The six finalists of this year’s Storyland competition have been revealed and, as of January 29th, viewers can watch the first episode from each of the six shortlisted programmes online and vote for the one that they would most like to see be re-commissioned for subsequent episodes.
Maccana Teorant’s project, ‘Star Feck!’, is Ireland's first sci-fi comedy and stars Patrick McDonnell (The Savage Eye, Naked Camera) as Captain Burke. Described by Maccana Terant as 'Father Ted in Space', ‘Star Feck!’ charts the adventures of Captain Burke and his crew Smock, Elaine, 'The Clutch' and the ship's little pet alien Romtox. Their unreliable diesel engine has broken down and Burke gets visited by his old classmate, the 'not that evil at all' Lenny 'Grizz' Brady and his henchmen. The shoot took place on sets built in two locations in Belturbet, Co. Cavan and lighting cameraman is Fergal O’Hanlon.
The second project hoping to win the Storyland competition is Eekreb Films’ ‘Marianna’ where the programme’s title character is 400 years old and she knows what she wants and how to get it. There will definitely be blood.
‘Butchers’ comes from Brothers Gonna Work It Out productions and it tells the story of two architects-turned-butchers who turn out to be the worst butchers in the world. ‘We Own the Street’ from Chutney Films Productions sees Virgin filmmaker Alan Kavanagh grapple with the undefinable talents of XL - living-room music producer, free-runner and free spirit..
‘Daily Strife’ from Póca productions sees lead character, Glenn overwhelmed by the decisions he has to make in daily life where even getting to work is challenging and investigates if he make it on his own. Finally Tailored Film Productions’ ‘Zombie Bashers’ features Pascal and Mick - two former Plumbers turned Zombie exterminators in an Ireland infested by the Living dead. We follow them as they run their small Zombie bashing business that comes under attack by rival exterminators, serious lack of work and the tax man sticking his nose in as per usual. “If it’s dead, they’ll kill it”
The Storyland Competition was first launched in October 2008, and last year's winner was “The Hardy Bucks”.
Public voting for Storyland begins on January 29th on the RTÉ Storyland website www.rte.ie/storyland