New consolidated accounts filed by the Co Wicklow-based firm show that the spend by its movie and TV subsidiaries on various co-productions totalled €182.84m last year.
The group benefited from €52.32m claimed in corporation tax credits in the 12 months to the end of April, which was more than four times the €11.6m claimed in corporation tax credits in 2024.
The directors say that “the continued availability of film tax-credit incentives is a fundamental element of the attractiveness of film and television projects to Ireland”, and any reduction in them would be likely to have “a very significant impact on the viability of projects and the company’s pipeline of projects”.
The €182.84m in funding was spent on the production costs for all projects, activity that was supported by 756 employees within subsidiary companies.
A further illustration Metropolitan had a buoyant year through its various co-productions was staff costs increased more than threefold from €15m to €49.2m.
Of the €182m spent on film and television production, €128m was sourced from international investment. The directors say the group considers this to be a key performance indicator when assessing how the group has performed over the year.
The accounts note that Metropolitan Films International Ltd is appealing to the Labour Court a large number of Workplace Relations Commission decisions issued in December 2023 which awarded a cumulative total of €434,216 to a group of Irish Film Workers Association members.
“The company has been defending a small number of individual legacy claims regarding alleged employment status,” the accounts say. “These claims are heavily disputed, and the Labour Court has found in favour of the company in all such claims to date.”
The group made a modest pre-tax profit of €129,221 last year.
A large contributor to the business was Season 2 of Wednesday, Netflix’s supernatural mystery comedy that focuses on the teen years of Wednesday Addams, played by Jenna Ortega.
The first and second season both feature in Netflix’s top five most popular shows of all time.
The film settings included Powerscourt Demesne in Enniskerry, Charleville Castle in Co Offaly and Dublin’s atmospheric Deansgrange Cemetery.
A subsidiary of Metropolitan Films International, Willow Hill S2 Productions DAC, which was involved in that production, incurred €50.2m in production expenses in the 12 months to the end of April. It employed 337 people and its staff costs were €14.73m.
source