In this episode of the Film Ireland Podcast, we’re delighted to partner with the Foyle Film Festival, which takes place in the Nerve Centre in Derry each year. An Academy Awards® and BAFTA-qualifying festival, Foyle Film Festival will celebrate its 39th year this November, continuing its long tradition of championing exceptional filmmaking and supporting emerging and established voices from across the industry.
First, we hear from Eavan King, Head of Film Programming at the Foyle Film Festival & Nerve centre, about how the festival began, how it has evolved and how much fun it is to visit.
Then we catch up with David Pope, who was working with screenwriters at the festival as part of their comprehensive industry programme. David is an internationally renowned script consultant whose projects include Cannes Jury Prize winners and multiple Academy Award contenders.
Finally, listen back to this discussion focusing on presenting local stories to an international market, recorded live at the Nerve Centre as part of the Foyle Film Festival, featuring producer Dearbhla Regan from Wild Atlantic Pictures and Louise Gallagher from Hat Trick Productions and Gallagher Films.
Listen now on SoundCloud, Apple, Spotify, Acast and Amazon, or subscribe to Film Ireland wherever you get your podcasts.
Film submissions have just opened for Foyle Film Festival, so make sure to get yours in.
Foyle Film Festival
This vibrant film festival takes place in venues across Derry each November to bring the best of international cinema and industry players to the city. The festival also delivers screenings, events and workshops throughout the year, including Reel Lives which has replaced the Intercultural and Anti-Racism Festival, as well as Educational and Community Outreach Screenings. The prestigious Light In Motion (LIM) competition is open to filmmakers and animators across the world, with winners qualifying for consideration in the Live Action and Animated Short Film categories of the Academy Awards® and BAFTA. Read more here.
Louise Gallagher
Louise has been working in the media industry for 30 years, with 23 of those years spent at the BBC in Belfast in various production roles across Radio, TV and Online services. In 2011 she flew the BBC nest and moved into the independent film and TV sector, working on independent shorts and features. Louise went on to found Gallagher Films in 2018.
Major recent projects for Gallagher Films include BAFTA award-winning ‘Blue Lights’, a BBC drama series set against the backdrop of policing in Northern Ireland, on which Louise is Co-Creator / Executive Producer. Her first feature film, ‘A Bump Along The Way’, had a successful cinema release and won several awards at home and internationally. Written by Tess McGowan, directed by Shelly Love and produced by Louise, it starred Bronagh Gallagher and Lola Petticrew. ‘A Bump Along the Way’ was developed with the assistance of Northern Ireland Screen through their New Talent Writers and New Talent Focus programmes. It was further supported by Yellowmoon Post Production and Roma Downey. Louise recently received an IFTA for best short film ‘Rough’ written and directed by Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson.
In the period between working as a BBC staffer and running Gallagher Films, Louise was a freelance Production Manager, Line Producer and Producer on short films, feature films, children’s TV drama, commercials and live television for clients such as Nickelodeon, BBC, RTE, TG4, Netflix, Radio 4 and The Guardian. She joined Hat Trick Productions at the start of 2020 to run their most westerly outpost in Belfast, seeking out new and exciting projects from across Ireland.
David Pope
avid is a script consultant and screenwriter working internationally. Script consultation projects include Obraz, candidate for Best International Film Academy Award 2026; Tiger Stripes, winner of the Jury Prize Critics’ Week Cannes Film Festival 2023 and candidate for Best International Film Academy Award 2024; Take It or Leave It, candidate for Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award 2019; and Truth or Justice, candidate for Best International Film Academy Award 2020.
Other recent projects as script consultant include the feature films Natatorium, 2024; Last Sentinel, 2023; Splendid Isolation, 2022; Magic Mountains, 2021; and the drama series Imperial Spy for Fremantle (American Gods, Deutschland 83). David was Creative Producer on feature film The Goat, 2023. In addition to designing and delivering for Stowe Story Labs, he is the long-standing annual advisor and facilitator for Rotterdam Lab at IFFRPro for producers.
David has been a creative consultant on Rawi Screenwriting Lab for Royal Film Commission – Jordan, facilitated the Convergence programme funded by Screen Scotland and British Film Institute, and is the script consultant for Funny Features delivered by Glasgow Film Festival and funded by British Film Institute. He is a regular script consultant for both MIDPOINT Institute and BoostNL. He sits on the film committee of the Writers Guild of Great Britain and is an external expert for the Council of Europe Eurimages fund. Recent screenwriting commissions include writing the latest draft of feature film Tempelhof, the feature film Rulin from source material, and rewriting the latest draft of the feature film Summer of 81. David has a slate of projects in development through Advance Films.
Previous development and training clients include Warp Films, Creative Europe, BFI, Screen Scotland, New Horizons Studio+, Cannes Cinefondation, Creative England, Screen Ireland, Polish Film Institute, UK Film Council, BBC, BAFTA, Fremantle, National Theatre, British Council, Allfilm, KulturaTV, Cannes Film Festival, Film London, Lionhead Studios, Xingu Films, Irish Film Board, FAS Screen Training Ireland and Estonian Film Institute, amongst many others.