IRISH SCREEN AMERICA IS LAUNCHED TO SHOWCASE THE BEST IN CONTEMPORARY IRISH MEDIA

IRISH SCREEN AMERICA IS LAUNCHED TO SHOWCASE THE BEST IN CONTEMPORARY IRISH MEDIA

KEY INAUGURAL EVENT WILL BE A FILM FESTIVAL ROADSHOW IN LOS ANGELES & NEW YORK


NEW YORK (September 3, 2015) – Irish Screen America (ISA), a new organization formed to seek out and promote influential and emerging Irish talent to the U.S. and showcase the very best of contemporary Irish film, TV, animation, video games and interactive media, has been launched it was announced today by Niall McKay, Executive Director and Curator.

ISA's mandate includes helping new talent find markets and finance, assisting Irish games companies, studios, post-production, special effects houses and production companies enter the U.S. market, facilitating the distribution and exhibition of select Irish films and building a cooperative network of U.S. based Irish media professionals.

McKay is a New York-based Emmy award-winning independent producer and director who hails from Kilmacanogue, County Wicklow, Ireland, and who created this new venture out of the multi city film festivals that he previously founded and produced in New York (Irish Film New York) and San Francisco, and co-founded in Los Angeles.

Commenting on why he founded ISA, McKay said, “What I’ve seen in the last few years is a renaissance of Irish filmmakers and artists taking the production of film, television, animation, web series and games to a new level. It’s an exciting time for ISA to not only showcase that work, but to build networks here in the US for even more production and collaboration.“

The flagship event of ISA will be a film festival roadshow taking place annually in the fall in Los Angeles and New York featuring recent critically-acclaimed Irish feature films and documentaries, New Irish Talent Showcases (shorts, web shows, animation and games), a selection of filmmaker Q&A’s, master classes, industry panel discussions and filmmaker receptions.

The organization receives funding support from Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board (IFB), the development agency for the Irish film and television industry, among other government and corporate sponsorships, ticket sales and its consultancy services.

Teresa McGrane, Deputy Chief Executive, Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board (IFB) said “We welcome the launch of Irish Screen America and we are delighted that the essential work already accomplished by Irish Film New York to support, showcase and celebrate Irish films and filmmaking talent will now extend to Los Angeles. We look forward to working with Irish Screen America in an effort to continue this work and build new networks, partnerships and audiences for Irish film.”

ISA/LA Festival opens on Friday, September 25 in Los Angeles at the prestigious USC School of Cinematic Arts and ISA/NY Festival opens on Friday, October 2 in New York at NYU’s vibrant, state-of-the-art Cantor Film Center. Screenings will continue over the course of the weekend in the respective venues.

Featuring a stylistically diverse slate, attendees in Los Angeles and New York will have the opportunity to meet, among other guests, Irish writer/directors Rachel Moriarty and Peter Murphy whose confident, timely, black thriller TRADERS, about the extreme lengths people will go to hang onto wealth and status, opens the festivals in each city for the film's US premiere. The film stars John Bradley (Game of Thrones) and Killian Scott (“Calvary”).

Other highlights will include the West Coast premiere of veteran documentary filmmaker Daisy Asquith’s deeply personal “After the Dance,” the emotionally powerful Sundance Award-winning, IFTA-nominated “Glassland,” starring Toni Collette, Jack Reynor and Will Poulter from writer/director Gerard Barrett and the US Premiere of Frank Berry’s IFTA-nominated “I Used to Live Here,” about the poignant troubles of urban teenagers.

The program in Los Angeles will also include a panel discussion entitled “Stories from the Field: Three Irish Film Directors in Hollywood” with directors Ruairi Robinson (“Last Day on Mars”), Ciaran Foy (“Sinister 2”) and Gary Shore (“Dracula Untold”). All three directors share a similar career trajectory to Hollywood. In addition, there will be master classes from Academy Award® nominated screenwriter, Naomi Sheridan in Los Angeles and European Academy winning director Cathy Brady in New York.

Additional festival guests will include animator Liam Hallihan and video games storyteller Llaura McGee.

Commenting on the festival program, McKay said, “It’s a great privilege to celebrate work that I love but I feel especially fortunate to be bringing a bright new generation of Irish talent to the US stage. Short filmmakers Rachael Moriarty and Peter Murphy’s “Traders” is a tense and humorous thriller, which has been critically acclaimed. Cathy Brady is an Award-winning short filmmaker who is embarking on her first feature this year; animator Liam Hallihan’s hilarious cartoons have 2.5 million hits on YouTube and he will receive his international festival premiere. Video games storyteller Llaura McGee combines the beauty of digital art with the genius of storytelling in her vivid video game "Curtain" about two women in a Glasgow punk band".


"Most of these filmmakers and artists are established in their respective field but have had little or no exposure in the United States. All good film festivals build community and that’s what I believe we’ve been fortunate enough to achieve, to bring together a community of world class talent, to show their work and to have fun.”

For more information on both LA and NY visit the official website of Irish Screen America

www.irishscreenamerica.com

Screenings in Los Angeles are Complimentary but Reservations are Required.

RSVP HERE FOR LOS ANGELES http://www.irishscreenamerica.com/la/

BUY TICKETS HERE FOR NEW YORK http://www.irishscreenamerica.com/nyc/a


ISA/LA SCREENINGS
USC School of Cinematic Arts, George Lucas Building, Ray Stark Family Theatre, SCA 108, 900 W 34th St Los Angeles, CA 90007

SEPTEMBER 25-27, 2015

25 SEP
TRADERS
7.30PM
A NEW IRISH THRILLER

25 SEP
IRISH SCREEN AMERICA LOS ANGELES OPENING PARTY AND AWARDS
9.30PM
OPENING NIGHT PARTY AND AWARDS FOLLOWING THE OPENING NIGHT FILM

26 SEP
SCREENWRITING MASTER CLASS
3PM
LED BY ACADEMY AWARD-NOMINATED SCREENWRITER, NAOMI SHERIDAN

26 SEP
LOCAL HEROS AND BEYOND
5.30PM
LOCAL LOS ANGELES IRISH FILMMAKERS SHOWCASE

26 SEP
NEW TALENT SHOWCASE
7PM
A SELECTION OF SHORTS, WEB-SERIES, AND ANIMATIONS FEATURING NEW IRISH ACTORS, DIRECTORS AND WRITERS

26 SEP
STORIES FROM THE FIELD: THREE IRISH FILM DIRECTORS IN HOLLYWOOD
8.30PM
THREE NEW IRISH DIRECTORS LAND HOLLYWOOD BLOCKBUSTER MOVIES.

27 SEP
I USED TO LIVE HERE
4:00PM

27 SEP
AFTER THE DANCE
5.30PM
BBC STORYVILLE DOCUMENTARY

27 SEP
GLASSLAND
7PM
SUNDANCE AWARD WINNING FILM

ISA/NY SCREENINGS
NYU Cantor Film Center, 36 E 8th St., New York, NY 10003

OCTOBER 2-5, 2015

2 OCT
OPENING NIGHT PARTY
5PM
GLUCKSMAN IRELAND HOUSE
1 Washington Mews, New York, NY 10003

2 OCT
TRADERS
7.30PM
A NEW IRISH THRILLER

3 OCT
DIRECTING MASTER CLASS
2PM
LED BY EUROPEAN ACADEMY WINNING DIRECTOR CATHY BRADY

3 OCT
SPECIAL PREVIEW SCREENING OF THE CHRISTMAS STAR
4PM
FAMILY FEATURE FILM MADE BY THE CINEMAGIC KIDS

3 OCT
NEW TALENT SHOWCASE
7PM
A SELECTION OF SHORTS, WEB-SERIES, AND ANIMATIONS FEATURING NEW IRISH ACTORS, DIRECTORS AND WRITERS

3 OCT
GLASSLAND
8:10PM
SUNDANCE AWARD-WINNING FILM

4 OCT
LOCAL HEROS AND BEYOND
4PM
LOCAL NEW YORK IRISH TALENT SHOWCASE.

4 OCT
I USED TO LIVE HERE
6PM

4 OCT
AFTER THE DANCE
8PM
BBC STORYVILLE DOCUMENTARY

RSVP HERE FOR LOS ANGELES http://www.irishscreenamerica.com/la/

BUY TICKETS HERE FOR NEW YORK http://www.irishscreenamerica.com/nyc/a

SPONSORS

The 2015 ISA Film Festivals in LA & NY are co-presented by USC School of Cinematic Arts and NYU’s Glucksman Ireland House. The Irish Film Board (Bord Scannán na hÉireann), Ireland’s national film agency is a sponsor of ISA. Sponsors also include Culture Ireland, Tourism Ireland, The Consulate General of Ireland - San Francisco & New York, Media Factory, Grant Thornton, The Irish Film Institute and Radisson at USC.


ABOUT IRISH SCREEN AMERICA (ISA)

Irish Screen America seeks out and promotes new Irish talent and showcases the very best of contemporary Irish film, TV, animation, video games and interactive media in the United States.

The organization's mandate includes helping new talent find markets and finance, assisting Irish games companies, studios, post-production, special effects houses and production companies enter the U.S. market, facilitating the distribution and exhibition of select Irish films and building a cooperative network of US-based Irish media professionals.

Irish Screen America receives funding support from government and corporate sponsorships, ticket sales and its consultancy services.


About The Irish Film Board

Bord Scannán na hÉireann / the Irish Film Board (IFB) is Ireland’s national film agency. The agency supports and promotes the Irish film industry and the use of Ireland as a location for international production.

http://www.irishfilmboard.ie

About Culture Ireland

Culture Ireland (Irish: Cultúr Éireann) is the Irish State Agency established to promote and advance Irish Arts internationally. It was set-up in 2005 and funded by Department for Arts, Sport and Tourism. Culture Ireland funds Irish artists or arts organizations to support Irish cultural activities of excellence at strategic international arts events.

About the Irish Film Institute

The Irish Film Institute (formerly the Irish Film Centre) is both a film theatre and a national body that supports Irish Film heritage. It maintains an archive of Irish films and provides education in film culture. It shows independent and foreign language films overlooked by commercial multiplexes at its cinema in the Temple Bar quarter of Dublin. Film festivals are also staged throughout the year.

http://www.ifi.ie/

For more information about Irish Screen America visit
Website: http://www.irishscreenamerica.com/

Connect with Irish Screen America:
ISA/NY Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/irishscreenamericany
ISA/LA Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/irishscreenamericala
Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/IrishScreen