Film Ireland Podcast

In this Film Ireland Podcast, supported by Screen Ireland, we’re delighted to be chatting once again with director Brendan Muldowney. An accomplished filmmaker, Brendan is the talent behind features such as Pilgrimage and The Cellar, and now his latest offering, One Last Deal, explores the high-stakes world of sports. Set against the ruthless backdrop of football politics, this is a fast-paced, pressure-cooker thriller, with Danny Dyer delivering a standout performance.

Directed by Muldowney (Pilgrimage, The Cellar), the film sees Dyer (The Football Factory, Marching Powder, Rivals) take centre stage as Jimmy Banks, an old school football agent who desperately needs to get his troubled star footballer one last big payday before Jimmy’s life, and his player’s reputation, comes tumbling down. When the prospect of a major new deal with a promising young player appears, Jimmy sees a route to get himself back on top… but when a blackmailer calls and the shady dealings of his past resurface, can Jimmy keep calm and get the job done?

Written by Peter Howlett and shot on location in Ireland last year, the film was produced by Paul Kennedy (Nightride) for Village Films, Richard Bolger (Father, Mother, Sister, Brother) for Hail Mary Pictures, and Patrick O’Neill (Kneecap) for Wildcard, with support from Screen Ireland / Fís Éireann and Northern Ireland Screen.

Listen now on SoundCloud, Apple, Spotify, Acast and Amazon, or subscribe to Film Ireland wherever you get your podcasts.

Brendan Muldowney
Brendan is an Irish writer/director. After graduating from the National Film School/IADT he wrote and directed 9 award winning shorts. His debut feature Savage (2009) was nominated for 6 Irish Film and Television awards and he was nominated for the IFTA ‘Rising Star’ award. His second film, Love Eternal (2013) has played at over 80 festivals worldwide and was winner of the ‘Dublin critics circle’ award for best Irish film at the 2014 Dublin Film Festival. His film Pilgrimage (2017) starring Tom Holland, John Bernthal and Richard Armitage, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and sold to multiple territories, including the US (RLJ Entertainment) and the UK (Studio Canal).
His last feature, The Cellar (2022), premiered at the SXSW film festival. It has made a theatrical box office of over 2 million worldwide and is streaming on Shudder and multiple platforms. He is represented by the Independent Talent Agency. He is one of the founders and co-owner of the Irish production company SAVAGE PRODUCTIONS. He has taught at the LIR, Huston School of Film, Filmbase, and mentors under the Screen Skills Ireland – Mentorship Programme. He lectures in directing.

This episode has been made possible with the support of the Screen Ireland Stakeholders Fund.
Over the years, the podcast has featured acclaimed guests such as Phyllida Lloyd, Lenny Abrahamson, M. Night Shyamalan, John Boorman, Saoirse Ronan, Colin Farrell, Aisha Tyler, Colm Meaney, Paul Reiser, Niamh Algar, David Freyne, Ciarán Donnelly, Joshua Oppenheimer, John Crowley, Niamh Algar, Gene Stupnitsky, and Terence Davies, alongside many of the most influential voices working in film and television today.

So make sure to subscribe and listen back!

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In this episode of the Film Ireland Podcast, we’re delighted to partner with the Foyle Film Festival, which takes place in the Nerve Centre in Derry each year. An Academy Awards® and BAFTA-qualifying festival, Foyle Film Festival is celebrating its 39th year this November.

First, we chat to from Eavan King, Head of Film Programming at the Foyle Film Festival & Nerve centre, about how the festival began, how it has evolved and how much fun it is to visit.
Then, at 10:08, we catch up with David Pope, an internationally renowned script consultant, who was working with screenwriters at the festival as part of their comprehensive industry programme.
Finally at 17:12 we host a live discussion on presenting local stories to an international market, recorded live and featuring producer Dearbhla Regan from Wild Atlantic Pictures and Louise Gallagher from Hat Trick Productions and Gallagher Films.

Submissions have just opened for the Foyle Film Festival, so get yours in.

https://www.filmireland.net/podcast-david-pope-dearbhla-regan-louise-gallagher-at-foyle-film-festival

Foyle Film Festival
This vibrant film festival takes place in venues across Derry each November to bring the best of international cinema and industry players to the city. The festival also delivers screenings, events and workshops throughout the year, including Reel Lives which has replaced the Intercultural and Anti-Racism Festival, as well as Educational and Community Outreach Screenings. The prestigious Light In Motion (LIM) competition is open to filmmakers and animators across the world, with winners qualifying for consideration in the Live Action and Animated Short Film categories of the Academy Awards® and BAFTA.

Louise Gallagher
Louise has been working in the media industry for 30 years, with 23 of those years spent at the BBC in Belfast in various production roles across Radio, TV and Online services. In 2011 she flew the BBC nest and moved into the independent film and TV sector, working on independent shorts and features. Louise went on to found Gallagher Films in 2018. Major recent projects for Gallagher Films include BAFTA award-winning ‘Blue Lights’, a BBC drama series set against the backdrop of policing in Northern Ireland, on which Louise is Co-Creator / Executive Producer. Her first feature film, ‘A Bump Along The Way’, had a successful cinema release and won several awards at home and internationally. Written by Tess McGowan, directed by Shelly Love and produced by Louise, it starred Bronagh Gallagher and Lola Petticrew. ‘A Bump Along the Way’ was developed with the assistance of Northern Ireland Screen through their New Talent Writers and New Talent Focus programmes. Louise recently received an IFTA for best short film ‘Rough’ written and directed by Declan Lawn & Adam Patterson.

David Pope
David is a script consultant and screenwriter working internationally. Script consultation projects include Obraz, candidate for Best International Film Academy Award 2026; Tiger Stripes, winner of the Jury Prize Critics’ Week Cannes Film Festival 2023 and candidate for Best International Film Academy Award 2024; Take It or Leave It, candidate for Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award 2019; and Truth or Justice, candidate for Best International Film Academy Award 2020. Other recent projects as script consultant include the feature films Natatorium; Last Sentinel; Splendid Isolation and the drama series Imperial Spy for Fremantle (American Gods, Deutschland 83). David was Creative Producer on feature film The Goat. In addition to designing and delivering for Stowe Story Labs, he is the long-standing annual advisor & facilitator for Rotterdam Lab at IFFRPro for producers. David has been a creative consultant on Rawi Screenwriting Lab for Royal Film Commission - Jordan, facilitated the Convergence programme funded by Screen Scotland & British Film Institute, and is the script consultant for Funny Features delivered by Glasgow Film Festival and funded by British Film Institute.
Over the years, the podcast has featured acclaimed guests such as Phyllida Lloyd, Lenny Abrahamson, M. Night Shyamalan, John Boorman, Saoirse Ronan, Colin Farrell, Aisha Tyler, Colm Meaney, Paul Reiser, Niamh Algar, David Freyne, Ciarán Donnelly, Joshua Oppenheimer, John Crowley, Niamh Algar, Gene Stupnitsky, and Terence Davies, alongside many of the most influential voices working in film and television today.

So make sure to subscribe and listen back!

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In this Film Ireland podcast, recorded live on location in Washington, D.C. at the Capital Irish Film Festival, we chat with author, playwright and screenwriter Sheena Lambert about her feature Báite.
Presented annually by Solas Nua, the 20th edition of the Capital Irish Film Festival ran from 26th February to 1st March 2026, presenting one of the largest programmes of Irish cinema in North America. Irish-language feature Báite tells the story of a rural village during an All-Ireland weekend in 1975. Blending murder mystery with family drama, the film follows Peggy Casey as her life begins to unravel after a body surfaces in the local man-made lake.
In this episode, we catch up with Sheena Lambert about her journey as a writer, the origins of the story, and the ins and outs of adapting a project from page to screen.
Listen now on SoundCloud, Apple, Spotify, Acast and Amazon, or subscribe to Film Ireland wherever you get your podcasts.

Sheena Lambert
Dublin-based screenwriter, playwright and novelist Sheena Lambert has an exciting few months ahead with the 2025 release of her debut feature film, BÁITE, an adaptation of her own novel The Lake (HarperCollins, 2015) which was filmed in Galway and produced by Danú Media under TG4/Screen Ireland’s Cine4 Scheme. Following a hugely successful, sold-out, extended summer run, Sheena’s stage play COSIMA, based on her Screen Ireland supported feature screenplay of the same name, is scheduled for an Irish tour via Breda Cashe Productions, with some pre-Christmas Dublin dates already announced. Cosima was the daughter of Franz Liszt, who refused to allow her to perform publicly; she married Richard Wagner to get away from her controlling father and helped him become a much greater success than her father had ever been.

Báite

Winner of Best Irish Language Feature Film at the 2025 Galway Film Fleadh and nominated in four categories at the 2026 Irish Film & Television Academy Awards, Báite arrives in cinemas nationwide on 6th March 2026 to coincide with Seachtain na Gaeilge (1–17 March). Directed by Ruán Magan (The Hunger, Our Blue World – A Water Odyssey), the film is a haunting Irish-language mystery set in rural Ireland in September 1975.
When a body is discovered in the receding waters of a lake, the find sends shockwaves through a small community. For 23-year-old Peggy Casey, who runs the local pub, the revelation threatens to upend not just her life, but an entire town built on secrets long submerged.

About Capital Irish Film Festival
Solas Nua’s annual Capital Irish Film Festival in Washington, D.C., presents one of the largest programmes of Irish cinema in North America, showcasing the latest Irish dramatic and documentary features, shorts, art films and animation releases by Irish and Ireland-based filmmakers. The 20th edition of the four-day festival takes place 26 February – 1 March 2026 in partnership with the prestigious American Film Institute’s Silver Theatre & Cultural Center.
The festival provides a US platform that amplifies the work of independent filmmakers working in Ireland and beyond, and celebrates the strength of Ireland’s contemporary cinematic culture. The programme highlights the country’s rich cultural heritage while fostering an inclusive and diverse community of Irish filmmakers. Capital Irish Film Festival champions emerging voices on Irish screens, showcases the exceptional talent and craft within Irish filmmaking, and reflects the robust and vibrant screen industry that has grown in Ireland in recent years.
Over the years, the podcast has featured acclaimed guests such as Phyllida Lloyd, Lenny Abrahamson, M. Night Shyamalan, John Boorman, Saoirse Ronan, Colin Farrell, Aisha Tyler, Colm Meaney, Paul Reiser, Niamh Algar, David Freyne, Ciarán Donnelly, Joshua Oppenheimer, John Crowley, Niamh Algar, Gene Stupnitsky, and Terence Davies, alongside many of the most influential voices working in film and television today.

So make sure to subscribe and listen back!

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In the latest episode of the State of the Arts podcast (@sotapod), filmmaker and writer Des Doyle sits down with acclaimed television creator, writer, and showrunner Shawn Ryan to discuss his journey from playwriting in Illinois to creating some of the most influential drama series in modern television.
Produced in partnership with Film Ireland and supported by Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland through the Screen Stakeholders Funding Scheme, the State of the Arts series explores the creative processes, industry challenges, and new opportunities that both Irish and international creatives face in today’s ever-evolving artistic landscapes.
In this conversation, Shawn reflects on his early years writing plays after his move to Los Angeles, where he worked on popular series such as Nash Bridges and Angel before creating FX’s first original drama, The Shield. He discusses his craft and his work on The Night Agent in some depth, his career journey, and the evolving landscape of television.
Follow the journey of State Of The Arts on instagram.
Listen to this podcast now on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, Soundcloud, Podtail, Podbean and Deezer.
https://www.filmireland.net/state-of-the-arts-podcast-showrunner-shawn-ryan-the-night-agent-the-shield-s-w-a-t-with-des-doyle/

Shawn Ryan
Shawn was born and raised in Rockford, Illinois, and graduated from Middlebury College, where he began writing plays. After moving to Los Angeles, he was staffed on Nash Bridges and Angel before creating and showrunning FX’s first original drama, The Shield. For his work on The Shield, Ryan received a Golden Globe Award for Best Drama, an Emmy nomination for writing, a Peabody Award, and two AFI Awards.
Other series Ryan has created, co-created, or showrun include The Unit, The Chicago Code, Terriers, Last Resort, Mad Dogs, Timeless, S.W.A.T., The Night Agent, and the forthcoming series American Hostage.
Ryan has also served on the Board of Directors for the Writers Guild of America West and was Co-Chair of the WGA Negotiating Committee in 2020.

Des Doyle
Des is a D.I.T. graduate who spent fifteen years working in the Camera Department in the Irish film industry before moving into directing. He is the writer/director of the critically acclaimed feature documentary Showrunners: The Art of Running a TV Show, featuring JJ Abrams (Alias, Lost, Fringe), Robert and Michelle King (The Good Wife), Ronald D. Moore (Outlander, Battlestar Galactica) and Bill Prady (The Big Bang Theory) amongst others.
He has created a number of courses in conjunction with Screen Ireland over the last few years, which provide breakdowns of all the major US and international streaming networks and what their evolving programming needs may be. He also initiated the Pitching Programme for TV Drama and Comedy with Screen Ireland, giving a selected group of writers the opportunity to pitch directly to some of the major Irish production companies based on briefs they provide, and created the LA Writers Room Placements scheme, which allowed Irish writers to travel to LA and spend time in real-world US TV series writers’ rooms.
He has also lectured on Showrunning, US TV Production and the Future of Content at USC Los Angeles, Rowan University Philadelphia, Scriptmakers Berlin, APIT TV Producers Conference Lisbon, Northern Ireland Screen, IADT Dublin, Writers Guild of Ireland and as part of the recent Greenlight Screenwriting Labs in Galway. He is currently developing a new documentary series, which is a US/Irish co-production, as well as providing creative consultancy services to Irish producers, writers and directors with projects targeting the US or global streaming markets.
He is also the co-founder of Destination TV along with Ciarán Donnelly, a creative skills live events company that recently brought Oscar and Emmy-nominated writer/director/showrunner Jonathan Nolan to Dublin for a masterclass.
Over the years, the podcast has featured acclaimed guests such as Phyllida Lloyd, Lenny Abrahamson, M. Night Shyamalan, John Boorman, Saoirse Ronan, Colin Farrell, Aisha Tyler, Colm Meaney, Paul Reiser, Niamh Algar, David Freyne, Ciarán Donnelly, Joshua Oppenheimer, John Crowley, Niamh Algar, Gene Stupnitsky, and Terence Davies, alongside many of the most influential voices working in film and television today.

So make sure to subscribe and listen back!

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In this Film Ireland Podcast, contributor Will Penn chats with Irish-American harpist Joy Shannon, who's preparing to shoot a documentary in Ireland.

Her new album In The Forest Singing Sorrowless, released in late November, is inspired by the poetry of J. R. R. Tolkien and features a special collaboration with his great-granddaughter. Unfortunately there are some technical issues with this section that have impacted the audio.

Then at 28:56, contributor Dolapo Agunbiade sits down with writer-director Adam Mura to discuss his indie series Midlands Mayhem. From the origins of the concept to the realities of independent production, they delve into the making of the show and look at what audiences can expect.

Listen now on SoundCloud, Apple, Spotify, Acast and Amazon, or subscribe to Film Ireland wherever you get your podcasts.

https://www.filmireland.net/podcast-midlands-mayhem-writer-director-adam-mura-harpist-joy-shannon

Midlands Mayhem

Jared Ennis is a disaffected young man working in a scrapyard in the midlands of Ireland. In years prior, Ennis was a hard-partier among a group of young people in the town who frequently drink, do drugs and engage in petty crime, branding themselves The Sesh Council. Ennis is contacted by Council member and former friend Tristan ‘Canner’ Corcoran, who reveals their acquaintance, Fearghal, has been murdered. The two meet with Jessica ‘Seshica’ Hegarty, the Grand Elder and leader of the Sesh Council, who tries to bring Ennis back into the fold to investigate the murder. A local young man and former classmate of Ennis, Mad Jack Wensleydale, takes credit for Fearghal’s murder, vowing to rid the midlands of the crime and violence that the Council brings. It’s made clear to the Council that he’s not working alone.

The two main creative minds behind the project were Adam Mura and Shane O’Baoill, who met studying film at college. They produced the series together with Adam in the director’s chair and Shane serving as the Director of Photography. Adam went to school in the Midlands and most of his friends were from the area. This included two of the main characters portrayed by William Ennis and Tristan Canning.

Joy Shannon

Joy is an Irish harpist and singer whose ethereal and haunting songs come from depths of Irish folklore. Her melodies evoke images of witch’s lairs in dark woods or the distant echoes of the voices of spirits in the ancient places of the Irish countryside.

Joy Shannon’s newest album release In the Forest Singing Sorrowless is inspired by author J.R.R. Tolkien’s poetry, with Shannon’s original music accompanying Tolkien’s wonderful words. Shannon decided to create this album during a personally challenging year, when she went through medical treatments for breast cancer. Tolkien’s works have always been an inspiration for Shannon, especially to have hope and purpose at the darkest times, so the recording of this album carried her through a difficult time. The resulting album is a mystical dream-walk through Tolkien’s landscapes, through the magical lens of Shannon’s intimate harp and vocals.

Last year, Shannon released an album called An Chailleach, or Irish for the crone or elder goddess. For this album, Shannon delved into the lore of the dark wintertime goddess of Ireland, with stark and stunning compositions. Shannon’s fascination with ancient lore, led her to this year’s album, as Tolkien’s works are similarly inspired by ancient mythologies. Through her signature dark folk, full of longing and a mystical air, her music pairs perfectly with the words of Tolkien.

The record, which has been met with critical praise, was composed while Shannon was undergoing treatment for breast cancer. Shannon is set to head to Ireland in 2026 to shoot a new documentary titled The Cailleach, based on her own life experiences.
Check out her website here: www.joyshannon.com.
Over the years, the podcast has featured acclaimed guests such as Phyllida Lloyd, Lenny Abrahamson, M. Night Shyamalan, John Boorman, Saoirse Ronan, Colin Farrell, Aisha Tyler, Colm Meaney, Paul Reiser, Niamh Algar, David Freyne, Ciarán Donnelly, Joshua Oppenheimer, John Crowley, Niamh Algar, Gene Stupnitsky, and Terence Davies, alongside many of the most influential voices working in film and television today.

So make sure to subscribe and listen back!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.