Archives for November 2017

Congratulations to our friends in the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance Australia for all their hard work campaigning for a yes to marriage equality in Australia. Love conquers all!

The International Federation of Actors (FIA) Executive Committee unanimously approved a Declaration on sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation in the entertainment and media industries on 26th October 2017. The Declaration, authored and sponsored by the American performers union Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), recognizes the rights of all performers to a safe and harassment-free working environment and urges the industry to work in good faith with unions and performer organisations to develop a long-term strategy to achieve discrimination, harassment and retaliation-free work environments. Read the declaration

Bullying and harassment is never acceptable.
On Friday 10th November, Irish Equity ran a successful Dignity at Work Seminar in partnership with Screen Producers Ireland, Screen Training Ireland, the broadcasting Authority and The Lab. [Read more…]

Irish Equity has criticised, as not going far enough, the announcement by Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys, that board members and senior staff in arts organisations are to take part in special workshops on sexual harassment and bullying in the workplace.  

Irish Equity Organiser, Karan O Loughlin, said: “Reminding organisations of their responsibilities is always welcome but any initiative to tackle the problem of bullying and sexual harassment in the arts needs to have teeth. We are specifically calling on the Minister to create a direct relationship between funding and good practice. Arts organisations applying for funding should have to demonstrate that they are operating good practice in this area as part of the application procedure.

“We note with interest that the Minister has invited the heads of eight leading theatres, including the Abbey and Gate, to meet with her and the Arts Council next week to seek ‘ways to create a change in culture for the arts’. Before this meeting happens, those eight organisations need to be asked to demonstrate how they handle these issues currently, what procedures and policies they have in place and whether these practices and policies are up to standard.”

She added: “If unacceptable behavior is to be driven out of the sector there must be consequences for those who do not adopt proper procedures. Access to funding must be in question if organisations are not operating to the best standard on this matter.”

Call for entries deadline is; 5pm on Friday 17th November

Elegibility period is 1st January 2017 to the 31st January 2018. Full details about the Categories, Rules & Guidelines and submission details are all available here: www.ifta.ie/submissions.php.
Contact the Submissions Desk at IFTA – either by phone: 019053599 or email: submissions@ifta.ie

15th Anniversary Year
The IFTA Film & Drama Awards take place on Thursday 15th February (immediately prior to EFM at Berlin, and the BAFTA Film Awards), and will be broadcast primetime on RTÉ One. 2018 marks the big 15th Anniversary Year for the annual Awards. The positioning of the Awards into the international Awards season in February, is part of the Academy’s new phase of development for the industry which also includes the re-positioning of the IFTA Gala Television Awards into April on the annual Calendar of events. This new move will see IFTA working very closely with BAFTA across their respective Awards ceremonies which will take place on the same week.

About IFTA
The Irish Film and Television Academy (IFTA) is the all-Ireland organisation whose mission is to encourage, recognise and reward excellence in Irish Film and Television and to provide a platform for inspiration, creative development and collaboration across the entire industry. As part of this remit, the Academy also organises c 50 industry events each year within its industry Learning Programme which have recently included some of the world’s most respected filmmakers, such as Martin Scorsese, Michael Moore and Liam Neeson, and the upcoming 15th Anniversary Year will see an expanded lineup of exciting high profile talent and events throughout the year of 2018.

The Irish Theatre has, sadly, lost the gifted actor and radio drama director Scott Fredericks, following a long and serious illness. Scott was born in Sligo in 1943 and left the family business after gaining a scholarship to train at RADA in London. His career started in Chesterfield Repertory and he subsequently worked with iconic director Peter Brook at Northampton. He then performed Mark Anthony in the West End and Henry II in Beckett.

Whilst appearing as a speedway rider in Crossroads, he was asked if he wanted to remain “or get out quick”. Scott decided latter, did another Dr. Who and a tremendous volume of work followed. Other featured TV roles included in Z Cars, Dixon of Dock Green, Dr. Who, Blake’s Seven, Triangle, John Halifax Gentleman and Dad’s Army.

In 1973 he returned to Ireland and played leading roles in the Gate Theatre for several seasons with Edward’s and McLiammoir. Lengthy tours and long runs of Peg o’ My Heart followed, and he performed for the newly created Irish Theatre Company, later appearing in Cal, Fair City and Caught in a Free State.

In 1980, he received the J.J. Finnegan Evening Herald Award nomination for his solo stage show, Yeats Remembers. In all, Scott made more than 30 Film and TV appearances and, in 1992, became a contract Radio Drama director with RTE and represented the station at the 1997 Prix Italia Awards.

For more than forty years, Scott was the quintessential, “leading man” and graced the stage with talent and dignity. He remained a member of British Equity for the whole of his career, but was a staunch supporter of Irish Actors’ Equity and of all its members. So many of us had the privilege of working with him for much of that time and we have all lost a good friend and a stalwart professional.

Laurence Foster