Dr Simon McGuire
The landscape of higher education in Ireland, and particularly within the creative sectors of film and television, is undergoing a profound recalibration. As educators, we find ourselves navigating a convergence of technological acceleration, infrastructural constraint, and shifting economic and cultural realities. Yet within this turbulence lies an opportunity: to rethink not just how we teach, but what it means to prepare students for a screen industry that is itself in a constant state of flux.
With a sector that is expanding faster than its classrooms, Ireland’s audiovisual industries are thriving. Recent data highlights employment of nearly 16,000 people and significant economic contribution, underlining the industry’s vitality and global relevance (Screen Ireland Link). Alongside this, reports on immersive technologies and virtual production point toward a future defined by real-time rendering, AI-assisted workflows, and cross-platform storytelling (Skillnet Ireland Link). However, Higher Education has not expanded at the same pace. Institutions are expected to deliver industry-ready graduates while contending with ageing facilities, limited access to high-end equipment, and increasing student numbers. This mismatch between industry expectation and educational capacity is becoming one of the defining tensions in Irish creative education and I am sure is a talking point in this week’s teaching union meetings across the country.
There is a material reality also with the financial constraints being well documented. A widely cited government report showed a funding gap of over €300 million annually in Irish higher education, a deficit that continues to shape institutional decision-making (The Irish Times Link). While the report is three years old now, this underfunding still exists and I would argue that the figure is far greater and manifests itself in tangible ways such as: insufficient studio space, outdated post-production labs, and limited access to industry-standard tools such as camera, lighting and sound equipment. At the same time, the cost of keeping competitive film and television programmes is rising. Cameras, lighting rigs, editing suites, and now virtual production environments require continuous and not just the initial capital investment. Yet universities increasingly rely on hybrid funding models, including in some cases industry partnerships, which can risk narrowing the scope of academic inquiry toward commercially workable outputs (Public Policy Link).
Space is another critical pressure point. Reports on Higher Education infrastructure note that institutions are being forced to rethink how physical environments are used, with flexible and multi-purpose spaces becoming essential (Savills Link) For film and television education, traditionally reliant on dedicated studios, this presents both a challenge and a creative constraint. The most significant shift is technological. The integration of AI into editing workflows, the rise of cloud-based collaboration, and the emergence of virtual production are fundamentally altering the grammar of screen production. These are not incremental changes; they redefine authorship, labour, and craft.
Irish higher education has already begun adapting. Quality reports highlight increased digitalisation of teaching, learning, and assessment, alongside hybrid and remote workflows (Quality and Qualifications Ireland Link). However, there is still a gap between adopting digital tools and embedding them meaningfully into pedagogical or andragogical practice. The challenge is not simply access to technology, but developing critical, reflective practitioners who can navigate and question these tools. Considering these pressures, I propose three practical, scalable responses that can be implemented across Irish Higher Education.
Firstly, a distributed studio model.
Rather than centralising production within a single campus facility, institutions should adopt a distributed model of practice. This would involve:
- Leveraging community media hubs and regional partnerships
- Embedding production activity in real-world contexts
- And if possible, sharing resources across institutions and sectors
In my doctoral research, I suggested an in-house production (IPU) unit to bring teaching and learning of craftsmanship together with industry engagent. I create one such IPU at my institution in the form of Film Cel (Film Craftsmanship, Excellence and Learning) (Link) at my institution, LSAD, TUS, and I believe that an IPU like this could bring together the the three elements above together for the distributed model of practice. National policy already points in this direction. The Future of Media Commission recommends the development of shared media hubs and collaborative training infrastructures to support talent pipelines (RTE Link). For educators, this model would not only alleviate space constraints but situate learning within authentic production ecosystems.
A second approach would be to look at curriculum as a workflow and not a module.
Traditional module-based teaching structures are increasingly misaligned with industry practice. Instead, curricula could be restructured around workflows such as:
- Development → production → post-production → distribution
- Cross-disciplinary collaboration (editing, sound, VFX, producing)
- Integration of AI and virtual tools as part of process, not add-ons
This approach would reflect the realities of contemporary screen industries, where roles are fluid and pipelines are interconnected. It also aligns with broader Higher Education trends toward flexible or hybrid learning environments (Royal Irish Academy Link).
Finally, there is an opportunity for industry embedded learning, but with safeguards for the institution, staff, and students. Partnerships with industry are essential but must be carefully structured. Institutions should:
- Co-design projects with industry partners
- Embed internships, mentorships, and live briefs into programmes
- Maintain academic independence and critical inquiry
While private sector funding can provide vital resources, it also raises concerns about the commercialisation of education (Public Policy Link). The goal, therefore, is balance: enabling access to industry without compromising the broader educational mission.
So, with these three suggestions we could take the future of teaching film and television in Ireland from constraint to creative. The teaching and learning would not be defined by the resources we lack, but by how we respond to those limitations. Financial pressures, spatial constraints, and technological disruption are not temporary obstacles, they are the conditions within which contemporary education must operate. As educators, our role is to transform these constraints into pedagogical or even andragogical innovation. To move from the idea of the university as a site of instruction to a site of production, collaboration, and experimentation.
If we can achieve this, we will not simply keep pace with the industry, we will help shape its future.
Simon McGuire 