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Adapting your Voice workshop
At the Junior Film Fleadh in Galway this Saturday I’ll be giving a workshop on Adapting Your Voice: Tailoring Stories for Various Media. It’ll be a two-hour whistlestop overview of the basics of storytelling, with tips and suggestions on how to tailor your story idea for different media: prose, Film/TV/Internet, theatre, games, comics, and radio/podcast. All for €12.50! The Junior Film Fleadh is the young people’s arm of the prestigious Galway Film Fleadh, and offers four days of fun and useful events aimed at budding filmmakers and young film fans.
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Cúirt Labs – the shout-out
The Cúirt International Festival of Literature is in full swing in Galway at the moment, and the city is abuzz with theatre, poetry, art exhibitions, literary discussions, workshops, and readings. The Cúirt Labs are the part of the programme directly targeted at a younger audience, which will take place in the Galway Arts Centre, 47 Dominick Street where three floors of gallery space will become custom-made spaces for inventiveness and imagination. I’m going to be partisan and draw particular attention to some friends who are taking part: Maeve Clancy: one of the best comic book artists in the country who also creates cut-out paper installations and has a background in…
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junior winners 2011
For the past few years I’ve been involved in judging for the Galway Junior Film Fleadh, which is a task I enjoy tremendously. I love witnessing the enthusism among young people for cinema. Previously I was part of the jury for the Script Pitching competition, which is a live event delivered in front of an audience – a feat that would make most adults nervous. This year I couldn’t be part of the jury due to a schedule clash, but I’m pleased to report that the 2011 winner is Amanda Honan Coyle from St Joseph’s Community College, Kilkee, Co Clare. Her project, titled “A World of Our Own”, wins her…
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thought bubble 2011
I’m heading out later today to travel to Leeds to attend Thought Bubble, the city’s Comic Art Festival – which runs in conjunction with its International Film Festival. The guest list is impressive, and I’m hugely excited at the propspect of meeting (however briefly) some of the great talents in the comic book industry at the moment. The unfortunatle timing of this convention means that I’m unable to be a judge for this year’s Script Pitching Contest at the Junior Galway Film Fleadh, which is taking place at the moment. Instead, I was asked to be one of the judges for the Short Film Competition in the Young Filmmaker category…
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smile, get girls reading comics
Over the past year I’ve increased the amount of comic books/graphic novels I’m reading. Partly because I’m writing coming books now, and also because it’s such a fun, diverse medium. There are so many great titles being published to suit all tastes. When I was a girl I was not encouraged to read comics – I wasn’t discouraged either, but I didn’t know another girl my age who loved them the way I did. I’ve no idea where I got the notion that ‘comic books were for boys’, but it was something I understood. I didn’t agree, but I knew that my liking comic books was not the norm. It…
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WexWorlds 2010
From the 26th – 28th November I’ll be a guest at WexWorlds, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Fiction Festival in Wexford, Ireland. A .pdf of the programme is available for download, and it looks like it’s going to be a weekend packed with lots of fun events – WexWorlds is primarily focused on young people, but there will be plenty for older people to enjoy as well. It’s ideal for households of adults and children who love science fiction and fantasy literature, television and cinema. I’ll be involved in the following events: Whites Hotel: Saturday 13.00-13.50 Recommendations of the best Sci-Fi and Fantasy books of 2010 I’ll be moderating the…
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young pitchers
Today I was part of a judging panel for the Pitching Competition at the 16th Galway Junior Film Fleadh. It’s the third year the event has run and the second year I’ve been one of the judges. The event took place in the Town Hall Theatre in Galway, and there was a sturdy turnout of people despite the gales and lashing rain. This year saw the largest number of applicants for the award, and from them three finalists were picked: ‘Rocky the Racehorse’ pitched by Aisling Dolan, Convent of Mercy, Co. Roscommon ‘Web of Lies’ pitched by Emma Finnerty, Ard Scoil Mhuire, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway ‘Rineen Ambush’ pitched by Paul…
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it gets better
It’s been distressing to hear the glut of stories from the USA recently about gay teenagers who have committed suicide after a period of bullying by their peers. Bullying is a horrendous and shattering experience, which is made so much worse when you’re a young person trying to figure out your identity. Sex advice columnist and gay rights activist Dan Savage has started a “It gets better” campaign on YouTube, where Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgendered (LGBT) people post video messages of encouragement to young people who are LGBT and struggling to cope. The first one, embedded below, features Dan and his husband Terry discussing growing up as gay men…
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Galway Junior Film Fleadh 2010
Last year I was one of the judges for the Galway Junior Film Fleadh pitching competition, and it was a brilliant experience. First off I was delighted that all four of the finalists were girls, and each of them had a great story idea. I was also impressed with how they dealt with having to be on stage and pitch their story to the jury and the audience. That’s a daunting prospect no matter your age! This year’s Junior Film Fleadh will take place from the 3 – 6 of November, and once again it’s running the script competition. Here are the details: The Junior Galway Film Fleadh, in association…
