Leading Irish actor, Brendan Gleeson, became the 70th participant in The National Film School’s highly successful Lecture series in Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology (IADT), on the evening of Tuesday 26th January.
Brendan spoke extensively about his career, in conversation with Screenwriting tutor, Mary-Kate O’Flanagan, for over an hour and a quarter, in front of a capacity audience of approximately 140 students, industry visitors and staff, including Dr. Annie Doona, President of IADT. Students from Film & Television Production, Design for Stage & Screen, Screenwriting and Broadcast Production asked questions both about Brendan’s varied screen credits and their own future ambitions, while others from IADT’s hugely successful Animation programme were particularly interested in his work on Cartoon Saloon’s The Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea. Brendan stayed on for 45 minutes talking to students, posing for photographs and signing autographs.
Donald Taylor Black, Creative Director of The National Film School, said, “It was a fantastic evening, one of the best public interviews we’ve hosted in recent years and Brendan was most generous with his time and advice to all. It’s only a pity that at least 50 were unable to gain admittance – in some ways we’re victims of our own success. We’re very proud that no other third level institution in the country attracts such a number of significant guests from film, television, and animation and our students always use the fantastic opportunities that are on offer to them”.
