The Screen Directors Guild of Ireland (SDGI) hosted its 17th Annual Meeting of Directors at the Royal Irish Academy on Dawson Street on Wednesday, June 12th. Each year this event is one of the largest gatherings of Irish and international screen directors, and this year SDGI had the privilege of welcoming over seventy directors to the event — their biggest gathering to date.
SDGI welcomed guest of honor Andrea Arnold, the British Academy award-winning director best known for her film and television work including Wasp, American Honey, Fish Tank, Transparent, and the current season of Big Little Lies. Arnold has been acclaimed for her body of work and SDGI were so grateful to her for coming to Dublin to inspire their guild members. Arnold took part in a gripping discussion with Tom Hall and was presented with an honorary membership by Imogen Murphy.
Screen Ireland CEO James Hickey at the SDGI AGM 2019Lance Daly gave a special presentation to exiting CEO of Screen Ireland, James Hickey, as a token of SDGI’s appreciation for his hard work at Screen Ireland, formerly the Irish Film Board. James Hickey has been the CEO of the organization since 2011 — leading it out of an economically struggling Ireland into a new era for the audiovisual industries, as signified by the organisation’s name change.
Established in 2000, the Screen Directors Guild of Ireland (SDGI) is the representative body for Directors involved in the Irish and international audiovisual industry. These include Directors of feature films, fiction, animation documentary, television drama, short films, video art and commercials. The ethos of the Guild is both inclusive and proactive in encouraging a dynamic and supportive forum for directors to discuss their ideas or concerns and has grown to become a forum for thoroughly positive dialogue about making films.
SDGI would like to thank their sponsors for their generosity and support of the guild: Porterhouse, Dingle Gin, the Irish Film Institute, Dubray Books, Screen International, Wildcard Distribution, The Abbey Theatre, the Irish Times, Gotham Café and Warner Bros.
