Screen Ireland and Bow Street Academy have announced the successful recipients of the third round of The Actor as Creator scheme.
Previous recipients of The Actor as Creator scheme have gone on to have their work featured at a variety of Irish and international film festivals including the Dublin International Film Festival, Galway Film Fleadh, Cork International Film Festival, and the Irish Film Festival London. Most recently, Hannah Mamalis’ Baby Steps won the James Flynn Award for Best First Short Drama at this year's Galway Film Fleadh, while Kate Stanley Brennan’s Panto received the Best Short Film title at Women in Film and Television Ireland’s annual short film showcase.
Following a competitive selection process, 35 actors across 34 projects have been selected for participation in the scheme.
The successful recipients were selected by a panel including casting director Maureen Hughes (That They May Face the Rising Sun), Shimmy Marcus, Artistic Director at Bow Street Academy, Gráinne Bennett, Skills Development Executive for Creativity and Creative Collaboration at Screen Ireland, in addition to panel members from Screen Ireland. The final successful recipients represent a diverse range of new and established talent from across Ireland.
“Screen Ireland is delighted to congratulate the recipients of this year’s Actor as Creator scheme, supporting Irish actors as they develop new skills and creative work for the screen,” said Désirée Finnegan, Chief Executive at Screen Ireland. “We’re really looking forward to seeing these projects connect with audiences at festivals and beyond.”
The successful recipients and their respective projects are as follows:
- Esther Ayo James for HA HA
- Georgia Clarkson-Kelly for Stagnant
- Stephen Colfer for Gap
- Grace Collender for Genie
- Faoileann Cunningham for B.P.M - Beats Per Minute
- Rachael Dowling for Growing Together
- Eoin Duffy for Good God Almighty
- Stephanie Dufresne for SLUT/ A Job’s a Job
- Leah Egan for Shelter
- Hayley Erin for C
- Oisín Fleming for Oíche Chultúir
- Seán Flood for Memories Crumble
- Dafhyd Flynn for I’m Alright
- Maura Foley for Reunion
- Fionnuala Gygax for The Island
- Megan Haly for Breakfast Roll
- Mark Lawrence for Rest Stop Reset
- Brigid Leahy for Michan
- Andrew Lynch for Crossing the Line
- Sadhbh Malin for Fallen on Us
- Sharon Mannion for I’m Grand
- Aoife Martyn for A Good Funeral
- Mark McAuley for Father
- Mary McDonagh for Change the Locks
- Georgina McKevitt and Jacinta Sheerin for Taking Liberties
- William Morgan for Abductees Anonymous
- Sheila Moylette for Our Father
- Fergus Mulligan for Beyond the System
- Áine Ní Laoghaire for An Deireadh Seachtaine, agus Scéalta Éile (The Weekend, and Other Stories)
- Eva O’Connor for Dance Me Clean
- Felix O’Connor for Bike
- Róisín O’Donovan for Synecdoche, Clontarf
- Eoin O’Sullivan for Gathering Dust
- Parnell Scott for Who’s Your Daddy or Blood Relative
The successful recipients will each receive €5,000 in funding to originate, perform, and produce a short creative filmic work. The successful pieces will be showcased widely after completion. Additional skills development support will be delivered online for the successful recipients through Screen Ireland’s skills development team and Bow Street Academy. This initiative is also supported by Irish Equity.
“We at Bow Street can't wait to start working with these unique creative voices and support them in showcasing their extraordinary talents,” added Shimmy Marcus, Artistic Director at Bow Street Academy. “We are proud to be part of a scheme that promotes actors as essential storytellers in our industry.”
