Information
RTÉ Factual Religion, RTÉ One
Episodes: One or more
Duration: 50 minutes
Budget Range: €100,000 - €130,000
Channel: RTÉ One
In exceptional circumstances if a higher cost per hour is necessary, producers should provide additional information and details explaining the reasons for the increased cost.
Full Brief
RTÉ Religious Programming is part of the Factual group. Consequently, all television proposals should align with the broader guidelines for RTÉ One’s contestable slots, as outlined in the Factual Commissioning Brief.
Due to RTÉ’s in-house production capacity of the religious genre, commissioning opportunities for both TV and Radio are limited, but still available. While fully funded TV proposals are welcome, ideas that secure financing from other broadcasters or funding bodies are particularly desirable.
Following submission of programme proposal on RTÉ’s e-commissioning system please discuss any multi-funded proposals with Commissioning Editor, Roger Childs, in advance of mentioning possible RTÉ commitment to third parties. Proposals that may be suitable for RTÉ’s commissioning partnership with ARTE must first be discussed with Roger Childs and Sarah Ryder before approaching ARTE.
Commissioned output should expand and enhance the current in-house religious slate, which includes The Meaning of Life, occasional high-impact documentaries such as Finding Brigid, Dear Gay and Bishop Casey’s Buried Secrets as well as Masses & Services, and short story- and character-led features celebrating minority faith festivals.
Our focus is on creating content that resonates and makes an impact, aiming to engage mainstream audiences with religious, spiritual, and ethical issues through compelling stories, characters, and hidden worlds. We broadly define the religious brief as ‘the things people do and the beliefs they hold to give life meaning.’ We are also expanding our scope to include broader societal and contemporary ethical topics. We are dedicated to enhancing diversity and inclusion in our content, ensuring we do not “other” or patronise any individual or social group. We employ a variety of imaginative formats and narrative approaches to attract peak-time pre- and post-watershed audiences. While feature-length slots are rare in the current schedule, they will be considered, along with half-hour pre-watershed formats and stories.
Please keep an eye out for significant personal and social events and anniversaries. What key opportunities should we not overlook? Regardless of the subject, our approach must be entertaining, intelligent, and creative to engage mainstream RTÉ One audiences, while always being supported by rigorous research and clear editorial thinking. As a multi-platform genre, we welcome ideas that utilise TV, Audio, Online, and Social Media platforms in complementary ways to expand our reach.
We look for evidence that companies have thought imaginatively about “the 5 Ts”: Treatment, Tone, Talent, Title and Trust.
We ask, in the first instance, that producers submit ideas into the e-commissioning system Login | RTE (rtegroup.ie) under the programme category “Factual Religion, RTÉ One”.
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.
Any proposals previously submitted to RTÉ Factual Religion in categories listed here, and which were previously rejected on a first reading should not be re-submitted and will not be reconsidered.
RECENT COMMISSIONS
- A Ring and a Prayer (Esras Films, 6 x 30’) following couples preparing for inter-cultural marriage.
- Donal Skehan’s Feasts, Fasts & Festivals (Appetite Media, 2 x 50’) the TV chef’s immersion in minority faith food cultures, also re-filleted as Donal’s Soul Food Shorts.
- The Last Priests / The Last Nuns in Ireland (Scratch Films, 2 x 50’) Ardal O’Hanlon and Dearbhail McDonald examine how Ireland became a clerisy and ask what will happen now that that chapter appears to be coming to an end.
- Andrew Trimble: For Ulster & Ireland (NEP Media, 1 x 50’) the Ulster-born former Ireland winger explores whether it’s possible for people on this island to wear multiple identities.
- The Secret Peacemaker (New Decade TV, 1 x 90’) feature-length drama-doc about the role played by Fr Alec Reid in engineering peace in Northern Ireland.
- Tukdam: The Point of Death (Wildfire Film and Television, 1 x 50’) examining the Tibetan Buddhist phenomenon of using deep meditation to arrest physical signs of decay at the point of death.
- Ireland’s Dirty Laundry (New Decade TV, 2 x 50’) first-hand telling of the story of Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries by women who survived them.
- In the Name of the Son (Bang Bang Teo, 1 x 50’) a portrait of Kerry woman, Mags Riordan, who turned the tragic loss of three children into the inspiration for a medical facility in Malawi that has saved or transformed thousands of lives.
- Masses & Services (Kairos Communications, 4 x 55’) Outside Broadcast coverage of worship to mark the main festivals in the Christian calendar.
- The Angelus (Kairos Communications, 8 x 1’) short reflective films to help people to “go placidly amidst the noise.”
- Blindboy’s Land of Slaves & Scholars (Connla’s Well Productions, 1 x 50’) the bag-wearing atheist comedian, writer and podcaster grapples with Ireland’s rich tradition of Christian monasticism.
- The Breaking Wave – The Buddhists of Beara (Lifeblood Films, 1 x 90’) the story of Ireland’s first Tibetan Buddhist temple in West Cork and the impact on its community of shocking revelations about the Rinpoche on whose teachings it was founded.
- Patrick – A Slave to Ireland (Create One, 1 x 50’ or 90’) definitive exploration of the life and legacy of Ireland’s famous patron saint.
- Lost For Words (Subotica, 1 x 50’) documentary demonstrating how lives restricted by dyslexia and related conditions can be transformed by appropriate treatment and empathy.
- Born That Way (Curious Dog Films, 1 x 50’ or 1 x 90’) the story of one man’s life-changing role in fostering a new model of community for people of mixed mental abilities, in Camphill.