The Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) is to host an In Conversation With… event today Thursday, August 26th which will centre around the work of Irish writer, director and actor Graham Linehan.
Graham has written or co-written a number of modern televisions most popular comedies and is best known for his work on ‘Father Ted’, ‘Black Books’ and ‘The IT Crowd’. In his early years, he worked in collaboration with Arthur Matthews on a number of high profile sketch shows including ‘Alas Smith and Jones’, ‘Harry Enfield and Chums’, ‘The All New Alexei Sayle Show’ and the Ted and Ralph characters in ‘The Fast Show’.
Graham's collaboration with Arthur Matthews led to the creation of the hugely popular Channel Four comedy ‘Father Ted’. The comedy ran for three series and won numerous awards including the Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award TV for Situation Comedy and two BAFTA TV Awards for Best Comedy Programme or Series. Following the success of ‘Father Ted’, the duo went on to write the first series of the sketch show ‘Big Train’ from which Graham bowed out for the second series.
Graham has also written for other shows, including ‘Brass Eye’ and ‘Jam’ and has collaborated with Matt Lucas and David Walliams on ‘Little Britain’. With Dylan Moran, he co-wrote the first series of ‘Black Books’. In 2001, ‘Black Books’ won the BAFTA TV Award Situation Comedy Award. Most recently, Linehan has written and directed ‘The IT Crowd’, for which he won an International Emmy for Best Comedy, a BAFTA for Best Situation Comedy and an IFTA for Best Writing for Television
The Conversation With… event, with questions led by Derek O’Connor, will focus mainly on Graham's work in the area of writing for television. The topics of discussion will look to examine his unique approach to writing comedy, the process of creating believable and loveable characters, his inspiration and how working on his own rather than with a writing partner has affected his writing style.
Where other IFTA events are concerned, September will see IFTA Members invited to join top MAC Make-up artists for an exclusive showcase of the upcoming trends in the world of Make-up for the catwalk and the screen. The Pro MAC Trends Masterclass will see technique and style discussed in depth alongside live demonstrations of new Pro MAC products.
In addition, a one-day IFTA forum entitled ‘Broadcasting as Gaeilge‘ will take place in October and will see television producers, programmers, broadcasters, directors, writers and sales agents invited to explore and discuss the key issues facing Irish language broadcasting including the possibilities and potential for local and international producing, programming, and distribution.
For more information about these and other IFTA events and for guidelines as to becoming an IFTA member visit www.ifta.ie. ‘In Conversation with…’ Graham Linehan and the ‘Broadcasting as Gaeilge’ forum are hosted in association with the BAI.
