An ebullient Ed Guiney hailed Ireland's big night at the Oscars with Best Actor winner Cillian Murphy comparing it to Italia 90.
Guiney, of Dublin’s Element Pictures and one of the producers of four-time winner Poor Things, was speaking on RTÉ Radio One’s Morning Ireland from one of Hollywood’s post-Oscars parties.
"It’s been great," he said. "We couldn’t be happier really. There’s the juggernaut of Oppenheimer, which won maybe seven awards, and I think we’re the second highest winner with four.
"We’re absolutely thrilled. Design, production and design, makeup and hair. And of course Emma Stone winning the big prize, which we’re thrilled by . . . delighted."
When asked what it was like to be there at the Oscars to witness Cillian Murphy’s Best Actor win for Oppenheimer, Guiney half-laughed as he replied: "It was great!
"I was talking to him earlier – it was earlier in the evening and just wishing him well. We’ve worked with him a lot and just love him to bits. We were very hopeful that he would win.
"He said to me: 'It’s a bit like Italia 90, isn’t it?’ And I said, ‘Yes it is.’ He was just saying it was so nice, the vibes from Ireland – and we can all really feel them here.
"People are so wholehearted and so supportive and positive about what's going on here. So we’re all incredibly proud, so proud of him. He’s incredible.
"It’s lovely to be here with him and to be part of the whole thing. We’re very grateful and very proud."
Reflecting on the awards season’s success and what it means for Element Pictures, he said: "The thing about the awards is, they kind of give a film visibility, and they kind of sanction it for audiences.
"For instance, when we had the 11 nominations, [Poor Things] went from 500 screenings to 2,500 screens. And now that we’ve had these wins this weekend, we’re now on digital platforms like Hulu and Apple and all that kind of stuff.
"So it’ll just power the response to the film and people downloading and buying the movie. That’s a huge impact. But maybe more importantly for us, it’s a reputational thing.
"In other words, the film gets cemented as a film that hopefully people will remember in years to come and people will continue to find it over time. And that’s, I guess, why we do these things.
"We want to make something for people to know about and continue to watch over time."
Oscar success also gives companies such as Element the ability to acquire funding for future projects. Guiney readily agrees that industry baubles are good for business.
"Yeah, it does," he said. "At Element we’ve had Room, The Favourite and now . . . We’ve had three best actress nominations and wins: Brie Larson, Olivia Colman and now Emma Stone.
"It just means that when we send a script to somebody, to one of the agencies in Hollywood, these are the people who produce these movies that have Oscar wins, and that is a really significant thing. It means a lot actually!"
