The island could be part of a ’golden age’ of TV and film, a Tynwald committee was told.

Film-maker Dave Armstrong, co-founder of the Isle of Man Film Festival and Mannin Shorts, and film producer Alistair Audsley were giving evidence to the Public Accounts Committee.

The PAC is looking at whether there should be a further inquiry into the £27m losses made by the media development fund during the island’s last foray into film making.

Asked whether the island’s film and media proposition is competitive, Mr Armstrong replied: ’I went over to Cannes recently. Isle of Media had some presence over in Cannes. It was interesting to be part of the buzz around this industry at the moment.

’It seems to be a golden age for television and film and I really think we could be part of it. Everyone I spoke to down there loved the thought of shooting in the Isle of Man. They had heard a lot about it.

Incentives

’Getting the mechanism right by which we can attract them I don’t think it’s impossible because obviously it’s done in other jurisdictions.’

Speaking via video link, Mr Audsley said typically a film production house will be looking for a combination of tax or financial incentives and locations that can be quite multi-purpose.

’This is something the Isle of Man offered as a real strength in the past when we had films being produced here because of the variety of landscape,’ he said.

Availability of local support bodies is another factor, he said, including things as mundane as closing roads, together with good support from local production service companies providing equipment, crew and expertise.

Some £20.6m was written off on films made during the time CinemaNX was managing the media development fund. A further £6.2m was lost when Pinewood advisors were in charge of the fund.