This year’s 35th Celtic Media Festival will take place in the Tregenna Castle Hotel in St Ives, Cormwall, from the 2nd to the 4th of April. The festival celebrates film, television, radio and digital media which promote the languages and cultures of Celtic regions.
IFTN previously reported on the Irish nominations for the Shortlist of the upcoming media festival (read the full story here). It has since been announced that a number of influential names in TV and film production will be attending the festival, among them key players in the Irish broadcasting and film industries.
One of the highlights of the festival programme will be a discussion of Northern Ireland’s emergence as a prized filming location. An interview will be held with Richard Williams, CEO of Northern Ireland Screen, who organised the development of the Paint Hall at Titanic Quarter into an invaluable film studio, most notably attracting HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’ which has filmed there for the show’s four seasons thus far.
Northern Ireland Screen has also supported the IFTA-winning ‘Hunger’ (starring Michael Fassbender) and Terry George’s Oscar winner ‘The Shore’. Richard will also discuss the factors that contributed to the rise of affection for the country, and how having major production filmed in the North has affected the local community.
Another discussion to take place at Celtic Media is on how women are portrayed in drama, given the majority of writers in the TV and film industry are male rather than female. Chaired by former Channel 4 Commissioning Editor Marianne Buckland, the discussion will be held between Justin Thomson Glover, Executive Producer of hit BBC NI series ‘The Fall’ (which received 6 nominations at this year’s IFTAs, including for Best Drama and Best Leading Actor in television), writer and showrunner Tom Bidwell (‘My Mad Fat Diary’) and director Morag Fullerton (‘Scott and Bailey’).
Meanwhile, Bo Erhardt, producer of ‘The Bridge’, will join TG4 Director of Commissioning Mícheál Ó Meallaigh and Gwawr Martha Lloyd (S4C Commissioning Editor, Drama) for a panel discussion to be chaired by BBC Scotland Commissioning Editor Ewan Angus. The panel will focus on why co-productions are not more popular, discussing the benefits of people working with each other in a global network, and how co-productions are an easier means of production for limited budgets and smaller players.
‘Radio is the Future’ will focus on the importance of radio, its place alongside other technologies, and how radio is a medium that may already be future-proofed but is perhaps under-used. Chaired by Head of RTÉ Radio na Gaeltachta Edel Ní Chuireáin, the panel also includes Jeff Zyncinski (Head of BBC Radio Scotland) and Dan Healy (Head of RTE 2fm).
For further information on the programme and shortlist for this year’s Celtic Media Festival, see www.celticmediafestival.co.uk
