15 December 2017
By Bryan Smyth
bryan@TheCork.ie
Film In Cork, which is supported by Cork County Council and Cork City Council, provides production, location and training services to those working in film, television, and animation.
Cork cinema goers will be keeping their eyes peeled throughout Star Wars: The Last Jedi, for dramatic shots of The Rebel County’s Brow Head and Mizen Head, as the highly anticipated movie hits Irish cinema screens this Friday.
Up to 350 of George Lucas’s Star Wars crew and cast spent 10 weeks in late spring/ early summer last year prepping to create a spectacular stunt at Brow Head, which was shot over a three day period; with a 2nd unit shoot taking place at nearby Mizen Head.
The filming of the Lucas film franchise provided significant economic and tourism boosts for the West Cork region, and while cast members dropped by for just a few days, the influence of the filming was felt throughout the community and it is estimated that the local spend was in the region of €1million. For example, O’Sullivan’s Bar in Crookhaven became a “regular haunt” of crew and cast members, with proprietor Dermot Sullivan even selling Star Wars t-shirts in the bar!
A number of Cork crew were employed on shoot days for traffic management; with Cork County Council’s local engineer and planning department, as well as the Gardai, assisting in facilitating the entire production. Film In Cork, acted as primary point of contact for this logistical support and advised supervising and on-site locations managers throughout.
Rossa Mullin, who runs Film In Cork said “There’s no doubt about it, the impact of Star Wars: The Last Jedi is, and will be, immense. It was such a coup for the region to secure filming and Film In Cork was delighted to be able to offer on the ground support, making the filming process as efficient and easy as possible for the international crew visiting the region.”
The film franchise used a number of locations along the Wild Atlantic Way, and on December 18th, Tourism Ireland, working with Disney and Lucasfilm, will release a digital campaign to promote the filming locations along the now world famous tourism route.
Cork crew, together with locals, will attend a special preview screening of the Star Wars: The Last Jedi in Bantry this Thursday, and the movie goes on general release nationwide on Friday.
