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Tag: shooting in ireland

Alternative Event Locations
Intimate. Immersive. Resonant. Captivating. Memorable. Beautiful. Aligned. When planning a brand event or product launch, this is the vision.

But where? It’s all been done before – the hotel ballroom, the conference room, the exhibition hall… And while the ballroom may be glamorous, and the corporate suite is spacious, these rooms are specifically designed to appeal to everyone, offend noone and are often lacking in personality – meaning you don’t just have to design the event itself, you have to design the visuals of the space as well.

Brands are looking elsewhere and we’ve got the in.

More Than a Venue – A Storytelling Experience

As the creator economy grows and grows, and brands are increasingly prioritising authentic storytelling, the choice of location for a brand event plays a vital role. Much the same as when the content that built the brand is being created, the space an event is held in is more than just a backdrop, it grounds the entire experience in emotion and narrative. The goal is to create an atmosphere where influencers, media and guests feel like they’re part of something exclusive – thoughtfully intimate and most definitely not a launch by numbers.

Real life, characterful spaces whose personality aligns with the personality of the brand does so much more than hold the space. When you find the space for your product launch or to promote your product, a lot of the visual design of the event is taken care of. All that’s left for you to do is make sure the right people get there and that they have a great time!

And they will – real-life, authentic-feeling spaces provide a deeper emotional connection, allowing guests to experience the brand in a real-life setting that aligns deeply with the brand’s aesthetic and values, rather than a neutral, corporate environment. These events feel more personal – encouraging natural conversations, organic content creation, and genuine interactions between guests.

What Makes a Space Suitable for Events?

Not all residential properties are suited for large-scale events. Just like location scouting for a shoot, choosing the right event space requires careful consideration:
- Capacity & Layout: Can the space accommodate the number of guests comfortably?
- Accessibility: Is parking and transport sufficient for invitees?
- Lighting & Aesthetics: Does the space visually enhance the brand’s message?
- Facilities: Are catering, seating, and tech requirements met?
When done right, brands align their event locations with their identity, ensuring the setting reinforces their vision instead of working against it.

Matching Location Seekers with Property Owners

Many property owners are open to hosting brand activations, but clear expectations and preparation are key. SoScout acts as the bridge between brand visionaries and property owners, ensuring smooth execution and contractual agreements.

This also eliminates last-minute disruptions. Just as a well-prepped shoot location prevents setbacks, a vetted event space ensures a seamless experience for the brand and its guests.

The Influence of the Creator Economy on Events

The creator economy has reshaped not just content production, but also experiential marketing. Brands are now seeking immersive, influencer-driven events where behind-the-scenes footage becomes part of the campaign.

Product launches and brand activations are storytelling moments designed for digital creation and consumption. When hosted in a well-chosen space, influencers, guests, and media will need no encouragement to create social content or create audience interactions – the space becomes an essential part of the brand’s digital storytelling strategy.

Consumers crave authenticity, creators drive innovation, and brands that integrate immersive storytelling into their events will thrive in the new era of engagement. If live events that encourage real-time, authentic, digital content creation and an experience that guests will talk about are the dream for your brand, get in touch to start planning your event now.
May 19, 2025
Why Great Locations Matter

Why Great Locations Matter

Finding the perfect location for your next shoot should be one of the easiest things on your pre-production plan. But getting access to inspiring and exciting shoot settings can be tricky – permissions, access information and hiring agreements can be hard to pin down and vague at best. This makes shooting on-location a pain and can end up costing more than budgeted in the long run. The alternative is to hire a studio, but studios aren’t always what the brand needs and add-ons soon add up.

Making Location Scouting Easy – And Exciting

SoScout’s mission is to make your search a breeze – we think the hardest thing will be deciding which location to choose. We’re the first Irish-based ‘shoot ready’ location property service connecting location seekers with location owners. When you search, shortlist and hire your location through SoScout, you get access to some of the most exciting and impressive properties available – and all of them are fully vetted, informed and shoot-ready.

Whether you’re searching for an industrial vibe for a brand video or a luxurious estate to stage a product photo shoot, SoScout makes sure every property is ready to go. With tight hiring agreements and clear communication with property owners, we take the guesswork out of location scouting. This also prevents heartbreaking scenarios like last-minute cancellations or discovering key resources aren’t available on-site.

The Booming Creator Economy

The creator economy is booming – The New Yorker called 2024 ‘The Year The Creators Took Over’. The last decade has seen the creatives among us gain access to an abundance of creative tools, allowing us to dream so much bigger in terms of what we can create – and most importantly, we have access to our own audiences too.

While creative agencies are thriving too, big and small, they are no longer the gatekeepers of talent and resources. Creators can make their own high quality work, and make it their way. And in an era when creators are up against ‘AI slop’, it’s more important than ever to have video and image content that stops the scroll and feels unmistakably real.

Part of this continuing boom is the constant innovation within the market – smaller brands and agencies have the capacity to pivot quickly to what their audience is looking for, this also builds and sustains trust in the brand.

The New Era of Creative Storytelling

This capacity to shift quickly has fundamentally changed the way we tell stories online now. Audiences want to be a part of the process as well as the final product.

Viewers are craving authenticity and nothing screams real like behind the scenes footage that brings the audience into the overall story and shows them just how authentic the work is, and shooting in a stunning location makes it easier for crew to get those all-important BTS shots.

A great location grounds your content in a specific mood, context or narrative – those sweeping landscapes, cosy textures or luxurious surfaces are doing more than providing a backdrop, they’re part of the fabric of the story.

Why Locations Can Make or Break a Shoot

When you have a vision for what you want to create, finding the perfect location can get left down the list of things to do because it can be (used to be) one of the most difficult. The easy option is always to hire a studio – but when your vision is for something more visually intricate than a white box or a paper backdrop, studio settings often just won’t cut it. What we often hear from our clients is that the space brings new ideas to life for them – when the location is already styled, with its own unique flair and character, it can give room to your concept to develop and expand – often exceeding its original potential. Original concept plus SoScout location is equal to much, much more than the sum of its parts.

SoScout gives you access to a mind-blowing selection of the most inspiring and exciting locations in the country – and internationally. As you scroll, swipe, heart and shortlist locations, you know that every single one of them is available to you and your crew. Search by style, location, budget – you’re guaranteed to find something stunning. Or don’t set any filters and let the location inspire your vision!

SoScout prepares the location owner so they know what’s required of them to ensure that your shoot experience is seamless.

Elevating Brands Through Exceptional Backdrops

Stunning backdrops not only impress your audience, but they play a huge part in telling the story of your brand. The perfect location is easy to work in and also sets the right vibe for your brand – it tells your audience exactly who you are and what your brand means.

Finding a location with the right personality elevates your product or service – aligning your brand with that personality gives you an edge that can’t always be measured. That just-right setting for your shoot does a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to communicating your message and attracting the right audience.

At SoScout we like to think of ourselves as match-makers – helping you to find your brand’s location soulmate! Whether your vibe is colourful and energetic, eclectic and warm, or contemporary and earthy – we’ve got you covered.

The Future of Content Creation

The creative economy and content creation is set to grow by over 22% in 2025 alone, with over 50 million independent creators worldwide. Creators are the driving force behind this growth, constantly innovating to meet the demands of an ever-changing digital and social landscape. These small but mighty powerhouses, combine strategic planning with bold, creative ideas and continue to produce campaigns that are fresh, authentic and deeply resonate with their audience. And the unsung hero of this compelling content? The location!

The creator economy is continuing to reshape the world of content creation – agile agencies, brands and independent creatives are responding in real time to what their audiences need and in doing so, they’re keeping their viewers engaged and loyal. At the heart of this authentic storytelling and creative excellence are the phenomenal locations that we strive to bring to the table. With the perfect location, your vision can come to life, creating new possibilities for your product or service along with it.

Start planning your next shoot right now with SoScout.

April 29, 2025
TAX BREAKS & FILMING IN IRELAND

TAX BREAKS & FILMING IN IRELAND

Filming in Ireland offers a wide array of settings only a short flight from the East Coast of the United States – locations vary from sweeping landscapes to cobblestoned Georgian streets, quaint stone farmhouses to splendid manors. Ireland has long been a favoured shoot location for international production companies, boasting the likes of blockbuster features such as Game of Thrones and Star Wars.

As film location scouts, we know that one of the key factors that make Ireland an attractive location for hire is the generous tax breaks offered by the Irish government. These incentives, coupled with the country’s unique scenery and professional production services, makes filming in Ireland a lucrative proposition. At the heart of Ireland’s film incentives program lies the Section 481 Film Tax Credit, a generous tax relief designed to support film and television productions that choose to shoot in the country.

The film relief includes the production of feature films, short films of feature quality, television dramas, animations, and creative documentaries. Under this scheme, eligible productions can benefit from a tax credit of up to 32% of eligible Irish expenditure.

In addition, the Irish legislation specifies that a special purpose production company, referred to as a qualifying company, is set up for each film and that the costs be incurred by the qualifying company. This producer company must be resident in the State or an EEA State and carries on a business in the State through a branch or agency. As a result, many international production companies will opt to work with a local Irish production company to avail more seamlessly of the Film Tax Credit.To qualify for the tax relief, the minimum amount that must be spent on the production is €250,000 (this is known as the qualifying expenditure in the legislation) and the minimum eligible expenditure is €125,000.

International production companies should carefully read up on the relevant materials published by Revenue in order to calculate these accurately. The third and final piece of the criteria to be met is achieved by having a cultural certificate issued by the Minister for Tourism, Arts, Culture, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

THE CULTURE TEST

To receive a cultural certificate, the film must satisfy either or both the Culture test or the Industry development test. The Culture test states that the film must be of importance to the promotion, development and enhancement of the national culture including, where applicable, the Irish language. To pass the Industry development test, the production company must show that the film production will act as an effective stimulus to film making in the State through, among other things, the provisions of quality employment and training and skills development opportunities. More guidance on the cultural certificate application can be found here.

The amount of relief due depends on the production costs of the qualifying film. The credit is 32% of whichever is the lowest of: eligible expenditure, 80% of total qualifying film production costs or €70 million. A claim for the credit can be made in full after the film is completed. Alternatively, a claim for up to 90% of the credit based on budgeted expenditure can be made, with the balance claimed on completion. The submission of all of these documents is directly via the Irish Revenue online portal (ROS), however seeking appropriate tax advice from local authorities or qualified professionals familiar with Section 481 is recommended. Beyond the basic tax relief on the core production expenditure in the State, Ireland also offers a few other relief options that may give additional incentive to a production company considering shooting in Ireland.

THE IRISH NETWORK

As a known film production hub, Ireland has entered into co-production treaties with several countries, providing additional benefits for projects that are official co-productions between Ireland and a treaty partner. These treaties offer filmmakers access to international funding, creative resources, and distribution networks, enhancing the overall competitiveness of Irish productions on the global stage. These include EU states and select EEA states, as well as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Learn more about international co-productions here at Screen Ireland.

Ireland also offers incentives for post-production work, including a Section 481 credit for post-production on eligible projects. Productions can avail of a Section 481 credit for post-production activities carried out in Ireland, such as editing, sound design, and visual effects. This holistic approach to incentivizing the entire production process further solidifies Ireland’s position as a top destination for filmmakers seeking high-quality services and support.

International production companies should take note that the Regional Uplift scheme, where productions that film in specific regions designated by the state for an increased tax credit percentage, is in the process of being phased out and will not apply from production undertaken in 2024 and onwards. While the benefits of filming in Ireland are clear, navigating the application process for tax incentives can be a complex task.

To ensure a smooth and successful application, filmmakers are advised to consult with experienced tax professionals or local production companies who are well-versed in Ireland’s film incentives program. By seeking guidance early in the planning stages, filmmakers can maximise their chances of securing the full range of incentives available to them.

Ireland offers various incentives for filmmakers to bring their creative visions to life in a dynamic and supportive environment. Whether you are a seasoned producer or a first-time filmmaker, Ireland’s rich cultural heritage, breathtaking landscapes, local network of production offerings and financial incentives make it an ideal destination for your next production.

SoScout’s shoot and accommodation booking services are helping to further develop the resources available to production companies coming to Ireland, making the experience more professional and tailored to your production’s needs.

April 29, 2025