NEWS FROM THE BRIDGE CLUBS myles.buchanan@peoplenews.ie Sean makes his mark on filmmaking scene
ASHFORD TEEN REFLECTS ON HIS FILM FESTIVAL WIN
finishing just ahead of Irene Maher and Timmy Doyle.
Joe and Leonard finished off a successful week with double success on Friday morning.
Joe with regular partner Cyril Goode won North/South from Kathleen Johnson and Terry Hayes, while Leonard and regular partner Edward Kilcoyne won East/West with Maria Kerr and Margaret Redmond second.
ASHFORD’S Sean Treacy is in the production stage of his next short film, just month’s after landing the title of Ireland’s Young Filmmaker of the Year 2019 at the Fresh International Film Festival in April.
The 15-year-old took home the title for his film ‘RUE’, a story about a boy who regrets his last words to his best friend.
Since his win, the talented youngster has reached international recognition, as his short films have been screened all over the world.
Speaking about his love for film, Sean said: ‘I simply have a love for art, because I love expressing emotions in different forms, and film is my favourite way of doing so.’
‘RUE’ has gone on to be selected for international film festivals in Brazil, Serbia and, just recently, Norway. In Norway, it will be screened at the opening ceremony.
His other short film, ‘SPARK’ has recently been selected to take part in the ‘Up and Coming’ Hanover International Film Festival, after being selected in the top 150 out of over 4,000 submissions. ‘SPARK’ has also been selected for four other international film festivals in Georgia, Brazil, Serbia, and Poland.
Speaking about winning Young Filmmaker of the Year, Sean said: ‘I was really honoured and chuffed that it was my film that won. It’s one the actors and I worked really hard on, I couldn’t have done it without them, and they were amazing. I can’t thank the Fresh Film enough for organising the whole event, it was just fantastic.’
The St Gerard’s pupil has a huge presence on social media, in particular, YouTube, with his personal channel ‘Stellar’ having over 24,000 subscribers. On this channel, he documents journeys in his personal life, with video titles such as ‘Going Vegan For 100 Days’, ‘Solving Anxiety’ and ‘Finding My Tribe’.
Over the summer, Sean embarked on a new challenge by co-presenting a TV show produced by Tailor Films in association with RTE. It is a children’s bedroom makeover show called ‘Ace My Space’ in which Sean and his other co-presenter travel across Ireland as they redesign children’s bedrooms based on their passions. The ten-episode series will screen on RTE 2 every weekend from November to December.
As if that wasn’t enough, Sean was also scouted for a week-long intensive summer ‘Prodigy Camp’, which is designed for the most promising young filmmakers and songwriters in the world. Located in Washington, Sean had attended the camp before, thanks to Fresh International Film Festival. At camp, Sean made a documentary about up and coming to musician Nathan Nzanga, which he plans on releasing later this year.
‘At this camp, I learned an immense amount about my craft, but also about myself. This is a camp where I am surrounded by people who have a similar if not the same passion as me, and so the creative energy which I was immersed in was genuinely life-changing. Both times, it really was an incredible experience,’ said Sean.
Currently, he is in the production stage of his next short film. He is directing the film and will also be starring as the lead for the first time ever. The film will move into the post-production stage in two weeks, with the final product planning to be ready in November.
‘This has made the short film a completely new experience for me, and it is one I have thoroughly enjoyed so far. The cast and crew have been so hard-working and helpful that it really has been a blast so far,’ said Sean.
The call for entries for Ireland’s Young Filmmaker of the Year 2020 is now open.
The closing date for entries is Friday, January 24, 2020.