One of the things we love here at Scannain is filmmakers who are not afraid to take risks. Filmmakers who have a desire, a passion to bring their filmatic dreams to life. And we feel we have an obligation to help in whatever small way we can to make their visions real. That’s why we’re starting this column to help Irish filmmakers who are crowd-sourcing funding for their films gain a little more exposure. Please check out the projects below, and if one takes your fancy please help these films come to life.
Neighbourhood Watch
Neighbourhood Watch is the first film to be written and directed by actor Alan Buckley.
Plot Details: A comedy about how far some people will go to protect their community, but all is not necessarily how it seems.
Cast and Crew: Alan Buckley, Kenny Stapleton, Sheila Moylette and Joe Rooney (a.k.a. Fr. Damo from Fr. Ted)
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Songs for Amy
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Songs For Amy started with two good friends, director Konrad Begg and writer/producer Fiona Graham, who wanted to make their first feature film. Against the odds, they combined their skills, enlisted the help of some fantastic people,put together an incredibly talented cast and made an award-winning film. Songs For Amy won the Jury Award for outstanding achievement in filmmaking at Newport Beach Film Festival and has sold out all of its festival screenings at Glasgow, Galway, Newport Beach and the Hollywood Film Festival. On the next leg of their journey, they need to reach worldwide audiences.
Plot Details: A darkly comedic love story set against the stunning backdrop of the west of Ireland and New York, that follows the plight of struggling musician Sean O’Malley who tries to redeem his relationship with the love of his life, Amy after their perfect world is shattered by the presence of hell-raising rock band, The Alabama 3. With his relationship and future happiness hanging in the balance, Sean tries to write the perfect album for Amy with the help and hindrance from his misfit band mates.
Cast and Crew: Konrad Begg, Fiona Graham, Sean Maguire, Lorna Anderson, Kevin Ryan, Barry Ward, Ford Kiernan, Ross Mac Mahon, Olwyn Boyle, Gavin Mitchell, Alexandra Weaver, Julie Addy, Patrick Bergin, and James Cosmo.
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An Bean Sidhe
An Bean Sidhe, is written by Eoin O’Sullivan and picked up a Golden Blaster award for Best Screenplay at Octocon 2013.
Plot Details: The film tells the story of Christian, a young Irish man who plays a prank that goes horribly wrong.If you are unlucky enough to hear a banshee wail, someone you know will die – just pray it’s not you.
Cast and Crew: Eoin O’Sullivan, Paul Lynch, Nick Hurt, Becky Phelan, Marian Rose
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The Break
The Break comes from Ken Williams and Denis Fitzpatrick, a writer/director/producer/tea-making team from Cork, based in Dublin and London.
Plot Details: Since 2008 the recession/downturn/crash has been the biggest story in Ireland. Nobody has gone untouched by the catastrophic collapse of house prices, the banking system and the Celtic Tiger feelgood factor. The Break is a story about how Tim, a father of two, tried to cope for the first few months after everything went tits up.
Cast and Crew: Ken Williams, Denis Fitzpatrick, Ronan Leahy, Emmet Kirwan, Barry Keoghan, Aoibhéann McCann, Jon Kenny
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Queue This Way
Queue This Way is the graduate film of Sean Girton and Alice Nolan, students of Video and Film Production in Dundalk Institute of Technology.
Plot Details: The story is about Jonny Keeler, his social awkwardness around the new barista, Delilah Quinn and his attempt to impress her with his knowledge of self-help and confidence building books. No matter how hard we try to perfect romance, our expectation will never coincide with the reality of intimacy.
Cast and Crew: Sean Girton, Alice Nolan, Richie Brennan, Sarah O’Malley, Eimear Howard