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Countries the UK will co-produce with include China, South Africa and Chile.

A further nine UK-international co-productions are set to receive a share of £1.32m from the £7m UK Global Screen Fund (Ukgsf), administered by the British Film Institute (BFI).

The £7m fund was launched in April by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Dcms), initially as a one-year pilot initiative to boost international development and distribution opportunities for the UK’s independent screen sector following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

The BFI confirmed the scheme’s renewal at the end of November, with a further three years expected.

The UK’s Global Screen Fund, which was created to fill the void left by the absence of funding from Creative Europe’s Media program post-Brexit, has awarded a further £1.32M ($1.75M) in grants spread across nine film and TV projects.

The £7M ($9.25M) fund, which is administered by the British Film Institute on behalf of the government department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Dcms), is being overseen by former All3Media and Endemol Shine exec Denitsa Yordanova.

The nine projects, all of which are international co-productions, are as follows: UK-Ireland co-pro The Miracle Club; UK-Germany co-pro The Tutor; UK-Ireland TV animation Ghastly Ghoul; UK-France co-pro Drift; UK-Chile-Argentina-France-Denmark co-pro The Settlers; UK-Germany-Denmark co-pro Merkel; UK-Canada Elephant Mother; UK-South Africa co-pro Stolen; UK-Belgium-Ireland co-pro Bring Them Down.

Full details of each title are at the bottom of this article.

The grants follow previously backed projects My Happy Ending (UK-Israel) and The...

Exclusive: Talk about a good marriage of brands — Walden Media and Jim Henson Co. have joined together to develop and produce a new family-friendly film project called Happy Krampus! This will be a fully live-action project and is based on an original idea by Kealan O'Rourke (The Boy In The Bubble). The story follows Santa's forgotten helper and giver of coal to naughty children (Krampus) – who has lost his job at the North Pole due to modern parents spoiling their…...

Kealan O'Rourke has signed on to rewrite Emily the Strange.

Chloë Grace Moretz remains attached to the comic book movie, reports The Wrap.

The Dark Horse Comics title adaptation was first announced in 2010 and, despite a long period of silence, seems to be gaining momentum.

The little goth girl character was created for the Cosmic Debris clothing line before graduating into a popular series of stories.

Mirror Mirror's Melissa Wallack wrote the first draft of the script.

O'Rourke is best known for his work on various shorts including The Boy in the Bubble. He is also working on Chernin Entertainment's The Houdini Box and Warner Bros' Bolivar.

Emily the Strange will be produced by Dark Horse's Mike Richardson, with Keith Goldberg and Rob Reger as executive producers.

Watch Chloë Grace Moretz discuss Kick-Ass 2 with Digital Spy below:...

Although Chloe Moretz signed on to play the title role back in 2010 , things have been relatively quiet on the Emily the Strange movie front. The project appears to be gaining some momentum today, however, as The Wrap reports that Kealan O'Rourke has been brought aboard to rewrite the screenplay. Melissa Wallack provided the previous draft. First started as an iconic image in 1991 and used to promote a clothing line from Cosmic Debris, Emily the Strange has developed a back story through a series of Dark Horse comics, which have been published since 2001. Dark Horse Entertainment's Mike Richardson is set to produce with Keith Golberg and Rob Reger executive producing.

A few months ago it was reported that author Brian Selznick's young adult novel The Houdini Box was acquired by Chernin Entertainment and would be adapted into a feature film. This is the same writer who gave us  The Invention of Hugo Cabret, which was adapted by Martin Scorsese. Scorsese won't be directing this one though.

Variety reports that the writing and directing job has gone to a young Irish filmmaker named Kealan O'Rourke. This would be his first feature film. Prior to this he directed a bunch of short films, and I've included a showreel below showing off several clips from these films which are a mix of live-action and animation. The guy certainly has a creative and imaginative eye, and it looks like he could do a great job of bringing this book to life. 

The book was published in 1991, and the story "centers on a boy...

The last time the work of author Brian Selznick was brought to the big screen we got Martin Scorsese's Hugo, so it's with great pleasure that I report that another one of Selznick's works is going to be getting the Hollywood treatment. Kealan O'Rourke, a first time feature director out of Ireland, has been hired to both write and direct an adaptation of the novel The Houdini Box. Variety, which reported the news, says the story follows a young aspiring magician who serendipitously runs into his idol, Harry Houdini, at a train station (what's with Selznick and trains?). After begging the legendary illusionist to explain his tricks, the kid finally gets him to promise to write him a letter. But when he gets an invite to Houdini's house in the mail he arrives to find that his idol is dead and has "left him a mysterious, locked box." The...

Irish filmmaker Kealan O'Rourke ("The Boy in the Bubble") has been set to write and direct a film adaptation of Brian Selznick's 1991 young adult novel "The Houdini Box" at Chernin Entertainment.

The story centers on a boy unsuccessfully attempting to perform Harry Houdini's magic tricks. He soon meets his idol at a train station and begs Houdini to explain himself.

He later receives a letter inviting him to Houdini's house - the same day Houdini died and be quested a mysterious, locked box to the boy.

Peter Chernin and Jenno Topping will produce. Selznick also wrote "The Invention of Hugo Cabret," which was adapted into Martin Scorsese's "Hugo."

Source: Variety...

The Irish are out in force at this years BFI London Film Festival, now in its 56th year. The festival runs from October 10th to October 21st and us Irish are out in force. Ok, so not of all of us, but congrats to all who got selected. In the Features section… Pilgrim Hill: Dir. Gerard Barrett Silence: Dir. Pat Collins What Richard Did: Dir. Lenny Abrahamson Citadel : Dir. Ciarán Foy (Co-production with UK) Good Vibrations: Dir. Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn (Co-production with UK) Kelly + Victor: Dir. Kieran Evans (Co-production with UK) Legends Of Valhalla - Thor (Hetjur Valhallar - ÞÓR): Dir. Óskar Jónasson (Co-production with Iceland and Germany) Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence In The House Of God: Dir. Alex Gibney (Co-production with USA) The Pervert’S Guide To Ideology: Dir. Sophie Fiennes (Co-production with UK) The Road: A Story Of Life And Death: Dir.

If You thought the comics-to-film trend was running out of steam, you'd be wrong. It's now been revealed that new graphic novels Trespassers and Bolivar are heading to the big screen.

According to Variety, Ryan E. Heppe is to produce a film of Scott Hampton's supernatural graphic novel Trespassers, with the screenplay to be adapted by Bob Gale (above).

Bob co-scripted the three Back to the Future films and has also written for comics, including Batman, Spider-Man and Daredevil.

Trespassers centres on a group of mythbusters who aim to debunk the legend of a famous haunted house. But their scientific logic is tested when they discover demonic guardians, a gateway to hell and that not all of them are who they claim to be. No director or casting is yet in place.

Heppe said: "A good horror flick needs one thing: a simple, original premise that's terrifying as hell.

In a story on Kristen Bell joining the cast of Jennifer Getzinger's cinematic adaptation of Neil Labute's play "Some Girls," The Hollywood Reporter has exclusively revealed that the actress-formerly-known-as-Veronica Mars will "provide the speaking and singing voice" as the lead in Disney's upcoming feature "Frozen," which means she will play the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale character the Snow Queen (first published way back in 1845). Additionally, the trade states that Warner Bros. and Weed Road (Akiva Goldsman's WB-based production shingle) have picked up the forthcoming graphic novel "Bolivar" for Irish animator Kealan O'Rourke to write and direct.

Tucked away in the "Some Girls"/"Frozen" story is the tidbit that Chris Buck, a legendary animator who worked on everything from Brad Bird's "Family Dog" episode of "Amazing Stories" to "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" to "Little Mermaid," before co-directing Disney's lush 1999 animated feature "Tarzan" (with Kevin Lima), will direct.

Despite not being released till May 2013, the graphic novel Bolivar, written and illustrated by Sean Rubin, has being picked up by Warner Bros. Pictures to be adapted into an animated movie. Irish filmmaker Kealan O'Rourke will write and direct the cartoon. O'Rourke won the award for best animation at the 2012 Irish Film And Television Awards for the short The Boy In The Bubble. Narrated by Alan Rickman, it follows a ten year old boy who, following his first broken heart, invokes a spell to shield him from emotion forever. Bolivar centres on a young girl, Sybil, who moves to New York, and finds out her new neighbour is a reclusive dinosaur named Bolivar. Due to Sybil's persistence, they soon become friends. No release date has been given. Source:The Hollywood Reporter...

Though the book itself isn't slated to hit shelves until May 2013, Sean Rubin's graphic novel Bolivar is planned for a big-screen adaptation as an animated film, says a story at The Hollywood Reporter . Warner Bros. has picked up the rights to the illustrated tale, which tells of young girl, Sybil, and her attempts to befriend her new next-door neighbor: the world's last living dinosaur. Akiva Goldman, Kerry Foster and Stephen Christy are attached to produce while Kealan O'Rourke, best known for his short animated film, "The Boy in the Bubble," will write and direct.

Brendan Gleeson, The Guard The Guard, Glenn Close, Ryan Gosling Win: Irish Film Awards 2012 Film Categories Best Film Albert Nobbs, Alan Moloney, Bonnie Curtis, Julie Lynn, Glenn Close Charlie Casanova, Terry McMahon Stella Days, Jackie Larkin, Leslie McKimm * The Guard, Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Chris Cark, Flora Fernandez Marengo Best Director Rebecca Daly, The Other Side of Sleep * John Michael McDonagh, The Guard Terry McMahon, Charlie Casanova Thaddeus O'Sullivan, Stella Days Best Screenplay John Banville, Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs * John Michael McDonagh, The Guard Terry McMahon, Charlie Casanova Antoine O'Flaherta, Stella Days Best Actor * Michael Fassbender, Shame Brendan Gleeson, The Guard Ciarán Hinds, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Martin Sheen, Stella Days Best Actress Aoife Duffin, Behold the Lamb Antonia Campbell Hughes, The Other Side of Sleep Marcella Plunkett, Stella Days * Saoirse Ronan, Hanna Best Supporting Actor Liam Cunningham, The Guard Brendan Gleeson, Albert Nobbs Ciarán Hinds, The Debt * Chris O'Dowd,...

The Boy In The Bubble is an animated short film that won both the James Horgan Award for Best Animation and the Don Quijote Award for a Short Film at the this year's Galway Film Fleadh. It is directed and co-written by Kealan O'Rourke, and stars Alan Rickman in the voice cast.   Official synopsis: Rupert, a ten year old boy, falls hopelessly in love for the first time. When it all goes terribly wrong, he wishes never to experience heartache again. Turning to a book of magic, he invokes a spell to shield him from emotion forever....

Bord Scannan na hEireann/the Irish Film Board, the Arts Council and Rte have announced the successful animated Framework projects for the14th year of the scheme. The winners are '23 Degrees 5 Minutes' to be written and directed by Darragh O'Connell and produced by Colm Tyrell of Brown Bag Films; 'The Meaning of Eggsistence' to be written and directed by Bruce Ryder and produced by Stephen Rennicks and Lenny Abrahamson of Element Films; 'The Boy Who Lived in a Bubble' to be written and directed by Kealan O'Rourke and produced by Brian Willis of Igloo Productions; 'Red Lead' to be written and directed by Tony O' Donoghue and produced by Cathal Black of Mayfly Films Ltd; and Paperman' to be written by Richard Kelly and Sean Ryan, directed by Richard Kelly and produced by Jessica Kelly of Prickly Pear Productions.