FILM
Feature
The Drummer And The Keeper
My first feature The Drummer and The Keeper was funded by the Irish Film Board’s Catalyst Scheme and produced by Kate McColgan for Calico Pictures.
In 2017 it premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh, where it won Best Irish First Feature, and at the BFI London Film Festival, and went on to screen at festivals all over the world. It won 18 festival prizes in seven different countries, including Best Film at the Cleveland International Film Festival, Best Foreign Film at the Newport Beach International Film Festival and Silver Prize at the Emden-Norderney International Film Fest.
My script was nominated for Best Screenplay at both the Irish Film and Television Awards and the Irish Writers Guild’s Zebbie Awards in 2018.
Short
My first short Delphine was funded by the Irish Film Board’s Short Shorts scheme in 2003. Described by the Evening Herald as “one of the best Irish films of the past decade”, it screened at many festivals around the world and was broadcast on TV in several countries.
My second short Why The Irish Dance That Way was jointly funded by RTÉ and the Arts Council under their Dance On The Box scheme. It was one of nine films selected by New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) for Shortfest: Outstanding Shorts from the International Festivals in 2007.
The screenplay for my third short Shoe won first prize in Vail Film Festival (Colorado) and second prize in the Champion Screenwriting Competition (Los Angeles). Having received production funding under the Irish Film Board’s Signatures scheme, the finished film was one the 10 shortlisted in the Live Action Shorts category of the 2011 Academy Awards.
New Projects
My feature film project Bedsitterland, written and to be directed by me and produced by Samson Films (Ireland) and A Private View (Belgium), was selected for the Co-Production market at the 2020 Berlinale.
Blowing In, a new TV project conceived by me, was one of 15 shortlisted for RTÉ / Screen Ireland Storyland initiative in 2021.
In June 2022, I filmed my journey by bicycle to the Glastonbury Festival with a view to creating a documentary with the working title The Song Cycle (see more about this project under Music).
In July 2022, my feature film project The Sea Lion was one of the 10 finalists chosen from over 300 entries for the Pitching Competition at the Galway Film Fleadh.
I have been working with various other writers to develop several other television projects, including two arising out of The Story Works (see below).
The Story Works
In 2019 I established The Story Works, an innovative independent writers room aimed at developing new TV drama concepts with global appeal by fusing the methods of a classic American TV writers room and an Adland creative department over an intensive three week process.
Each session of The Story Works is funded by a commissioning entity which provides feedback throughout and takes an option on the resulting ideas. All participating writers share credits and profits. Our writers are chosen for their wide range of professional backgrounds and life experiences – and for their common passion for great television storytelling.
The first session of The Story Works took place in Spring of 2019, and resulted in the commissioning of a pilot screenplay for one project and another moving forward into further development.
Interested in working with The Story Works? Let’s talk.
SEE:HEAR
In recent years I’ve developed and staged this multi-disciplinary live show, which intertwines live performances of some of my songs, short clips from some of my films, and a “witty and compelling” talk (as one reviewer has described it) to explain how and why I believe that my background in rock’n’roll has taught me to make movies.
SEE:HEAR has been programmed at various prestigious film, music and arts events, including Electric Picnic, the Galway Film Fleadh and FilmFest Bremen.
Fancy bringing SEE:HEAR to your event or organization? Drop me a line.
