Picture This Productions will begin filming on a 30 minute Bridie Gallagher documentary for UTV this week in locations including Donegal, Belfast, London and New York. Directed by Una Murphy and produced by Anna Marie McFaul with UTV’s Michael Wilson executive producing, the 30 minute documentary will follow Donegal singer Bridie Gallagher’s fame as she toured America, Canada, Europe and Australia in the 1950s and 60s. It will be presented by the Donegal singer’s granddaughter Teresa Livingstone.
Bridie Gallagher was particularly popular with emigrant communities and the documentary will interview those who had worked with the singer, including a former dance teacher from Bangor. The doc also uses archive footage of Kerry born Bill Fuller who brought her on a tour of America to his clubs in New York, Boston, Philadelphia and San Francisco.
The documentary will visit locations where the singer toured including London Palladium, Albert Hall and Belfast’s Ulster Hall. Filming will move location to New York on August 1st to visit Carnegie Hall and the Irish American Centre, New York where producers hope to speak with old fans of Bridie. The documentary will also use unseen footage from her world tour in 1959 which was captured by her husband on his video camera.
Camera operator on the doc is Paddy Stephenson and it will be edited by Mal Markham of Imagine Media, Belfast. It was shot on 16mm film. The documentary will be aired in late 2011 on UTV. ‘No-One Quite like Grandma’ has received funding from the Broadcast Authority of Ireland (BAI).
