Dublin star Alisha Weir’s new vampire film ‘Abigail’ receives multi-million euro tax credits

Dublin actress Alisha Weir (14) stars in ‘Abigail’, which will be released later this month. Photo: Getty

Gordon Deegan

Vampire horror movie Abigail, starring Dublin teenager Alisha Weir, was one of the big winners in the €40.5m paid out in movie corporation tax credits in the first quarter of this year.

New figures provided by the Revenue Commissioners show that Wild Atlantic Pictures – the Irish co-producers of Abigail, which is due for general release later this month – received corporation tax credits between €5m and €10m under Section 481 of the Tax Consolidation Act.

Earlier this week, Weir (14) was among those to feature in the new Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list of rising talents in the world of entertainment.

The Revenue figures also show that the production firm Sackville Film and Television Productions Two – behind The Watchers, starring Dakota Fanning – received between €2m and €5m in corporation tax credits this year.

The €40.5m claimed in tax credits for the first quarter is a 28pc jump on the €30.6m claimed for the same period last year and compares with €129.5m for the 12 months of 2023.

Screen Producers Ireland’s director of strategic policy, Anthony Muldoon, said yesterday the film and TV tax incentive Section 481 “is essential to Ireland’s independent production landscape”.

He said Section 481 “gives independent producers leverage to attract incoming productions, which creates high-value industry jobs in Ireland”.

“It also enables producers to make lower-budget indigenous productions across the country which bring Irish stories to screens around the world,” he added. “There are very positive discussions ongoing across the sector about the pipeline of productions for the year 2024, both indigenous and incoming.”

Mr Muldoon said that the increase in the Section 481 cap to €125m “will enable Irish productions companies to implement long-term planning, leading to increased high-value employment and investment across the country”.

However, the figures follow criticism of movie industry bosses in the Dáil this week, where People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett said: “For years now, film workers have been saying that film producers who get the Section 481 tax credit are failing to vindicate those workers’ rights.”

Asked to respond, Mr Muldoon said: “Screen Producers Ireland believes that collective bargaining between employer representative bodies and Ictu-­affiliated trade unions is a key growth enabler for the film and TV sector.”