Bumper year saw nine TV dramas and six films shot in Northern Ireland

The final series of Game of Thrones, series 2 of Derry Girls and Torvill and Dean are among the highlights

Northern Ireland is celebrating a bumper year as a filming location.

The second series of the Channel 4 hit Derry Girls and the highly-anticipated finale of Sky Atlantic’s Game of Thrones were among the highlights.

In total, nine TV dramas and six feature films were made in the region in 2018.

Northern Ireland Screen chief Richard Williams said the industry in the region is now estimated to be worth £270 million.

Game Of Thrones drives surge in popularity of Northern Inuit dogs — William Mulhall of Direwolf Tours with Thor (left) and Odin, two Northern Inuit dogs he owns which played ‘direwolves’ in Game Of Thrones. (PA Archive)

The HBO show’s legacy is set to live on with a screen tourism project in the region.

The 2018 roll call, which includes Mrs Wilson and Krypton series 2, were all filmed with funding support from Northern Ireland Screen.

Cameras also rolled on Dublin Murders, Doing Money, Death and Nightingales and Line of Duty series 5.

The new Torvill and Dean biopic was filmed in Northern Ireland in 2018. (NI Screen/PA)

However, it is not just dramas that are flourishing but the animation sector too.

Sixteen South’s Lily’s Driftwood Bay being nominated for Best Pre-School Series at the 2018 International Emmy Awards and taking home the IFTA for Best Animation.

Pablo from Paper Owl was nominated for a Children’s BAFTA.

Other independent films shot this year include Cathy Brady’s Wildfire, Terry Loane’s Agatha Christie & The Truth of Murder, Aoife Crehan’s The Last Right and Paul Billing’s Angel Makers.

NI Screen has also focused on skills development and training to help the sector grow in the region.

This included employing 65 trainees in craft and technical, production, post-production, animation, gaming and VFX roles.

The body also ran a new entrants training course for 36 people and placed 12 undergraduates in animation and gaming roles, and launched two new schemes, Aim High 5 and an Animation Internship Scheme as well as five other training programmes.

Mr Williams said 2018 has been a fantastic year for the screen industries in the region.

“This year we came to the end of Phase 1 (2014-18) of our Opening Doors strategy. We are delighted that over this period the overall value of the sector has doubled and the economic targets set out have been exceeded – reaching £270 million against a £250 million direct spend target,” he said.

“As we enter Phase 2 (2018-22) we hope to deliver a minimum of £300 million in direct Northern Ireland spend, a 20% increase on Phase 1.”