From Pierce Brosnan to Helena Bonham-Carter, Derry Girls to Dungeons & Dragons, stars continue to flock to Northern Ireland as favoured filming destination

Despite a challenging year in Hollywood with a writers’ and actors’ strike, 2023 was another prolific year for Northern Ireland for film, TV, animation and interactive content, NI Screen said.

The year started strongly, with directors Ross White and Tom Berkeley scooping awards across the world, including an Oscar, for their short film An Irish Goodbye, propelling local actor James Martin to global stardom and breaking barriers for those with Down’s syndrome.

Lisa McGee’s Derry Girls kept the awards rolling in, with an International Emmy and three Baftas, and bringing people across the world to her home city, where an attraction centred on the show at the Tower Museum had received 10,000 visitors by September.

In the documentary sector, Kathryn Ferguson’s Nothing Compares picked up the Rose d’Or Award for Arts and she was named part of Bafta’s 2023 Breakthrough cohort.

Alison Millar’s Lyra, about the murdered Belfast journalist Lyra McKee, won Best Single Documentary at the Grierson Trust’s 2023 British Documentary Awards and Best European TV Documentary at the Prix Europa Awards.

Once Upon A Time In Northern Ireland from KEO Films and Walk on Air Films won two British Documentary Awards, for Best Documentary Series and Best History Documentary.

Meanwhile Paramount and eOne’s Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves, starring Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Rege-Jean Page and Hugh Grant, filmed at Titanic Studios and on location across Northern Ireland in 2021, took more than £162m worldwide at the box office.

It was also a strong year for independent film, with 12 shooting across the year, including Pierce Brosnan in Four Letters Of Love with Helena Bonham-Carter and Gabriel Byrne.

Charlie’s Angel’s Lucy Liu joined two-time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz in Belfast to film Old Guy, which follows aging contract killer Danny Dolinski.

Other highlights included Ballywalter, starring Patrick Kielty, In The Land Of Saints And Sinners, and The Last Rifleman, a drama starring Pierce Brosnan, which was released on Sky Cinema in November to coincide with Remembrance Day.

In recent weeks, The Heist Before Christmas, starring James Nesbitt and Timothy Spall, and young Northern Ireland newcomers Bamber Todd and Joshua McLees, aired on Sky, bringing festive magic to the small screen.

The TV drama sector was also busy, with Blue Lights, written by Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson, launching on BBC One and iPlayer in March to critical success. A second series has recently finished filming.

BBC One’s primetime 9pm Sunday slot was dominated by Northern Ireland drama over the summer, with World On Fire season two and The Woman In The Wall, while The Lovers launched on Sky Atlantic.

The popular BBC daytime police drama Hope Street returned to Donaghadee for a third season in April, and the latest series of hit drama Showtrial is currently filming in Northern Ireland, while the dreaded black chair of Mastermind and Celebrity Mastermind also remains in the region.

New Mammoth TV drama Tom Jones launched on ITVX in May and ITV’s Breathtaking, starring Golden Globe Award-winning actress Joanne Froggatt was about an NHS doctor in the eye of the storm during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The first animated feature film to be produced in Northern Ireland was released in 2023, Puffin Rock And The New Friends; a new series of Paper Owl Films’ Ladybird And Bee launched on RTEjr in March, and Sixteen South’s The Coop Troop debuted on France Televisions and Tencent Video in China.

Belfast-based make-up company BPerfect also burst on to the small screen, with the BBC Three behind-the-scenes documentary Made Up In Belfast, which also enjoyed a special Christmas edition.

In terms of Irish language content, a documentary on Irish rap trio Kneecap will have its world premiere at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in January, while Imagine Media’s An Buachaill Gealghaireach won the Audience Award at Thessaloniki International Documentary Film Festival in Greece in March.

The Ulster-Scots Broadcast Fund programming also continued, with a second series of DoubleBand’s A Stitch Through Time in July, the return of Mahon’s Way from Westway Films in August, and Paula McIntyre’s Hamely Kitchen.

Meanwhile Studio Ulster, a state-of-the-art virtual production studio, is under construction at Belfast’s Giant’s Park, a collaborative effort between Belfast Harbour, Ulster University and Northern Ireland Screen, opening in 2024.

NI Screen continued to focus on skills, supporting hundreds of individuals through a number of development initiatives, from animation and games to TV drama and independent film.

Richard Williams, chief executive of Northern Ireland Screen, said local talent shone brightly in 2023.

“In 2023, our vibrant screen industry once again demonstrated its resilience and creativity, overcoming challenges and delivering outstanding content across film, TV, animation, games, and interactive media,” he said.

“Our local talent shone bright, earning accolades, breaking records, and captivating audiences worldwide. From the historic success of An Irish Goodbye to the continued triumphs of Derry Girls, Lyra and Nothing Compares, our storytellers excelled on every front.

“2024 is already shaping up well with Universal’s How To Train Your Dragon getting ready to shoot and Netflix’s Lift streaming globally, as well as an exciting slate of new projects across all genres.”

“In the spirit of collaboration and creativity, we press on, united in our pursuit of making Northern Ireland a global hub for screen excellence.”