In 2004 IADT instituted the first series of National Film School Lectures, in association with The Irish Times. Since then distinguished participants have included Jim Sheridan writer/director), Alex McDowell (production designer), Neil Jordan (writer/director), Oliver Stone (writer/director), Roddy Doyle (writer/producer), Alan Parker (producer/director), Caroline Leaf (animator), Jeffrey Caine (screenwriter), Stephen Rea (actor), Joanna Quinn (animator) and Seamus McGarvey (cinematographer).

IADT student films have achieved considerable successes over the years, and have been shown at more than 75 different film festivals across the world, winning numerous prizes along the way. Twenty-five television students have screened them.

The Advisory Board of the National Film School is chaired by producer, Morgan O'Sullivan, and its members include directors Neil Jordan, Jim Sheridan, Ken Wardop, and John Boorman. James Morris, Chair of the Irish Film Board; writer Roddy Doyle, actor/producer Pierce Brosnan, composer Bill Whelan, animator Cathal Gaffney, television producer Joan Egan, editor Emer Reynolds, Clare Duignan, Director of Programmes - Television, RTÉ; Dr. Kevin Rockett, Head of the School of Drama, Film and Music at Trinity College Dublin; Entertainment Lawyer, James Hickey, Róisín Hogan, former Director of IADT; and Donald Taylor Black, Creative Director, NFS.

Education and Training Profile 2013: Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology - the largest and most prolific filmmaking college in the country – will mark its 30th anniversary of teaching film next year but this is not its only cause for celebration. According to Donald Taylor Black, Head of the Department of Film and Media, the college is also set to open its own HD studio - only the second in the country after TV3 - in time for the next influx of students at the start of the academic year this September 2013. Even RTÉ will be left lacking by comparison. IADT's Faculty of Film, Art & Creative Technologies boasts the largest selection of film-related courses in the country - spanning film & TV production, animation and photography – and offers the only degree courses in the country in model making for TV & media and design for stage & screen. An entire generation of award-winning Irish filmmakers owe their success to the skills IADT equipped them with as students. Such alumni include cinematographer Robbie Ryan, who won the Golden Osella award for outstanding technical contribution to cinematography at the Venice Film Festival 2011 for 'Wuthering Heights'; Kirsten Sheridan, director of 'August Rush' and writer of 'In America'; Aisling Walsh, director of 'Song for a Raggy Boy'; Kieron J. Walsh, whose feature 'Jump' is released in cinemas this week; Ciarán Donnelly, director of episodes of 'The Tudors', 'Camelot' and 'Vikings'; Ciarán Foy, director of 'Citadel'; and James Mather, cinematographer on 'Lockout' and 'Adam & Paul'. At the animation end of the spectrum, notable IADT graduates include Conor Finnegan whose short 'Fear of Flying' was nominated for Best Short and Best Animation at this year's IFTAs, and BAFTA-nominated animator Eamonn O'Neill. IADT's track record is evident in the 25 IFTA nominations awarded to its alumni members at this year's ceremony - a record unmatched by any other college in Ireland. Its courses are 70-80% practical with the remainder consisting of academic, critical and contextual studies. When asked what types of individuals would be most suited for IADT, Mr Taylor Black replied: 'Intelligent with a good visual sense. They must possess maturity to be able to work as part of a team, as you would in the film industry. Obviously they have to be enthusiastic hard working, and determined to succeed because the media industry is very difficult to get work in and making a living in.' The college also offers two one-year MAs - in Screenwriting and Broadcast Production, with Suzanne McAuley – the producer of Love/Hate – who won best drama at this year's IFTAs, currently a student of the screenwriting course. Producers Brendan McCarthy and John McDonnell, Fantastic Films – who just produced Ruairi Robinson's 'Last Days on Mars', set to screen at the Cannes Film Festival - are also both graduates of the screenwriting MA. The MA in Broadcast Production teaches the basics of TV multi-camera studio directing and radio production, with student Edel Hynes picking up the award for Best Radio Programme (Arts & Features) this April 2013. 'We work really hard at being close to industry,' Mr Taylor Black continued. 'I run the film school lectures where we get seven major people of international standing in film, media and animation who either give a lecture or public interview and then do a seminar with the most relevant group of students to their skills.' Past speakers include Gabriel Byrne; Rebecca O'Brien, Ken Loach's producer; and Jenny Beavan, costume designer, who has been nominated for nine Oscars and won for 'A Room with a View'. The National Film School at IADT is also a partner in the 'Engage' project - funded by the EU Media programme - which brings together 24 filmmaking students and graduates for a series of workshops in collaboration with Edinburgh Napier University; Tallinn University; and Aalto University's School of Art & Design in Helsinki. Finally, IADT is the only Irish full member of CILECT, the International Association of Film and Television Schools. Mr Taylor Black named many staff members invaluable to the running of IADT, a selection of whom are Anne O'Leary, course director of film & video; Keith Foran, who runs the animation programme; David Quin, animator and former head of 3D animation in Brownbag; and Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh, costume designer, on 'The Guard' and 'The Wind that Shakes the Barley'. Further information can be found at: www.iadt.ie