Blog

Just a bit of Monday news here- I’m now a certified Covid-19 Compliance officer for Audio-Visual sector, if you need one.

Not going to lie, with lockdown 03 upon Ireland, I’ve found myself entering New Year uninspired to say the least. It just seemed like a never ending gloom. Anyone else feels the same?

I’ve managed to pull myself out of it now, remembering what I did when it all started last year. Thought I’d share that, in case someone else needs it.

In a nutshell- I made myself busy. Very busy. So that I have no time to ponder about the whole pandemic situation too much. Here are some awesome resources, that are keeping me on my toes:

Sundance Collab

I mean, these guys have just been AMAZING!

• They have a Writer’s Cafe, on 3 times a week, where writers from around the world would gather and write to a prompt for an hour, and then meet and discuss it in the breakout rooms. I’ve met some awesomely talented people there! (Psst.. See Intro by The XX in Writer’s Cafe Spotify playlist? Yep, that’s my contribution to it.)
• I’ve listened in to a ton of their webinars by amazing filmmakers and actors and composers and met even more like minded people in their webinar chats. Brit Marling from The OA was my personal highlight (love the series!), and Carter Burwell on film score side. Talking about getting the inspiration!
• To make things even better, most of these webinars and talks are FREE, you guys. FREE! They do have courses though, and paid membership to unlock more resources. But if you are on a tight budget, there is always something on that is not going to cost you anything. And might inspire you for your next project.

FNI

These guys are my local fave’s and they have been AMAAAZING with their own workshops and web meetups, some sponsored by Screen Skills Ireland. I’ve done directing and screenwiting courses through them and they’ve all been fantastic. Thought by tutors such as Lenny Abrahamson, Mary-Kate O’Flannagan, David Keeting, Stephen Cleary.. They’ve all been sharing their writing and filmmaking wisdom with us, top notch stuff.

If you are a creative, join their Facebook group for updates and jobs, to ask a question etc. etc. 17K members and growing.

film festivals

That’s another great way to stay connected to filmmakers community and to get inspired with new works of fellow professionals. Plenty of networking events within online festivals too, usually. There are loads of great local and international film festivals to pick from and join, all different and amazing.

I wanted to mention Underground Cinema run by Dave Byrne. And the reason I mention this, is because I found myself watching films and networking with fellow filmmakers quite a lot throughout last year. It was such a positive experience! Dave is a true pioneer of filmmakers of all kind on his platform.

Screen International and Screen Daily

Another great resource for filmmakers. They also run webinars and talks about the business of filmmaking throughout the year and do online screenings of films.

IFTA

The awards season is coming up and ITFA’s will have screenings and talks again soon. I think I pretty much attended all of their organised Zoom’s last year. It’s a great way to stay up to date with great films that are being made in Ireland, and listen to a bit of backstory about the making of them. You can join with a membership or subscribe for open events on their webpage.

National Theatre At Home

These, these are the saving grace of a theatre lover throughout the pandemic. They have recorded their theatre performances to a very high standard. One may feel that they are truly are attending a play or a musical. Just superb stuff, I’m a big fan.

MY FIRST MILLION

Another thing I got hooked to last year is this podcast by Sam Parr and Shaan Puri. It’s a brainstorm of business opportunities and interviews with millionaires/billionaires on how they have earned their first million. If you are into business and tech asides from filmmaking that is.

The Hustle

Similar thing to My First Million, but in a short written form. Business and tech in 5 minutes or less, essentially.

Impact Theory

This is another kick ass podcast I absolutely love by Tom Bilyeu. The name of it kind of says it all. P.S. I always have to copy/paste his surname though, as my brain just goes bdaah and won’t ever spell it correctly. Is it just me or anyone else?!

Hope this is of value. Let me know.

We captured this wonderful story of Liz and her Bingo game recently, you can view it below.

I can say that I’ve also tried playing said game thereafter and I have even won a Newbridge Silverware Christmas decoration! Woohooo! 🙂 It was great fun!

Thank you Liz for keeping the community spirits high.

Europeans keep up the spirit in challenging times!

🇮🇪 In Dublin, Liz had to wait until her hair salon – a local meeting place – reopened.

In the meantime, she brought people together with online bingo. Together, we will overcome this pandemic. pic.twitter.com/vhz9YNsK5Z

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) December 29, 2020

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

Fingers crossed for return to normality in 2021. Hang in there everyone!

A couple of weeks back I was out in beautiful Ardgroom, Co Cork producing an episode for EuroNews Ocean Series.

Episode is due to be aired TODAY at approximately 20:30 PM on EuroNews, and will be posted ONLINE HERE thereafter. You can catch it streaming live at these approximate times on EuroNews TV channel or EuroNews live online (8 min watch):

CENTRAL EUROPEAN TIME 

Tuesday 22nd Dec:  20:50 

Wednesday 23rd Dec: 12:50, 22:50 

Thursday 24th Dec: 5:50, 17:45 

Friday 25th Dec: 1:30, 14:50 

Saturday: 26th Dec 08:50, 12:50, 19:50 

Sunday 27th Dec: 13:10, 16:10, 22:10 

Monday 28th Dec: 06:50, 14:50

HERE is a 2 min video on how Covid -19 has affected the business of mussel production.

Because of restrictions due to Covid-19, show producer Denis Loctier and his team could not be here in Ireland in person, so myself, Napoleon and Paul-Michelle jumped in to help. I hope we did it justice. We certainly had great fun shooting it and being around such picturesque places as Ardgroom and Kenmare and meeting the lovely lovely people out there.

The story we shot is about mussel farming, Kush Shellfish, it’s owner John Harrington and his team. We also interviewed Richard Donnelly of BIM. You’ll get to see how mussels are farmed and hear the story behind it.

P.S. We did get to try the mussels ourselves, and I can safely say they were the best I’ve had so far. Omnomnom.

I hope you are keeping well and are all set for a very Merry Christmas celebrations. 
Hear a No is now live at Carlow International Film Festival, and the best part is that it’s free to watch it along with 7 hours of other short films. HERE is the access link. Hope you enjoy it.

Delighted to share that Hear a No short film has been selected for Carlow International Film Festival in Ireland. Amazing news! Keep your eyes peeled for more information coming soon.

It’s been a busy couple of months for me, thankfully, despite Covid-19 lockdown 2.0 in Ireland. I’ve been editing corporate videos for Abbott Laboratories and helping my colleague Napoleon Ramos to shoot some footage for European Commission.

Check out the video we shot back in September. It’s an interview with Suaad Alshleh, a Syrian refugee in Ireland, who earned exceptional marks on her leaving certificate and got accepted for a scholarship with Royal College of Surgeons Ireland.

Last week, we have been tasked to find stories of how people came together and helped each other during Covid times. We submitted a number of proposals, and shot the one that was chosen.

Here is a picture of us working in Ballymore Eustace, shooting local community and a Bingo Lotto game organised by lovely Elizabeth Deegan. Out soon.

This week we’ve been out and about the streets of Dublin to document how the city is doing during Covid-19 lockdown 2.0. – how the streets are looking and how businesses have adapted to the new restrictions and guidelines.

Keep your eyes peeled for the videos coming out soon. I will post on here and social media, and I’m sure you will find them on European Commission / European Parliament social media channels too.

For now- Happy Friday and enjoy your weekend!

Some excellent news today- Hear a No short film has been selected for the amazing Richard Harris International Film Festival in Limerick, Ireland. Absolutely delighted! Keep your eyes peeled for more information coming soon.