The lineup for this year’s FÍS TV Summit goes from strength to strength, with the latest announcement that writer & director Hugo Blick will attend the event to discuss his much-lauded Western, The English (BBC 2, Amazon Prime) starring Emily Blunt and Chaske Spencer. They star alongside an ensemble cast that includes Stephen Rea and Ciarán Hinds.
Blick joins Mike Flanagan, writer/director and creator of the acclaimed horror series Midnight Mass, The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, and The Midnight Club.
We’re excited to be hosting the 6th annual FÍS TV Summit, back in-person. We have a cracker lineup, and we can’t wait for all our industry friends to be a part of it.
Alan Duggan, CEO – Ardán
FÍS has also announced that Irish Director Lee Cronin (The Hole in the Ground) will host the conversation with Flanagan on the day. The trailer for Cronin’s second feature Evil Dead Rise was released this month with an overwhelmingly positive response from fans.
FÍS will also present several panel discussions, each focusing on a different area. These include Engage, a discussion around Developing Programming for Young Audiences and promotion of the Irish language, with Ola Majekodunmi (Broadcaster, Writer, and Gaeilgeoir), Suzanne Kelly (Head of Children’s and Young People’s Content at RTÉ), Sioned Geraint (Commissioner for Children and Learners at S4C), and Karina Feirtéar (Cúla 4 Manager).
Another panel, Green Shoots, will discuss the topic of sustainability, both in terms of TV production as well as how shows on the topic can make a difference, which will feature Alex de Valera (Sustainability Officer, Coordinator, Supervisor and Manager in Film, HETV and Commercials), Caoimhe Ní Chathail (Broadcaster, Journalist and presenter of Eadaí SOS), and Marcus Stewart (TV and Film documentary producer, Eco Eye).
Our third panel, The Danish Way, will be an exploration of the successful television output, and the lessons that can be learned from an industry in a small European nation comparable to our own. This panel includes academic and author Anne Marit Waade (Danish Television Drama: Global Lessons from a Small Nation), Stine Meldgaard (Producer: Borgen, The Chestnut Man), and Jannik Tai Mosholt (Writer: Chosen, The Rain, Borgen).
The pitching event will also be back this year, with some promising finalists getting ready to pitch their projects. Paddy Hayes, producer of Obituary, a West of Ireland production (pitched at the summit in 2020) which has been taken up by Hulu, will introduce this year’s pitching event.