October '23
A huge congratulations to the 5 Irish production companies who were awarded the competitive Creative Europe MEDIA Slate Development funding.
Biggest kuddos in particular to Wildcat Pictures and EZ Films, whom I supported on their Audience & Marketplace strategies and whose projects are incredibly deserving of the funding and support. C'mon Ireland!
October '23
What a brilliant time in Wien with ISI - International Screen Institute. With participants from Sweden (thanks to partner Film i Väst), Austria, Italy and Poland - it was a true meeting of ideas and stories and experiences. The teams joined us in-person for a week of deep-dives, expert sessions and ideation brainstorms of their selected project.
Thanks to all for your enthusiasm and collaboration and opening these projects up to us. Keep an eye on ISI's newsletter for our 2024 call for applications.
September '23
A professional and personal milestone - I have officially supported, in an Audience Design capacity, 100 projects! From Irish language animation, to Venice-winning debuts, it’s been so fun and rewarding working across so many stories. Thank you for trusting me and bringing me on board these wonderful projects.
So with this mini celebration – and paired with upcoming workshops this Autumn in Vienna, Gothenburg and São Paulo – it felt like the right time to revamp my brand identity. Huge thanks to Thea Powell for her creation!
September '23
Thrilled to have attended my first Holland Film Meeting this month, after giving an online session on Audience Design to the filmmakers selected for BoostNL and Story&Beyond.
I was on the jury for the Global Audience Award, sponsored Intermission Film, led by old colleague James Warren, and with Richard Priseman at Bankside Films. The award went to Ralph Winedt and Kristen Dania of MESTER MURI, a stunning coming of age debut set in Curaçao.
June '23
I'd always wanted to attend Docs Ireland so was only too pleased when Head of Industry Roisín Geraghty asked me to host a morning of panels and talks on engaging new audiences.
The line-up was spectacular: Anne Marie Borsboom of ShareDocs, Mirjam Wiekenkamp from NOISE Film PR, Christopher Small from DAFilms, Nell Roddy from Break Out Pictures, Jenny Bohnhoff from MetFilm Sales and finally, Luke McManus of NORTH CIRCULAR fame. Big thanks to all guests for their time and insights.
A summer highlight - I'll be back!
May '23
Congratulations to Nessa, Eoghan and the whole Little Moon Animation team on their win at the Animation Ireland Awards.
FIA'S FAIRIES was nominated in several categories, including Best Innovation and Best Writer (Preschool) and left with the coveted Kids Choice Award. Go hiontach!
April '23
I had my last session with the wonderful Isabel Herguera (Co-writer/Director) and Fabian Driehorst (Producer, Fabian&Fred) on SULTANA’S DREAM - an animated feature which won the TFL European Work in Progress Cologne Award, based on the 1905 feminist utopian novel by Rokeya Hossain.
We looked at different routes to theatrical audiences in the West, as well as social impact and educational screenings in South Asia. The film is an incredible visual spectacle of colour and movement, and each frame is breathtaking. Follow their journey @sultanasdream
March '23
I'm back from sunny Bergamo Film Meeting, where my colleague and friend Greta Nordio invited me for a panel on Audience Design as part of BFM’s Industry day. I joined the wonderful Rikke Flodin from Will & Agency / PUBLIKUM and Petar Mitric from Københavns Universitet - University of Copenhagen.
The following day, Greta and I facilitated a workshop for 10 Italian creative teams with projects in development. We shaped their pitch and gave them simple tools to apply to identify target audiences.
Huge thanks to G, Valeria, Alessia and whole Bergamo team for the hospitality.
Feb '23
Great to be back in Berlin for the festival. A personal highlight was the invitation to European Film Market – EFM and TorinoFilmLab’s Think Tank on Audiences, where experts from across the industry discussed opportunities and challenges of reaching Audiences more efficiently. We could have stayed there for hours more!
Delighted to spend the morning with Claudia Bedogni, Viola Gabrielli, Catherine Ann Berger, Paul Rieth, Maurício Macêdo, Mercedes Fernandez Alonso and Michael Gubbins.
The report from the Think Tank is now available on EFM’s website.
Feb '23
Earlier this month, with National Talent Academies, I delivered a workshop in Galway for 6 Producers headed to the European Film Market in Berlin. We mapped out each project's selling points, worked on their positioning, and identified some early target audiences to use during their conversations at the MGB.
It was a packed workshop, but grateful to John (Danú Media), Fiona (Tile Media), Roisín (Little Rose), Evan (Blinder Films), Ciarán (Fibín Media) and Lee (Avenue Productions) for their enthusiasm and honesty. Good luck in Berlin!
Jan '23
I had the BEST time attending International Film Festival Rotterdam and being part of the Lab speakers, where I did a session for 80+ Producers from around the world. Post match chats included non-spenders in Uganda, family content in Belgium, AI analysis as add-on tools and how the Danes do it better (when it comes to Audiences in Development)
Double whammy then as I joined Valentina Neumann (Alphapanda), Oliver Fegan (usheru) and Christophe Mercier on a panel about marketing, festivals and audiences for the Pro Hub, expertly moderated by Kathleen McInnis.
Big thanks to David Pope for the invitation and to the whole Talent team.
Nov '22
Up to Belfast next, for a panel on Audiences at the buzzing Belfast Media Festival, with legends Joan Parsons from Queen's Film Theatre and Sara Gunn-Smith from Film Hub NI who very kindly invited me up for it.
From personas, to CMS data, to community screenings - we covered a lot during our chat but the message was clear: we should facilitate these conversations with filmmakers as early as possible.
Looking forward to being back in 2023!
Nov '22
I'm back from a grey London, where I was invited to give a workshop to the 2022 cohort of Inside Pictures. I first introduced the framework of Audience Design, and the participants then worked in their film teams on their projects: identifying the clusters of target audience and considering the full user journey of their audience.
It was a treat to be able to meet, discuss and ideate with such a lovely bunch of brilliant people. Big thanks again to Clare, Corinne and Rummy.
Oct '22
It was so exciting to sit down on Hallowe'en and watch the first episode of FIA'S FAIRIES - created by Vanessa Robinson at Little Moon Animation.
I consulted on the Audience Design and Early Development for the show and I'm thrilled to see the positive response so far. I learnt a cúpla focail! Well done Nessa and LMA team
Sept 2022
access>CINEMA in association with the Dublin International Film Festival, and backed by Screen Ireland, organised an industry day on the subject of Irish cinema audiences.
With experts in the field of Box Office analytics, independent cinema and festivals - we discussed the changing behaviour of audiences and what efforts must be made to regain their interest in the big screen experience. We also got a preview of the upcoming releases from Irish Distributors for Q4 2022 and Q1 2023 and we're in for a treat!
Big thank you to Maeve and team for an insightful day!
Aug 2022
Great news for Laura, Rossana, Bruna and the whole DAUGHTER OF RAGE team on their selection for TIFF! The film will have its world premiere in the Discovery section. It will then have its European premiere at San Sebastian later in September.
Last september, we worked on the Audience Design strategy over the course of a week on behalf of Torino Film Labs and I'm thrilled to see it resonate with festival programmers. Big congratulations!
Aug 2022
I was delighted to be part of an extraordinary panel of brilliant minds in judging an award for the BASE Awards 2022, celebrating the creativity and talent of those working across Home Entertainment. With me were the fantastic Ashanti Omkar, Lisa Towey and Andrea Palmer-Gray. Good luck to all nominees!
July 2022
What a brilliant few days we had for The Audience Design Lab with ISI - International Screen Institute last week in Vienna.
Big thank you to Ewa Bojanowska, Fredrik Scholze, Charlene Lydon and Natalie Ralph for joining me on the panel for The Industry Summit. How refreshing to all be sat in the same room, discussing the needs of commercial players and local audiences.
Shout out to Shauna Farrell and Oliver Fegan from usheru for their time and insights for The Testing Room, where teams tested assumptions on who they think their audience is.
As Lab Director, it was so rewarding to see the enthusiasm from all 5 teams, and I couldn't have done it without my fellow Audience Designers: Greta Nordio, Petar Mitric, Clara Miranda Scherffig and Benjamin Cölle.
Short break before we delve back for part two in September!
June 2022
A huge congratulations to Samson Films who were awarded the highly competitive Slate Development Funding by Creative Europe for 2022. I worked closely with the team on developing an audience and European strategy for their slate and I can't wait to see these projects move forward and make their way on to the big screen, both in Ireland and internationally.
March 2022
A huge thank you to GFF and the writers, directors and producers who attended my workshop on Audience Design in the industry programme. We had a good time making up personas for films, and the filmmakers got a chance to work on their synopsis and positioning, too.