Category: Television

Great response to ‘The Tommy Tiernan Show’

the tommy tiernan show
There was a fantastic reaction to the first episode of the ‘The Tommy Tiernan Show’ which aired last Saturday on RTE One. It was a big hit with audiences and critics alike, with the Irish Independent saying ‘The Tommy Tiernan Show has shaped up into the best Irish chat show in years‘

Brian Lloyd from entertainment.ie said ‘The Tommy Tiernan Show’ flies in the face of several conventions of chat show TV. For one, Tommy Tiernan never knows who’s coming out to talk to him. This means every single one of his questions is on the fly, as he reacts and thinks of them, allowing for a more natural flow of conversation. So often, chat shows are remembered by the moments in which there’s an off-kilter moment that nobody plans for. A question will be asked that sparks an unexpected response, a joke may not land in the way it’s expected, or even an audience reaction will be provoked when unintended.’The Tommy Tiernan Show’ lives in that zone in every episode, allowing for an authentic experience that is so desperately lacking in most TV today.

Peter Crowley in The Irish Times said of the shows premise ‘The effect is electric, not because it is a masterclass in improvisation, but for the same reason a tightrope walker becomes more riveting without a safety net. More to the point, this is how people reveal themselves; not in prepared confessions but by gradually discarding their carapaces, not in straight lines but circles.In Tiernan, they all find someone who seems a rare breed in contemporary talk shows – a genuine listener. What does it say about the format, that this refreshing approach seems like the riskiest strategy of all?’

The show got a great response on Twitter as well and Joe.ie have collated some of the best reactions here

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Tir Eoghain nominated for Celtic Media Festival

Delighted that Tír Eoghain: The Unbreakable Bond has been nominated for the Best Sports Documentary at the 2019 Celtic Media Festival to be held this June in Aviemore, Scotland.

Programmes Ive edited have had some success in this category over the last five years with Páidá Ó’Sé, Arkle, Rás Tailtean and Crash and Burn all winning in the last five years. It would be great to add Tír Eoghain to this list as I’m incredible proud of it and I had a great time cutting it with director Declan McGrath and producer Michael O’Maille.

The competition is very competitive this year so lets see!

Screenshot 2019-04-06 at 19.39.17

The full list of nominees in all categories is available here.

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‘An Phairc’ airs tonight on TG4

A documentary I cut for Nemeton and director Ronan O’Donoghue airs tonight on TG4. ‘An Phairc’ tells the story of Phairc Ui Chaoimh, its recent rebuild and some of the massive games and events that have taken place there over the years.
Its a cracking doc that finally allowed me to cut something about Hurling! I’ve done every other sport!
The doc also contains loads of great archive including a magic piece featuring my uncle Jim Carney.

Here’s the press release…
The documentary gives an inside view into the rebuilding of Páirc Uí Chaoimh. It will air on TG4 at 9:30pm, Wednesday 27 September.
In the suburbs of Cork, not far from the city centre and on the banks of its own lovely Lee, lies Cork’s favourite playground; Páirc Uí Chaoimh. For well over a hundred years, this spot has been the mecca for the people of the city and beyond to come and see epic sporting battles and headline music acts.
Now as the famous old stadium has completed its refurbishment, TG4’s An Pháirc will look back on some of the biggest stories to emerge from the “the park” and will tell some new ones never heard before.
Alongside the documenting of a cultural icon, the documentary follows the story of the demolition and reconstruction of a brand new stadium, with behind-the-scenes footage filmed over two years all the way to opening day.
Telling the tale will be GAA heroes such as Billy Morgan, Jack O’Shea, Paul Flynn, Seán Óg Ó hAilpín and Barney Rock, as well as legendary broadcaster Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh and Oliver Barry the promoter who brought the likes of Michael Jackson and Prince to Cork.
TG4 Sports Editor, Rónán Ó Coisdealbha says, “For scores of thousands of Irish people, this stadium holds many special memories of hurling and football matches and entertainment events held there over the years. This programme will evoke those heady days for many TG4 viewers and is bound to be popular with our audience, at home and abroad.”
Produced by Nemeton TV, and directed by award-winning director Ronan O’Donoghue, An Pháirc is a must see for sports and music fans from all over Ireland.
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Sheffield Doc Fest

I’m delighted and honoured to have 2 feature films I cut showing at the prestigious Sheffield Doc Fest this weekend. I’m heading over to the festival and really looking forward to not only seeing the films but to also catch a whole host of other great documentaries. Sheffield is the worlds 3rd biggest documentary festival and only accepts a small number of films so I’m sure to catch some great films.

In advance of the weekend I chatted with IFTN about both films, you can read that interview here

First up is the world premiere of Seán Ó Cualáin’s Crash and Burn on Saturday which tells the story of Tommy Bryne. A racer, a raconteur, thief. The greatest racing car driver you’ve never seen. Here’s a short teaser of what to expect.

On Monday there is the European Premiere of Mattress Men. The film went down a treat last month at hot Docs and I’m looking forward to seeing how it does in Sheffield. The screening will be over with a good hour to spare before the first Ireland game of the Euro’s

CRASH

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Watch ‘Mar A Cheile Muid?’ online

For Seachtain na Gaeilge, Seán Ó’Cualáin has made his film ‘Mar a Cheile Muid?’ about the Gaeltacht civil rights movement of the 1970’s and its impact then and now available to watch online. The film is on the surface about the 40th anniversary of the 1974 Oireachtas in Cois Fharraige, the first one outside of the capital and a significant victory for the movement but its also about the challenges facing the Gaeltacht regions today. I think it’s a significant film about part of our shared cultural history and its one that I’m incredible proud and honoured to have been part of. I hope people enjoy it and that it sparks debate.

 

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Weather Report on RTE2 at 11:30 tonight

There is an opportunity to catch my brother Paul’s short film ‘The Weather Report’ tonight on RTE2 at 11:30. The film has had a great run on the festival circuit appearing at over 50 festivals at home and abroad. Paul picked up a few awards at the Limerick Film Festival and Boston Irish Film Festival. You can follow the film on Facebook and see the full list of festivals it has appeared at there.

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Arkle wins at the IFTA’S!!!

On Thursday last, the Arkle documentary I cut won the IFTA for Best Sports at what was a lovely evening in the Burlington (It will always be the Burlo to me). It was such a good day that its taken me this long to write about it!
I was absolutely thrilled for Arkle director Luke McManus and Stephen and Denis from Touchline Media who produced the film.

Stephen, Luke and Denis with their little friend
Stephen, Luke and Denis with their little friend

Despite coming from a place a few years ago where Luke, by his own admission, knew damn all about horses, he has now directed several superb horse related documentaries. A few years back he was IFTA nominated for Jump Boys which showed the harsh realities of being a top level jump jockey and then last year he made a 4 part series on the Galway races. In between these two was Arkle: The Legend Lives On which was made for TG4 and Channel 4 and as you might imagine told the story of Irelands legendary wonder-horse Arkle.

The documentary has achieved a Bill Nicholson like double, winning the Celtic Media Award and now the IFTA and all done with a certain panache! For me personally, this marked the third year in a row that I’ve cut the winner in the Best Sport’s Documentary IFTA category. I’m not entirely sure how that happened but I’m obviously thrilled with it.

The IFTA’s themselves were a great laugh and it was great to catch up with so many friends and I was delighted on the night that my buddies Mark Henry, Mick Mahon, Colm Bairéad, Cleona Ni Chrualaoi, James Ryan, Tracy O’Hanlon, Gemma O’Shaughnessy all got their hands on an IFTA.

bros

It was also pretty cool that I got to go to the show with my brother, even if he and his boys did end up on the receiving end of a paddling from Arkle.

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Ifta Nominations for Arkle and GAA USA

I was delighted this morning to see that 2 shows I edited were among the Nominees for the IFTA Television awards to be held in Dublin in 3 weeks time. Unfortunately both Arkle: The Legend Lives On and GAA USA are up against each other in the sports category. To further complicate the matter my brother and my office mates the Second Captains also received a nomination in the same category. So its safe to say I have some divided loyalties. One way or another as long as the Conor McGregor documentary doesn’t win I’ll be happy!

Arkle: The Legend Lives On was a Touchline Media production for Channel 4 and TG4. The film was a look back at the legendary race horse Arkle. The documentary was wonderfully directed by Luke McManus and produced by Denis Kirwin and Stephen Cullinane. I had a terrific time editing the doc with Luke over 4 frantic weeks last year in Highwire. The film already won the Best Sports Award at the Celtic Media Festival earlier this year and I’m sure you could get could good odds on Luke taking home another trophy in a few weeks. Personally I also really enjoyed writing about it here and calling the post ‘Blogging a Dead Horse’ which was a punning highlight of this blogs output.

GAA USA was produced by Sonta Films for TG4 and aired earlier this year. The series looks at the oft forgotten history of Gaelic Games in the United States and is presented by All-Ireland winning captain Dara Ó Cinnéide. The series was directed by Seán Ó Cualáín and produced by his brother Eamonn, Raemonn Mac Donnacha shot it and Darragh Dukes did the music. I spent the best part of last winter working on the series and I’m incredibly proud of it. This series marked my fourth time working with Seán (we are currently on number five) and its proved to be a really fruitful collaboration. An Godfather:Bryan Rooney, Rás Tailteann:Rothaí an tSaoil and Mar A Cheile Muid are all very diverse films that I’m thrilled to have played a part in. These films added with Seán’s previous work I think position him as one of the premier chroniclers of both rural Irish life and the Irish immigrant experience and he’ll kill me for saying it but I think he may well be this generations Bob Quinn.

Like I said complicating the matter is that the boys in Second Captains have been nominated for Second Captains Live. The live sports show is quite frankly outrageous in its ability to not only set new standards in sports broadcasting but maintain them too. I think this clip of them interviewing Ciaran McDonald exemplifies pretty well the work they do.

The show also features a weekly opportunity for my brother Ciaran to demean himself and his journalism degree by dressing up in humiliating costumes. Whats not to love about that?

I share an office with the boys and I can safely say that they along with Aideen, Karen, Rebecca, Pat and Collie are the hardest working motherfuckers in the business and if they do end up taking home the gong it’ll be richly deserved. They also, as I’m frequently and embarrassingly reminded, play a mean game of table tennis.

I was also thrilled to see my buddies Mark Henry, Colm Bairéad, Cleona Ni Chrualaoi, Katie Holly, Mick Mahon and David Power get richly deserved nominations in other categories. Best of luck to them and to all the other nominations. Overall the standard of work last year was incredible, heres the full list of nominees

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Reaction to ‘Scots at Waterloo’

The show ‘Scots at Waterloo’ which I had the pleasure of cutting aired last night on BBC2 Scotland and it went down very well.
Here are some of the reactions online from the screening

https://twitter.com/mojomoi/status/610915298967949312

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