The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Calling all filmmakers, actors and writers in Kerry
‘LIGHTS, camera, action’ are words you’ll hear regularly around Listowel, thanks to the teenagers involved with ‘Fís na hÓige Productions. Chris Fitzgerald founded this group in 2015 when he recognised a growing need to help young people wishing to pursue careers in the performing arts. But Chris’s focus now is on spreading the message to young people across the county to come to Listowel and join ‘Fís na hÓige Productions.
The group meet one Saturday a month at the KDYS Hall in Listowel to do workshops and take film shoots. Chris maintains writing is a very solitary process and by gaining access to an environment where professional writers can help is hugely beneficial for young people.
“I’ve been coaching kids in drama for over 10 years as this is my background. I formed ‘Fís na hÓige for young people with hopes and dreams of becoming writers, actors and film makers. For students considering performing arts, they need to be prepared for auditions and have portfolios. This is a vital service that I provide,” said Chris.
“A portfolio is extremely important and kids who want to do film are leaving school ill-prepared for the college courses they enrol in. What I do is help them put portfolios together and prepare them for college auditions. For some reason the schools don’t do this and young teenagers are sometimes lost when they arrive at college without a portfolio.”
By joining ‘Fís na hÓige, teenagers touch base with professional film making crews like Lagoon Pictures Ltd who have been extremely helpful over the past 2 years. Chris’s son, Tommy, is involved with Lagoon, as is screenwriter, Patrick Ryan, and this duo is ably assisted by JJ Sullivan.
“These guys have been brilliant to us and together they kindly give us one week of workshops every year on every aspect of film making. A short film is then shot, based on the screenplay written by the kids, and this gives them great experience. We’ve produced around ten short 1 and 2 minute movies and two 20 minute movies to date,” Chris added.
But this journey has also yielded two outstanding award winning movies: ‘Stay Longer’ - written and directed by Alannah Brent from Tarbert - finished in the top 3 in the Donal Walsh Live Life Film Festival, while ‘The Sound of Silence’ written and directed by Erin Halpin - won the RTE Best 60 Second Short Award at the Fresh Film Festival.
These awards reflect not just the ambition and enthusiasm of budding writers and actors, but also the time invested by professionals in helping teenagers take another step closer to their dream. The film industry is very competitive so having a portfolio under your belt is hugely important these days.
“We very much hope to build on this success in the future. All we need from aspiring writers are just ideas as we can help them write and develop the screen play. They don’t have to turn up with stuff already written and while there’s many kids that join Fís na hÓige with hopes of one day working in the film industry, others do not yet still gain so much from the experience: new friendships, newfound confidence and self-belief - all personal attributes that will benefit them. Some teenagers just have an interest in film but mightn’t necessarily want to work in the industry. They also learn how to stand up and talk in front of a crowd and work as part of a team, everything future employers expect to find in candidates. It’s a wide-ranging experience,” concluded Chris.