Chris O'Dowd has heaped praise on those working in the Irish film industry and described them as "incredibly talented".
Some of Ireland's top film stars and industry folk gathered last night in Los Angeles at a joint Irish Film Board and IDA Ireland event.
The bash was attended by many US film studios, distributors, talent agents, content platforms, film financiers and entertainment technology companies, and is part of an effort to maximise every opportunity presented by the unprecedented Irish showing at this year's Academy Awards, which take place on Sunday.
Amongst those attending the event were the Irish Ambassador to the US Anne Anderson, Oscar nominees Lenny Abrahamson (Room), Ed Guiney (Room), and Ben Cleary (STUTTERER), actors Colin Farrell (The Lobster) Chris O’Dowd (Calvary, Moone Boy), and Fionnuala Flanagan.
Chris O'Dowd, Fionnuala Flanagan and Colin Farrell
When asked about the Irish film industry, Chris O'Dowd said: "You can see that behind the scenes, the costume designers, the makeup designers, the set designers – these are incredibly talented people who are working in a very small country but doing beautiful, beautiful work."
His sentiments were echoed by Ed Guiney, producer of Oscar-nominated Room, who said: "Obviously, [it's] very kind of productive at the moment. It's the result of long-term investment in the industry over 20 years."
Chris O’Dowd, Colin Farrell with Irish Film Board CEO James Hickey
Also at the event, James Hickey, Chief Executive of the Irish Film Board, was keen to note that the activities of the Irish weren't going unnoticed in Tinseltown.
"There is a very strong awareness here in LA of the great work Irish filmmakers are creating and we want to ensure that we capitalise on that in the lead up to the Academy Awards," he said.
"Our aim is to raise finance for our Irish film slate, and to attract international production activity to Ireland."
