The producers of the multi-Oscar nominated Banshees of Inisherin did not get the break-out star of the movie, Jenny the Donkey and her animal co-stars on the cheap.
This follows new accounts for the acclaimed Martin McDonagh directed movie production showing that the amount spent under the heading of ‘Animals/Handlers’ for the production shot at Achill Island and Inis Mor totalled €213,455.
The accounts, lodged by Laneways Productions DAC with the Companies Office, show that the total spend on the movie for the 12 months to the end of April last amounted to €18.89m.
READ MORE: Miniature donkey from The Banshees of Inisherin deserves Oscar glory, says trainer
The movie has already made more than double that at the global box office with box office revenues of $48.6m (€44.5m) and has also generated additional revenues from streaming on Disney+.
Figures published by the Revenue Commissioners confirm that the production received Section 481 corporation tax credits of between €5m and €10m.
Two donkeys, Jenny and lookalike Rosie played the part of the donkey side-kick of Padraic, Colin Farrell’s character in the movie.
Brendan Gleeson’s character, Colm Doherty’s dog also featured prominently in the production.
The team training and handling the animals was 10 strong with the movie’s closing credits listing three animal trainers and a further seven animal handlers.
In an interview, Colin Farrell said that he became friends with Jenny on set though later in the shoot he recalled that she kicked him while Brendan Gleeson’s dog “bit me”.
He said that there was also a horse in the movie “that tried to reverse me on the cart into the Atlantic Ocean”.
Megan Hines receives a credit as one of the “Animal Handlers" in the closing credits.
Ms Hines trained the two donkeys and in a press interview ahead of the Oscar ceremony she said: “Jenny was very sweet but quite naive. So we had to train everything from scratch as she hadn’t had very much handling at all.
She said: “Rosie took everything in her stride and nothing fazed her.”
The movie was shot between August and October 2021 and the accounts provide a rare insight into the costs of producing a movie here with the accounts providing a detailed statement on its breakdown of costs of €18.89 million.
Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Barry Keoghan and Kerry Condon each received Oscar nominations for their performance and the accounts show that Principal Cast shared pay of €2.07 million while Supporting Cast shared pay of €271,647.
The movie’s ‘Extras’ shared pay of €191,740 while production staff received €1.24m. The costs for ‘Director’ totalled €1.39m while the Producer costs are listed as €272,569.
The movie’s Set Construction costs totalled €1.59m and Set Dressing cost €757,273 while ‘Camera’ costs amounted to €776,680.
‘Wardrobe’ cost €570,157 while ‘Make-up/Hair’ costs totalled €245,929, ‘Special Effects’ cost €156,520 while Props cost €126,077.
The success of the movie is expected to provide a tourist dividend this Summer to Achill Island Inis Mor and the costs under the heading of ‘Locations’ is €501,679.
Covid-19 added significantly to the budget for the movie with €1.8 million spent under the heading of ‘Covid hard costs’. During the shoot, the production employed a Covid consultant, a Covid Supervisor and two Covid Officers along with a Covid trainee.
Other significant costs included ‘Below the Line’ Travel and Living at €2.13mand ‘Above the Line’ Travel and Living at €326,798.
The accounts - signed off on March 24th - show that transportation costs total €987,856 while office expenses amounted to €589,808.
Martin McDonagh also wrote the screenplay for the movie and the detailed breakdown of costs provides no cost for that work.
Incorporated in March 2020, Laneways Productions DAC is a subsidiary of Metropolitan Films International and recent accounts show that Metropolitan Films International’s various productions received €72.5 million in Revenue movie and TV corporation tax credits in the 12 months to the end of April 2022.
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