SCREENWRITING

In 2013 I wrote my first comedy pilot “Limelight” which placed very highly in the BBC writers room and had some interest from RTÉ but ultimately was never produced. Recognising that I still had a lot to learn about the craft I enrolled in an MA in screenwriting at IADT where I received a first class honour for my feature film script “The Brink”. Since then I have been making steady progress in my writing career and in 2023 I had my first short film “Scríofa sna Réalta” produced. This Irish language family film was directed by the multi-award winning Vincent Gallagher and produced by “Sin É films”. It was funded by TG4 and the EBU European fund. The film was very well received and will be entering the festival circuit in 2024 before being broadcast on TG4 and a host of European broadcasters.

In 2022 my Irish language feature film script “Saoirse" received development funding under the “Géalán” scheme which is funded by amongst others TG4, BBC and NI screen.

In 2021 my comedy pilot “B Negative” was selected as a finalist in the highly regarded short com script competition in and my crime series “The Brink” was selected for the Creative Media Europe drama workshop with Emmanuel Oberg in 2022.

First and foremost I see myself as a collaborator, the thing I love most about screenwriting is the collaboration. What sets screenwriting apart from other forms of writing is that the writer cannot bring these stories to the screen themselves and need the expertise and creativity of others to bring their characters and worlds to life.

I am a pragmatic writer. Eighteen years of editing drama has given me a very real understanding of the limitations and the immense possibilities that come with screenwriting. I was in my thirties when I went back to study screenwriting and I really believe this has given me a different view and approach to writing, one I would like to share.