Abreain Blake is a 23-year-old film graduate and creative based in Cork. Blake has experience in a multitude of art forms. She is a member of the band, Pretty Happy, & founded Angry Mom Collective in 2019. AMC was a collective that came together in an effort to raise awareness of the gender divide in the Irish Arts industry.
She cares deeply about activism and creativity and tries to blend the two when making art. In her activism, she continually promotes the culture and creativity of underrepresented voices. Most recently, she was Triskel Arts Centres artist in residence, where she produced/directed Leeside Creatures. Leeside Creatures was a short documentary exploring Corks Post Punk Lineage, which debuted in August 2022 to great praise.
In 2022 Blake was also the creative director of Quare. A one-day festival celebrating Queer culture in Cork as part of the Cork Midsummer Festival. Quare was a multidisciplinary event which included theatre, film & music. Quare was funded by Creative Ireland & Cork City Council. Blake continues to explore different art forms, from touring the UK & EU with legends like Kim Gordon & Pavement to working on BAFTA-nominated docuseries.
Abreain has been supported by the Cork City Council, Culture Ireland & Arts Council Ireland on various projects throughout her career.
Willow Kennedy is a whimsical music video and film director from Dublin, Ireland. With five years of experience, he has established himself as a creative force in the industry with his visually imaginative and playfully charged works. Willow’s unique approach to storytelling has caught the attention of both top and local musicians. He brings a playful and lighthearted touch to his projects, constantly seeking to captivate audiences and leave a lasting impact.
Sean Downey is a young and talented video creator who is passionate about using his skills to make a difference in the world. At the age of 23, Sean has already established himself as a go-to filmmaker for youth projects in his city. His work is characterized by a fast-paced and dynamic style, capturing the energy and excitement of the projects he works on.
In his free time, Sean loves to explore new creative avenues, experimenting with new techniques and styles in his work. He is always pushing himself to grow and improve, constantly seeking out new opportunities to showcase his talents and make a difference in the world.
Alex Brady was born and raised in the north side of Cork City. Alex developed a passion for music and film at a young age. After completing his studies at University College Cork, Alex graduated with a BA Degree in Film and Screen Media. His hard work and dedication were recognised when he was awarded the prestigious Puttnam Scholarship, which allowed Alex to collaborate with other talented scholars to make a film for Lord David Puttnam.
In addition to his film work, Alex is dedicated to inspiring the next generation of creatives. He facilitates workshops for young people who are interested in music, music production, film and content creation. Alex’s main hope as a filmmaker is to link his auditory knowledge to the visual medium of film, merging image and audio in exciting ways.
Wiktoria Weintritt is a polish filmmaker and photographer currently studying at the National Film School at IADT. In 2020 she was awarded Best Director at First! Cut Film Festival for her first short film “Brainboxed” and a finalist at HER International Film Festival. Her next project “Only If You Knew” which she shot with friends over the summer of 2020 was a finalist at the 2021 Fresh Film Festival.
Though she enjoys working in all fields of film her main areas of interest are cinematography, directing and editing. She has recently worked as a programmer/ screener for DIFF 2023.
She is currently working on directing a short visual drama piece.
Ruairi is a director born and raised in Belfast. When he was 16, he was accepted into the NFTS residential in Beaconsfield under the mentorship of Brian Tufano and Lesley Manning. This was when he realised that pursuing a career in film was possible.
Two years later, he decided to move to Dublin, where he co-founded 46A Productions. He has since worked across various mediums with the likes of Kojaque, Jafaris and Volleyball. The Volleyball campaign has since been shortlisted for a Kinsale Shark award.
Still keeping a foot in the fiction world, Ruairi co-produced the short film ‘Sons of Roisin’ which is currently doing the festival circuit, picking up 4 Kinsale Shark nominations and a Cinemagic award along the way.
Ruairi is currently in his third year of studies at the National Film School, striving to develop his filmmaking skills and pursuing his goal of becoming a full-time director.
Ronan is a filmmaker from Belfast. He graduated from IADT NFS with a major in cinematography. During that time, his grad film “SOS” was shown at the prestigious CAMERIMAGE festival, and his most recent work on a set of short films “Baths”, has found both national and international success. He has also been working full-time as a videographer for The Hype Factory.
This production company focuses on producing various videos for commercials, promotional videos, live events and much more. Through this work as a videographer, he has discovered and put into effect an ability to direct as well as shoot, and he hopes this scheme will help develop. He wants his directorial work to be a collaborative process with others and, most importantly, be fun.
Étáin Nash is a Dublin-based filmmaker originally from West Cork. She graduated from the National Film School at IADT in 2020, majoring in directing. Her graduate film Sisters was selected for numerous film festivals including the prestigious Camerimage and was shortlisted for best student film at the Richard Harris International Film Festival. She was nominated for an Emerging Director Award in 2022.
Her most recent piece of directing work is music video Gold (Fall with the Gun) for the band Les SalAmandas. Alongside her creative work, Étáin works in the film industry in the AD and production departments.
She is drawn to stories about social issues and people from under-represented groups, with a particular interest in films highlighting women & people with disabilities. She is detail-orientated, with her work incorporating unique and striking visuals.
Colin Peppard is a filmmaker & musician from Monaghan. Now Dublin based, his first short film ‘So Say All Of Us’, which came to fruition during lockdown 2020, received international critical acclaim winning ‘Best Quarantine Short Film’ at the ‘Light of the Desert Film Festival’ in Argentina. Colin has since directed, edited & produced three short films alongside several music videos for rising artists such as ‘Still Blue’, ‘Ward’ & ‘Post-Party’.
In 2021, Colin coordinated and assisted shoots for multiple global giants including GQ Magazine, Atlantic Records & FreeNow. His sophomore short, ‘Triple Shot’ (2021), won ‘Best Indie Film’ at the ‘LA Sun Festival’. It was selected for Irish festivals such as ‘Richard Harris Film Festival’, ‘Indie Cork’ and ‘Disappear Here Film Festival’. Colin’s newest project & graduate film, ‘Scratch’ (2022), is currently circulating Irish festivals. Upcoming projects include a music video for prominent Irish Record label ‘Rubyworks’, alongside a feature film script currently in early development.
Benedict Hardie-Goddard is a writer/director based in Belfast. Ben has been learning filmmaking under many talented directors while working as a script supervisor. During this time, he uncovered a deep love of genre filmmaking and its ability as a vehicle to explore complex themes.
Sam Bell is a writer/director with a Masters’ degree in film from Queen’s University Belfast, where he worked within an array of disciplines and explored his interest in the conflict between social realism and surrealism.
Born and raised in Galway, Barra Convery was first creatively infatuated by music composition and theatre, training and performing with MACNAS for several foundational years. He studied Film in GTI before graduating from Brighton Screen and Film School in 2020; his greenlit graduate production unfortunately cancelled due to the pandemic.
Barra has since found his cinematic eye through the adaptation of poetry and theatrical pieces, culminating in the successful receipt of funding from the Arts Council for the poetry film ‘Finding Mothers’. Barra has also honed his skills in screenwriting through a number of scripts, including a debut feature currently in development.
Daniel Keane is a cinematographer based in Clifden, Galway. He graduated from Atlantic Technical University in Film Production in 2021 and has experience working across all genres of filmmaking, including commercial work for Fáilte Ireland and multiple award-winning short documentaries and short films. He is currently working at Fíbín Teo as a camera assistant and is the proud owner of an Arri Alexa Classic.