Shot for Shot Remake

Hugh Linehan revisits his 1994 interview with Rod Stoneman, the outgoing CEO of Bord Scannán na hÉireann / The Irish Film Board. Read the original interview in full here.

Nine years ago, as editor of Film Ireland, I travelled to Galway to interview Rod Stoneman, then almost a year into his tenure as chief executive of the Film Board. Almost a decade later, the idea arose of revisiting that interview on the occasion of Rod's departure from the Board. The initial concept was to put exactly the same questions again, and see how the answers might have changed, almost a decade later. When it became apparent that this would be the journalistic equivalent of Gus Van Sant's Psycho – daft and pointless – we decided to take some of the key points from the original and to look at them again, via email. Somewhat naively, in my opinion, Rod envisaged this as some sort of leisurely pursuit of deep truths, to be conducted over the course of a few weeks. I fear he still hasn't quite grasped how this journalism racket works. It's entirely my fault, therefore, that what follows was actually compressed into the space of about 48 hours, right up against deadline.

I should say that, over the last decade, I have heard various people say a range of things about Rod Stoneman and the Irish Film Board, many of them hurtful and derogatory, and some downright actionable. I think (or at least hope) that he won't be surprised by this; it comes with the turf. Running the sole significant film financing agency in a small country for such a significant length of time, one is inevitably going to step on toes, bruise sensitive egos and dash cherished dreams. However, having even a bit of money does salve some wounds, and the general atmosphere among what for want of a better word I'll call the "filmmaking community"is far less poisonous and introverted than it was in the early 1990s. Some people do believe that the Film Board is part of a capitalist conspiracy to crush artistic expression in this country. Others think it's an out-of-touch bureaucracy which doesn't understand or empathise with modern popular culture. What I think myself is a matter for another day. But I do believe that people in Rod's position don't really get enough recognition, or even thanks, for the hard work they put in over the years. But, as I said, it comes with the turf...

The full article is printed in Film Ireland 95