The IrishFilm Board has backed the launch of a location shooting initiative, FilmDublin, modelled on the Office of Film in the New York Mayor's Office.

The movecomes just as production begins in Dublin on The Honeymooners, a $30mNew York-set comedy for Paramount. The Honeymooners has already testedthe initiative by closing key streets in the capital, including the mainthoroughfare, O'Connell Street, which would equate with closing parts of FifthAvenue in New York or Oxford Street in London.

Film Dublinis a partnership between the IFB, Dublin City Council, An Garda Siochana (theIrish police force), Dublin City Centre Business Association, Screen ProducersIreland, and the government Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism.

Thepartnership has agreed a code of best practice for location shooting which setsout a template for "consultation, co-ordination and communication on complexfilm and television projects that are in need of multiple agency co-operationwhen shooting in the capital." Interested producers can download theFilmmakers' Code of Best Practice document from the IFB website.

Accordingto IFB Film Commissioner Naoise Barry the IFB will work with the Network ofRegional Film Offices who wish to adapt and adopt the Film Dublin model andCode of Best Practice for urban and rural areas around the country.

"Hell'sKitchen International is shooting The Honeymooners with ParamountStudios and Royston Vasey with Film Four and Universal Pictures in Dublin thisyear, so any initiative that helps makes Dublin a more film friendly placemakes our job of attracting incoming productions easier" commented Hell'sKitchen International Producer, Andrew Lowe.

The initiative is also expected to smooth the path ofDisney's $50m project, The Banshee, which goes into pre-production inDecember for an early 2005 studio and location shoot with Lilo & Stichdirector Dean DeBlois taking writing and directing credit.

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