Let me tell you a story about my journey into the world of filmmaking and filming! It all started many years ago circa 95/96 when I joined a local drama club. Our leader was the stunning Gillian Omen, who happened to be a TV star on the hit show RTE Fair City (though I never watched it).
| Irish actress Gillian Oman in a publicity shot for the RTÉ Television drama series ‘Fair City’, taken in the RTÉ Stills Studio in December 1995. Oman played the part of Caroline Clancy in the show between 1994 and 1996. ‘Fair City’ is an urban soap set in Dublin which has been running on RTÉ since 1989. |
But the best part was when she became our agent and landed us gigs as extras in some amazing feature films. I’m talking about big hits like Michael Collins and Saving Private Ryan!
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6668303
To join the cast of Saving Private Ryan, I even had to become a member of the FCA (the reserve army) to get disciplined for the opening battle sequence. It was an experience of a lifetime!
But my adventures didn’t stop there. As a sound recordist, I’ve worked with some incredible talents, including the likes of Bono from U2, Cliff Richard.
Cliff who is/was 77-year-old has produced 43 studio albums, six soundtracks, 35 compilation albums, six gospel albums, 10 live albums and 139 singles.
Julia Roberts, and Tom Hanks (who even posed with me and A Platoon on a tank in Curragh Cloe Beach in Wexford, Ireland!).
I’ve been lucky enough to work on exciting projects with amazing people like Lukas Benhken, who owns and runs Sterling Light Productions in Atlanta City. He even appeared in the popular show Dawson’s Creek (though I never watched that either).
My work has taken me all over the world, from Discovery Crime and NBC Gold to RTE Television and beyond. I’ve had the chance to meet directors and producers from all corners of the globe, including the renowned Jim Sheridan.
We shot a commercial for Volkswagen Ireland which was epic fun, we shot in Achil Island, Westport, Dublin City Center. Shooting on the beach was great, we needed special permission to get the cars, mini camper van and crew cars on the beach, we even had Conor Mc Greggor’s pickup as it was the only one in the country at the time of filming that we had access too.
Join me on my journey through the world of filmmaking, and who knows what exciting adventures I will find myself in soon. Tune in for the Film Production Academy pod cast which should be coming on line.