RTÉ aims to renew and reimagine its approach to Arts and culture and create content that involves and impacts on a large cross section of Irish audiences.
We need ambitious high-impact proposals that stand apart in the schedule.

We invite independent production companies to submit ideas for high-impact, peak-time arts documentaries.

We welcome arts proposal that reflect and  comment  on life in Ireland, stories with human interest at the heart, stories with a strong narrative that engage and open up the arts or Irish culture to a mainstream audience.

We also welcome proposals marking anniversaries; ambitious, big subject  arts anchor projects exploring the stories and national  events.

While our in-house team do make 10 biographical documentaries a year, we will consider stand out high profile proposals.

We very much welcome projects that involve partnerships between RTÉ and national cultural institutions or organisations. And, given that budgets are always a challenge, we welcome projects that meet the objectives of BAI Sound and Vision financing  and that have the potential or scale to bring other sources of funding to the table.

Ideally, we would prefer to receive programme proposals that correspond with the above advertised brief(s).  However, if you have an idea that doesn't fit within these briefs and you think it might be of interest to us, please submit your proposal to the General Call-out.  Please note that by submitting your proposal under this heading by no means implies that RTÉ are in any way compelled to commission your proposal.

We ask, in the first instance, that producers submit ideas into the eCommissioning system:
Login | RTE (rtegroup.ie) under the programme category "Arts & Culture"

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Post-watershed Monday / Wednesday 2135 or Thursday 2215

INFORMATION

Duration:                           50 minutes. One-offs and short series.

Budget Range:                  €100,000 – €130,000 for one-off one-hour documentaries.

                                            €90,000 – €120,000 per hour for series.

NB In exceptional circumstances budgets with a higher cost per hour may be considered.  In such circumstances, Producers should supply additional information and details as to the background to the increased cost.

RTÉ Arts and Culture are seeking proposals that reflect and comment on life in Ireland, stories with human interest at the heart, stories with a strong narrative that engage and resonate with a broad audience. We welcome proposals marking anniversaries; ambitious, big subject arts anchor projects exploring the stories and national events. We also invite independent production companies to submit ideas for high-impact, peak-time arts documentaries on RTÉ One which have the potential to attract BAI funding and other third-party money, such as collaborations with national cultural institutions, organisations, or government bodies.  We are looking for documentary ideas with a fresh approach.

Stories of Cultural Significance – Society & History:
We are interested in commissioning one-off or - where merited - multi-part short series about subjects from our cultural history. 100 Years of Ulysses is an example of this - a documentary unlocking one of the most acclaimed and explosive of novels on the 100th anniversary of its publication. Steps of Freedom - The Story of Irish Dance, is another example: a sweeping, cinematic, film documentary in two parts, telling the story of Irish dance and how it evolved from ancient ritual to global phenomenal in the last three decades.  The recent Jack B. Yeats documentary, Jack B. Yeats, The Man Who Painted Ireland, marking 150 years since the artist's birth worked well in this vein. Author Colm Tóibín co-developed the story and wrote the script, narrated by Pierce Brosnan who, like Tóibín, is a Yeats fan.

Relevancy and popularity of the subject are of interest to us, so please come to us with your take on contemporary figures and stories which have had a big impact on recent Irish culture and society.

Personality driven Documentaries
Personality driven documentaries can provide audiences with an appealing ‘way-in’ to big stories in Irish culture, well known faces on a personal journey with something insightful to say. The recent two part series Tommy Tiernan’s Epic West, is a prime example of a personal engagement with a big subject, enhancing viewer experience rather than distracting form the subject matter ... another good example is Francis Bacon: The Outsider presented by Adam Clayton. Who else with a clear passion for the subject matter, could present an authored documentary on a suitable and timely subject - whether it be from the past, present, or even the future?

 Profile documentaries
Colm Tóibín - On Memory's Shore is a good example of a style and approach that works well - the documentary eschewed a more conventional talking heads format and brought us into the life, home and under the skin, of one of Ireland's most successful novelists by featuring only the subject, Colm Tóibín, in an intimate and revealing portrayal. Are there other figures in contemporary Irish cultural life right now that could merit a similar immersive, intimate approach by the director and subject?

The audience respond well to this style of storytelling, even with lesser-known recent subjects such as Songs of the Open Road, a documentary on Thomas McCarthy, a singer from the travelling community and Clodagh, a trailblazing Irish designer. Both, honest and intimate portrayals as told primarily by the subject themselves with very strong use of archive.

Are there other cultural figures whose stories can be told in a similar intimate way?

Popular artist profiles
Profiles featuring artists who have had an exceptional effect on culture and a particular generation of Irish people in recent time. We are in this instance interested in subjects that straddle the lines between entertainment or news, factual and the arts.

And, are there other iconic cultural figures whose life, work and legacy are ready to be explored and even re-examined?   - Perhaps dismantling the half-truths, misconceptions and myths that have grown up around certain figures or eras.  Could this be extended to notable iconic cultural figure​s from our recent past and present day? Recent ​feature documentary releases like Nothing Compares and Love Yourself Today are strong examples of the kind of story and story-telling that RTÉ would like to support. Are there issues and news stories bubbling up that might be told in a different way to the news agenda? - the recent international release All The Beauty and the Bloodshed follows the life of American artist Nan Goldin and the fall of the Sackler family. Obviously, that's not our story to tell but we're interested in ideas that explore controversial Irish stories.

Note that RTÉ's in-house team already make 10 biographical documentaries. The Works Presents, each year on current Irish artists in The Works Presents, for example features Doireann Ni Ghriofa, Conor McPherson, Louise O' Neill, John Boyne and Eimear Noone.

However, we are open to suggestions for half hour formats which could feature current Irish artists in a different format to the The Works Presents.

Music
RTÉ Arts and Culture places strong strategic importance in growing our relationships with artists, musicians and performers.  With this in mind we are interested in hearing your ideas.  Recent in-house Arts and Culture shows include Shine Your Light Easter 2021, Shine Concert - summer 2021, Bowie: Starman with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Culture Night 2022 - Live at Lough Boora, The RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards live from Vicar Street.  We are interested in hearing your fresh, inventive ideas with or without the use of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra.  An example of a fresh idea from the independent sector is the upcoming one hour A Note For Nature, exploring, through music, the beauty and fragility of the Irish landscape and habitat in this time of ecological instability.

Please do consider the orchestra in development ideas where soundtrack could be recorded as part of a commission/of RTÉ 's support.

Gaeilge

We ask, in the first instance, that producers submit ideas into the eCommissioning system Login | RTE (rtegroup.ie) system under the programme category Arts & Culture “Documentary Series”

Please note: The discussion of, or initial interest in, a proposal does not represent a commitment to commission by RTÉ and should not be understood as such.

Commissioning decisions will reflect the quality of proposals received and the scheduling priorities operating at the time. RTÉ's financial position will also be a factor.

• funding should clearly detail finance plans, identifying all funding parties and the amounts committed.

Duration:                            6 x 24 minute episodes.

Budget Range:                   €45,000 – €60,000 per episode.

Duration:                            50 minutes short series.

Budget Range:                   €90,000 – €120,000 per hour for series.

NB In exceptional circumstances budgets with a higher cost per hour may be considered.  In such circumstances, Producers should supply additional information and details as to the background to the increased cost

 

RTÉ Arts and Culture are seeking proposals that reflect and comment on life in Ireland, stories with human interest at the heart, stories with a strong narrative that engage and resonate with a broad audience.

We also welcome ambitious, big subject anchor projects with currency and relevance to our audience. High-impact, peak-time arts documentaries on which have the potential to attract BAI funding and other third-party money, such as collaborations with national cultural institutions, organisations, or government bodies.  We are looking for documentary ideas with a fresh approach.

Formatted Series
Are there lightly formatted series which might work for Arts and Culture along the lines of Page Turners, a four-part docu-series for RTÉ, dipping into multiple book clubs across the country to get a true vox-pop of the thoughts and feelings of people in contemporary Ireland today or the more recent Lady Gregory, Ireland’s First Social Influencer, a two parter where actress Miriam Margoyles and Senator Lynn Ruane embark on a road trip re-tracing the life and work of Lady Gregory? Two good examples of a formatted series crossing both arts and lifestyle.

We'd love to hear some ideas for programmes and potentially returnable series that would be able to attract a large and broad audience.

We ask, in the first instance, that producers submit ideas into the eCommissioning system:
Login | RTE (rtegroup.ie) under the programme category "Arts & Culture Formatted  Series”

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Please note: The discussion of, or initial interest in, a proposal does not represent a commitment to commission by RTÉ and should not be understood as such.

Commissioning decisions will reflect the quality of proposals received and the scheduling priorities operating at the time. RTÉ's financial position will also be a factor.

• funding should clearly detail finance plans, identifying all funding parties and the amounts committed.

History of the Fund

In November 2016, RTÉ entered into a formal co-production agreement with Arte GE.I.E., the Strasbourg branch of Franco-German public service broadcaster Arte. Both partners pledged to contribute funding annually to a central co-production fund and to work together to develop and co-fund standout documentary projects, bringing more Irish-made content to European audiences.

Since then, Arte G.E.I.E. and RTÉ have invested in a wide range of projects from every content genre, supporting a wide range of Irish production companies. Examples include Brexit: Stuck in the Middle (Motive), Young Plato (Soilsiú Films), Ireland’s Wild Islands (Crossing the Line Films), 100 Years of Ulysses (Create One), Ireland’s Dirty Laundry (New Decade), Shooting the Darkness (Broadstone Films), The Killing of Thomas Niedermeyer (Blueprint Films) and The Hunger (Create One/Tyrone Productions).

All of these documentaries have played on both RTÉ and Arte to critical and audience acclaim, and the relationship between Arte commissioning editors and Irish production companies continues to develop, with many new opportunities resulting for Irish creative talent.

The contract was renewed in late 2021, and a number of new projects are currently in development for support from the fund.

Practical Information

The fund is a rolling one, with projects being developed and funded on an ongoing basis. Arte G.E.I.E. and RTÉ also work together to support projects with other broadcasters and funding bodies such as the BAI, Screen Ireland, NI Screen and Creative Europe. We also work together to introduce production companies and professionals from across France and Germany to Irish production talent to work on projects together that are of mutual interest.

Arte will, in general, invest between €30K and €80K per project/TV hour, depending on what stage they get involved in a project and what slot the project is intended for.

Most documentaries for Arte are 52 minutes, with no commercial breaks. We work into specific slots with Arte commissioning editors; while most slots are TV hours, there are some (limited) opportunities for feature-length slots also. The fund is aimed primarily at standout single docs, but we have also begun to look at multiple-part doc series, particularly in areas like natural history. Drama projects are also welcomed.

Because Arte documentaries are broadcast in several territories, voiceover-led projects which can be revoiced in several languages prior to TX/on-demand are preferable;

presenter-led docs or series do not, in general, work for Arte, except in very rare cases where the presenter is a global icon - eg Angelica Huston on Joyce by Blueprint Films.

This also limits somewhat – though as the example of Brexit: Stuck in the Middle illustrates, doesn’t prevent - our capacity to make more reactive docs together, as companies must deliver the finished project to Arte 6-8 weeks in advance of TX on Arte for translation, subtitling and revoicing in French and German, as well as Polish, Spanish and Italian for their on-demand services in those languages. This cost is carried by Arte and should not be included in your budgets.

Rights:

The minimum territory/archive rights clearances requirement for any Arte co-pro is to clear for France and Germany. Preferable is to clear rights for all French- and German-speaking territories in Europe: France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria. Ideally, if you can clear for all of Europe or world-wide, that is the gold-star option. So please remember to account for multiple-territory archive clearances in your budget.

Arte, like RTÉ, also have a blanket music agreement which covers the use of commercial music in the French- and German-speaking territories into which they broadcast.

How To Apply

If companies are interested in availing of the fund, they should pitch, in the first instance, to the relevant RTÉ genre head or executive producer in the normal way and via RTÉ e-commissioning, indicating if they think that the idea might be suitable for co-production with Arte. The RTÉ genre head or executive producer will then work with RTÉ’s representative to Arte, Sarah Ryder, to triage the best ideas for the fund and prepare to pitch to the relevant Arte commissioning executives.

We welcome ideas from all genres: Factual, Specialist Factual, Science, History, Current Affairs/Geopolitics/Society, Arts, Music. Particularly of interest are strong Irish stories of international interest (both ancient and contemporary history, arts and society/current affairs-style docs) and ambitious factual, specialist factual and arts documentaries which will appeal not only to the domestic Irish audience, but to audiences across Europe who are interested in Irish and European affairs.

For more information on Arte G.E.I.E.: ARTE GEIE | ARTE

For further information on the fund, Sarah Ryder manages the RTÉ/Arte G.E.I.E. co-production initiative for RTÉ and will be happy to answer any questions. Sarah.Ryder@rte.ie.