52 Jokers Wild

Annie Doona Chair of Galway Film Fleadh is ”In The Room” with 52 Jokers Wild.

Annie Doona Chair of Galway Film Fleadh is ”In The Room” with 52 Jokers Wild.

S3E15

We have reached another milestone. This time we celebrate our 100th episode of "In The Room". This week our guest is Annie Doona, Chair of the Galway Film Fleadh and recently Chair of Screen Ireland. Annie has a wealth of experience in film education as she was for many years the chair of the National Film School, part of the Institute of Art, Design and Technology in Dún Laoghaire, in Ireland.

Our conversation with Annie spans the issues relating to building a trained workforce who are equipped with the necessary skills to join the film industry, how women still struggle to find opportunities in film and the rise of the studio in Ireland as more streamers buy up real estate due to the boom in demand for more quality film content.

The final segment looks at the importance of film festivals for up and coming filmmakers, not so to watch films but to build the ever-important network of contacts that could lead to the fruition of that special passion project.

#FILMACADEMY #FILMFUNDING #FILMPODCAST

Frank W. Kelly Multi Award-winning Filmmaker is ”In The Room” with 52 Jokers Wild.

Frank W. Kelly Multi Award-winning Filmmaker is "In The Room" with 52 Jokers Wild.

S3E14

Our guest this week is Frank W. Kelly, a multi-award winning filmmaker. Two pointing fingers and a smoking toy gun is the challenge in this week's 99th episode of "In The Room" with Garvin and George. A new teleprompt stirs up some issues but are quickly resolved and the outtakes are kept in. The main thrust of the conversation quickly turns to the importance of understanding and recognising your worth as a filmmaker, especially if you have many years behind you. So often we filmmakers find ourselves being asked to do projects at such a low rate but we are professionals too. The Business 101 jumps out and Frank relates his experience in the building trade and how it compares to the process of crafting a film together. At the production stage, it's all about following the schedule and ensuring there is enough material for the editor to work with to construct a story worth telling. The philosophy of Plato comes into frame as we discuss the importance of each person's craft and that if we get used to being multi-hyphenated we dilute our skills. By collaborating, you can work with the best in the trade, who have developed their skills 100%. This becomes the family and everyone knows each other's capabilities, just as they do in the building trade. And Frank should know as he has built up an impressive collection of award-winning films in his portfolio, and he is now sharing his techniques in a new book "8 Simple Steps to Making Your Short Film". #FILMACADEMY #FILMFUNDING #FILMPODCAST

Roisin Kearney Multi Award-winning Screenwriter & Director is ”In The Room” with 52 Jokers Wild.

Roisin Kearney Multi Award-winning Screenwriter & Director is "In The Room" with 52 Jokers Wild.

S3E13

In this weeks episode, our guest is Roisin Kearney, Multi Award-winning Screenwriter, and Director talking about her beginnings in theatre and how this inspired her passion for writing and film directing. Roisin is aware of the importance of collaboration and how helping others to achieve their filmmaking goals helps to support her own film projects. Film directing is also a combination of passion projects and jobbing projects. Getting this balance right is crucial to a successful career and meeting one's own aspirations. So often people fall into the securing of a job and let their passions go, but following only your dream projects doesn't pay the bills or keep the family happen. Getting this balance is essential. Roisin shares with us about her family of filmmakers and how each has supported their adventures and ensured the projects get finished and on to their desired audience. It was great fun for Garvin and George chatting with Roisin who remained enthusiastic about her craft throughout. Another insightful encounter that got the two boys thinking movies.

#FILMACADEMY #FILMFUNDING #FILMPODCAST

Mo O‘Connell (Actor/Screenwriter/Director) is ”In The Room” with 52 Jokers Wild.

Mo O'Connell (Actor/Screenwriter/Director) is "In The Room" with 52 Jokers Wild.

S3E12

In this weeks episode, our guest is Mo O'Connell, actor, screenwriter, and director who talks about how she gets her films across the finishing line and has the drive to succeed. Each project is a labour of love and seems to cause all the pains and heartache any mother would go through bringing her baby into this world. Some willingly but others throw tantrums stubbornly resisting. Mo always takes on the challenge to bring her art to life and won't let money stand in the way. If you wait around for the money nothing would get done. Mo's talent is highly sought after as can be see through the number of short films she has created and the feature films produced or in production. It was a privilege to have the chance to chat with Mo about her passion for filmmaking and the many areas she has tackled to ensure her films arrive to their target audience.

#FILMACADEMY #FILMFUNDING #FILMPODCAST

James Webber (Screenwriter/Director/Producer) is ”In The Room” with 52 Jokers Wild.

James Webber (Screenwriter/Director/Producer) is "In The Room" with 52 Jokers Wild.

S3E11

In this weeks episode, our guest is James Webber, screenwriter, director and producer who is gaining success with his first feature film, Sorority. Garvin and I managed to get some great insights into James filmmaking process and how he managed to develop his feature film based on an earlier short film he had been successful with. 

Key themes in the discussion related to how he worked with investors and the motivation for offering funds. The hardest part of any film is trying to get investment and quite often filmmakers resort to seeing what they have available and just getting stuck in. This can be a long and arduous process and it becomes important to have the right team to provide the necessary moral support and encouragement. However, if you see this as a business, then the details of preproduction become the driver for managing your film. 

James highlights his process and has managed to get his feature film into a range of film festivals with prospects of reaching a wider audience.

 #FILMACADEMY #FILMFUNDING #FILMPODCAST

Francesca Romana Nider (Screenwriter/Producer) is ”In The Room” with 52 Jokers Wild.

Francesca Romana Nider (Screenwriter/Producer) is "In The Room" with 52 Jokers Wild.

S3E10

Our guest this week is Francesca Romana Nider, a screenwriter and producer. Francesca has studied screenwriting and is looking for collaboration with her feature-length script, The Sins of Our Mothers, which was a Semifinalist in the recent Writers Lab UK and was in the Top 50 Finalists of the ScreenCraft Drama Competition 2019. Her second feature, Rabbit Skin, is a Finalist in the Top 100, Table Read My Screenplay Genre Screenplay Competition Austin 2021, a psychological horror she initially developed with Film Hub North.

With Garvin and me, Francesca talked about the importance of developing your skills and testing your writing abilities with genres you may not be familiar with. The key is to prove that you can do the writing gigs called upon by film producers and directors.

#FILMACADEMY #FILMFUNDING #FILMPODCAST

Grace Garvin (Wild Rice Films) is ”In The Room” with 52 Jokers Wild.

Grace Garvin (Wild Rice Films) is "In The Room" with 52 Jokers Wild.

S3E09

Our guest this week is Grace Garvin, managing director of Wild Rice Films and film producer. Again, like several others we have interviewed, film producing is Grace's job. She loves it but it is her business, even though she sees her projects as being precious. Though new to film producing her previous experience in marketing has well equipped her for her current role. She knows how to put a team together, how to pull in the necessary facilities and knows how to push the right psychological buttons to get the best out of her crew. All with an amazing bubbliness that only can inspire positivity and professionalism to meet the deadlines. This is a super interview and definitely inspired Garvin and George into shifting up a gear or two.

#FILMACADEMY #FILMFUNDING #FILMPODCAST

Karl King, Johnathan Brownlee, Donna Phillips & Siraj Zaidi is ”In The Room” with 52 Jokers Wild.

Producers and Influencers in Film

S3E08

In this week's episode, we revisit four of our recent film interviews focusing on our guests.

Karl King talks about being a locations managers and the issues of trying to find people to fill the below-the-line jobs. What he has found is that most media courses promote producers, directors and writers but the craftspeople are missed and would-be filmmakers do not realise the vast array of opportunities in film production.

Johnathan Brownlee shares with us the importance of doing other things while you are on your filmmaking journey. He loved making things and finding out how stuff works. This led to him creating a range of television series on carpentry, house renovation and golf, all bringing in a good income leading to broadcasting encouraging him to write more shows.

Donna Phillips set up the International Film Producers Networks purely because she found she had a talent for connecting people. Her father was a painter who struggled to get representation which influenced Donna into finding ways to bring people together to promote their crafts. This led her into working on shows such as 'A Place In The Sun' opening up offshoot opportunities because of the popularity of the show.

Siraj Zaidi combines acting and producing with running the Indian Film Festival of Ireland bring a diverse cinema and culture that is often neglected as most assume Indian film production is basically Bollywood when it is not. Siraj career as an actor has brought him into contact with most of the Irish film industry and Hollywood, so that what he has learnt he is putting into good use as a producer. A wealth of insights to encourage new and seasoned filmmakers.

#FILMACADEMY #FILMFUNDING #FILMPODCAST

Pauric Brennan (Bren Enterprise) is "In The Room" with 52 Jokers Wild.

Pauric Brennan (Bren Enterprise) is "In The Room" with 52 Jokers Wild.

S3E07

This is a must-see episode, or at least listen-worthy,, as our guest, Pauric Brennan, goes where no micro-producer or buddy filmmaker goes, into the Heart of Darkness of the Mysterious world of.... promoting, distributing and, basically creating a target audience, so there is someone to watch your film once it has been produced.

The easy part is making the movie. Pauric's film "Don't Sell Me A Dog", a road-movie thriller was made in a frantically short amount of time with amazing ingenuity, from conception to execution and completion with a constant eye on the target audience wants and desires, so that what he can deliver meets expectations.

"Don't Sell Me A Dog" can be seen on Plex (https://watch.plex.tv/movie/dont-sell-me-a-dog). On more about how Pauric tackled the film and much more on indie film production listen or watch this week's "In The Room" with Garvin and George.

#FILMACADEMY #FILMFUNDING #FILMPODCAST

Sean Breathnach (Ego Productions Ireland) is "In The Room" with 52 Jokers Wild.

Sean Breathnach (Ego Productions Ireland) is "In The Room" with 52 Jokers Wild.

S3E06

Sean Breathnach (Ego Productions Ireland) is "In The Room" with 52 Jokers Wild. S3E06 In this week’s show, Garvin and George get to talk with Sean Breathnach, writer, director, producer, and editor of the film “Beyond the Woods” which is currently available to see on Amazon Prime.

Sean runs his own production company Ego Productions Ireland where he is developing a slate of Horror Genre feature films. Having produced a series of shocks he then went beyond his comfort zone to break into feature film production. It was a long road but with his film industry contacts, he brought it all together in “Beyond the Woods”. After writing 16 other screenplays the time was right for his pet projects to be realised.

“In The Room” Sean shares with us some of the horrors that many filmmakers encounter but as we discover Sean has more of an accountant’s head on his shoulders than a dreamy filmmaker’s one, digging deep into the reality of budgeting so that he could find a way to bring his story off the pages into a movie.

Sean is brutally honest about the hardships of filmmaking but his passion spurs him on and he never gives up. It’s all about making the connections and building the right relationships in order to endure the stormy journey into film production but unlike many Sean is willing to go beyond the woods after dark.