Tuesday is nominations day for the Irish Film and Television Awards (IFTA), but preparations have been under way for several months. The number of submissions is up nearly 20% on last year, said Aine Moriarty, a fact she directly attributes to the government's decision to increase tax relief on investment in the industry to 100%

"It was a very positive move," said Moriarty. "Section 481 has had a very strong effect – it's a no-brainer I think for the government to know that it has had a positive effect on the economy. The total production value in 2009 was €243m, of which about €157m was spent in the local economy. The estimate is they've increased that by 50%, going up to €367m, with an Irish spend of €225m."

In total there were 14 "strong" film productions and another 12 drama feature productions last year, she said, but that doesn't mean we can rest on our laurels.

"What we do need to do is keep the competitive advantage over other countries… so we need to almost step back a little to ensure we have better incentives in place and wonder how can we lead the way again in giving some extra attraction to investment coming to Ireland, or being used as a location for film production in additional ways."

For the IFTA nominees though, Tuesday is "a big opportunity for them to showcase what they've done throughout 2010. It's that window of five weeks before the ceremony that really gives them as much of a showcase as possible."

Work on the show takes six months, with 32 in-house staff. It's a long way from the first ceremony when fewer than 10 staff spent nine months putting it together. RTE's backing was key to its success.

"RTE initially would have been concerned if there would be an audience for it and Claire Duignan at the time, to her credit, gave it the green light and said they would see how it goes," said Moriarty. "In 2003 we produced the first IFTA ceremony and it was among the top four most-viewed programmes that year. It was a massive success and immediately RTE felt that 'if our audience is interested in this then we will back it' so they have consistently and continually supported it year on year and have been instrumental in making the project what it is today – a prime-time Saturday night live slot."

Moriarty believes the awards show has boosted box office figures and viewership for Irish productions.

"In Ireland we have a fantastic resource of talent and the production year on year has really upped the game in terms of world standards and high calibre and I think that's due to a lot of players like Morgan O'Sullivan and government incentives that have encouraged international players to come here," she said. "The people who cut their teeth on productions like Braveheart and King Arthur are now out there internationally, winning awards and working on big productions and many are bringing that experience back home to support and help fund new projects."

Initially, she thinks the media treated it as a "glitz-glam" event but she believes there is now an acknowledgement of the calibre of talent. "I think there's a huge respect building for the achievements of the industry."

Moriarty spends January executive-producing the show, sorting out everything from international licensing to production meetings; once the award show is over, weeks are spent editing clips for use on television channels around the world. Voting season kicked off in November and there have been private screenings for jury members.

As a symptom of the economic malaise, getting sponsorship has been hard; available funds have been squeezed by 20%-25%.

"We've always been cautious about the type of sponsorship we should attract as opposed to what we could attract. We obviously have the opportunity to bring in sponsorship at many levels but it wouldn't be right for the brand. That restricts us somewhat and the downturn does make things tougher. We're not just projecting the image of the industry here in Ireland, it's the international perception that we're very conscious of and for that you need to have the right sponsors involved and the right brands," she said. Backers include Fáilte Ireland, Ballygowan, BMW and Pantene.

Moriarty's own background is in computer graphics and art. Originally from Kerry, she moved to Dublin in 1990 with two references, one from the artist Pauline Bewick, and looked for work. She initially taught computer graphics to underprivileged children but was drawn to the film industry. When the Irish Film Centre was being set up she took a wage cut to work there.

She started working for Filmbase and Film Ireland in 1991 and "we grafted back then in the very early stages but from there I got to know the basics of the industry in everything from advertising to who was doing what, to the level of funding going into the industry and the incentives that were being put in place. It was a very exciting time. Everyone knew there was a good resource of talent here and the question was how best can we showcase that and how can we build an industry around that."

She saw a marketing opportunity in the internet so she founded the Irish Film and Television Network in the mid-1990s as a central source to market it within Ireland and abroad.

The academy was founded in 2003 by several organisations, including IFTN, and it now has almost 1,000 members. It organises a 12-month calendar of events such as interviews, Q&A sessions, master classes, preview screenings and tributes for leading lights.

The biggest attraction for international productions is the workforce available here, Moriarty said.

"There's a can-do attitude in this country. We get the job done and at a very high calibre. You just have to look at The Tudors – Morgan O'Sullivan attracting a British script and story to be filmed in Ireland. What a coup. And from that, the amount of people it's employed is incredible and now Camelot is along a similar vein. It's that type of success story that's building this industry."

Ideally, she wants Irish audiences to attend more domestic productions, while "more collaboration and partnership could be encouraged between the film funders and the broadcasters".

She is also focusing on expanding the international jury because it increases awareness of Irish productions. "It can only be good in terms of proactively getting the message out there about what we're producing," she said.

One of the things they're most proud about is the success of IFTA's short film award-winners, with some being nominated for Oscars.

After Six Shooter, Martin McDonagh went on to do In Bruges, while The Door's Juanita Wilson went on to make feature film As If I'm Not There and was named by Variety magazine as One to Watch. "It's great to showcase people and watch them go on to very strong careers," she said.

Animation also deserves praise for taking the reins and looking for work internationally, she said. "It shows that if you invest well and train up the right resources you can create an industry."

Aine Moriarty CV

Age: 45

Education: Courses in graphic design and film production

Career: Graphic designer; FilmBase; founder of IFTN; Irish Music Network; WOW

Marital Status: Married with two children

Hobbies: Music, singing and songwriting, art, painting