, we were inspired by the artivism of the Irish Street Art community to make our space more intriguing.

We have donated our office door to www.twelvedoors.com to use, abuse, deface and delight over the next twelve months.
Twelve artists each control the door for 1 month. The Door Art is transient; each artist paints over the previous months work.

The work of twelvedoors.com will be complete when we conclude the twelfth artist in the twelfth month.”

We wrote this in March 2009. Financially & economically, everything is still in a state of chasis, however 12 street artists came to our door over the past 12 months and have used, abused, defaced the door and delighted us.

The twelfth artist has completed the twelfth door. The  project is now complete.

A landmark licensing agreement means that every person in Ireland who clicks on a YouTube music video will generate revenue for musicians, according to The Sunday Times.

Google, the owner of YouTube, has agreed a deal that pays copyright holders for every click on videos that contain their material, even if it is background music.

The deal brokered by the Irish Musical Rights Organisation (IMRO) and the Mechanical Copyright Protection Society Ireland (MCPSI) runs to the end of 2012. It is believed the deal will also be retrospective and royalties will be paid from when YouTube became available in Ireland in 2005.

Just how much every click will be worth will remain confidential.

One man who won’t have too many concerns about his pension is U2 manager, Paul McGuinness. Principle Management, the management company behind the band, posted a loss in 2009 but the pay and pensions of its three directors rose by more than €1m, according to the Sunday Tribune.

Turnover for the year to end-March 2009 jumped to €6m from €3.8m and retained profit stood at €7.6m, even after last year’s loss of €230,000.

The antiques dealer who paid €130,000 for a Chinese vase at an auction in Offaly last week is already negotiating its resale for a “nice” profit, The Sunday Times reports.

Richard Peters said he would have gone closer to €200,000 for the vase, which had a reserve of just €100-€150. He also paid €41,000 for another two vases and said he would have been prepared to pay much more for these too.

Sheppards, the Durrow-based auction house who sold the vases, defended the prices received, claiming Peters had paid “top dollar” for them and the sellers had got fair value, even though with no reserve they could have sold for a lot less.

Odds on that Peters will be returning shortly for the next Sheppards’ auction of vases from the same client.

Investors put €100m in Irish films and TV productions last year, taking advantage of enhanced tax incentives for the industry, The Sunday Business Post reports.

The investment under Section 481 cost the exchequer €40.9m in revenue foregone but 46 TV series and 18 films received investment under the scheme during 2009. The number of productions was the highest since 1995.

Under the new regime introduced in 2008 to boost the industry, 100% of a movie’s budget can be offset against tax – up from 80% previously. The amount an individual could invest was also increased substantially.

Merlin & co are bringing their financial wizardry to Wicklow and it spells tens of millions for the Irish film industry, The Sunday Times reports.

Camelot, a US-funded TV series based on the legendary Knights of the Round Table, is set to be filmed at Ardmore Studios in Wicklow with speculation that it will be an even bigger money-spinner than the Tudors, which brought €20m to Ireland last year alone.

Camelot is projected to run over five seasons, providing a welcome boost for thespians, hoteliers and travel companies.

Michael Hirst, the man who wrote The Tudors, has already penned the first four episodes of Camelot and has been commissioned to work on The Borgias, another TV series to be directed by Neil Jordan and starring Jeremy Irons. He said film-makers were attracted to Ireland by experienced crew and actors, the scenery and tax breaks.

“The landscape is perfect for the Arthurian setting. You get a real sense of the Dark Ages in Ireland,” he told the newspaper.

Perhaps he was talking about the economy.