New breed of Irish film making talents

Ireland may not necessarily be the country you would find individuals taking Hollywood by storm (although there are those few who have their fair share of success including Colin Farrell, Cilian Murphy, Neil Jordan, Jim Sheridan, etc etc) but there are a few new breed of film makers I genuinely admire and respect for their sheer talent and delivering entertaining and engaging productions....

Horror-movie buff, Conor McMahon is one of the said film makers.  Conor was the mastermind behind the likes of award-winning short Brain Eater, and he followed that up with the feature Dead Meat. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZB2Xz4DkxY

Shoot on a shoe-string budget and released in 2004, the fun zombie action horror movie went on to generate quite a cult following on DVD and was also picked up for distribution and DVD release in the States.

More recently Conor gained more recognition from his web-series Zombie Bashers(a highly entertaining mocumentry following the lives of two former plumbers turned zombie killers!) which was part of the RTE Storyland competition and was the eventually winner in 2010. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZaA0n3XWWM

Conor and I had crossed paths on numerous occasions and there had always been talk of a project in the theme of a Chinese vampire martial arts movie set in Ireland....!  I indeed am a fan of Conor's creativity and believe he is quite a genius in this genre, so fingers cross something can take off ground in the future that we can collaborate on.....

No stranger to those here on AnD, Seamus Walsh is indeed a friend and film maker I hold in high regards.  Not only did he manage to make an excellent award winning short film, Somebody to Love featuring a good story and some nice crisp action, but he single-handedly self-financed the picture, flew all the way from Ireland to Hong Kong and ensembled such talents in front and behind the screen including Philip Ng, James Ha, Yennis Cheung, Jude Poyer, Henry Chung etc etc.  You have to tip your hat to this young man and say he certainly has guts..... and lot of talent.  Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a88p_dIizMw

The full short film can be viewed here on Seamus' blog.  Don't miss out! 

I am excited about Seamus' up-coming project and wish him all the best that things will take off for him!     (That's right - you know who to call when you are casting.... Hehehe..... )

Last, but by no means least, I've to mention would be one Craig Woods.  Relatively new in the field, but not limited in experience and talent, Craig has been generating a lot of attention with his award winning short, '43 (Yonju-San).

'43 (Yonju-san)is an original piece created by Craig Woods and John Curran during their time studying media production in college as part of their final year project.  What started off as a mock teaser/introduction designed just to earn their college grades, Craig saw the potential to take this creation another step further and since completing his training he went on to expand the piece into a 32 minutes film.

'43 (Yonju-san)is set in the dark alleys of Dublin City andtells the story of a down-on-his-luck homeless man, Anto (Emmet Flood) who gets a friendly invite for shelter for the night from a good samaritan, Will (Rory Connolly).  Little does Anto know his world was just about to get a whole lot worse when he is duped and becomes a guinea pig to those with greater powers and becomes involved in their depraved games.  His choice now is whether to accept his "new" life, or fight for the man he once was.... Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LIvqJSJO9o

Created and designed as a live comic book film, '43 (Yonju-san) is an original uniquely told story through graphic images and voice-overs that is done extremely engaging. I was involved in '43 (Yonju-san) as a weapon designer, but due to budget constraints (zero that is.....) Craig wasn't able to pull off some of the more fancy and elaborate designs.  He did make the best of what he could though.....

The film went on to win 'Best Short Film - Live Action' at the Darklight Film Festival 2009, and this year it captured both 'Best Independent Film' and 'Best Editor' at the Underground Cinema Awards 2010.

I have high hopes Craig will get very far in his career.  And might I add this is the very same director for our collaboration, Crib of Deathafter all.......  Very near completion, so watch this space for more news............. 

I find great inspiration from these young talented film makers from my home country that I too have long desire to delve back into my initial dream and interest (prior to becoming an actor) and simply create good, fun and exciting projects.  Crib of Death was my first stab and I can promise it won't be my last either......... 

Peace and Best Wishes,

Alan

PS.  Currently in Hong Kong and will be attending my first ever AnD party this Halloween!!!  So those that are attending, look very much to meeting you and let's party on..!!!