In this podcast, Gemma Creagh talks to 4 filmmakers whose films are screening at this year’s Dublin International Comedy Film Festival. Bébhinn Naughton, Adam William Cahill, Lara Cassidy and Len MacKeigan talk about the craft behind their comedy.
Every Limerence Helps (DIR: Bébhinn Naughton • WRI: Shannon Welby)
Limerence (def.): the state of being obsessively infatuated with someone, usually accompanied by delusions of or a desire for an intense romantic relationship with that person.
Lauren is a lustful young woman, living alone during the pandemic. She falls for the man who has become her only social interaction throughout lockdown; the grocery delivery driver. To get closer to him, Lauren excessively places orders and spends her days prepping for these visits. Shaving foam and sexy underwear. Lipstick and libido. Yet when the delivery man (Lauren’s idea of Tesco’s Finest) is replaced by a colleague, Lauren must break free from her four walls and pursue her love interest.
Screening as part of Irish Short Films 2 – “Don’t Get Cocky” from 7pm on 20th Jan. Tickets.
Follow The Dead (DIR/WRI: Adam William Cahill)
In a generation plagued by fake news, an idle family in rural Ireland argue over the legitimacy of the emerging viral footage of zombie ravaged Dublin. Discovering his estranged wife has returned to his small town’s police department, forlorn Robbie commits to help figure things out. But when danger lands on his own doorstep, he must learn if his family’s dependent lifestyle has left them too naive to weather their fate.
Screening as part of Irish Feature Films from 7pm on 20th Jan. Tickets.
Tracy and Martina’s Cape Breton Christmas Special (DIR: Lara Cassidy • WRI: Len MacKeigan, Greg Vardy, Justine Williamson)
Harken back to the days of Christmas specials past, when the family huddled around the floor model TV to watch Bob Hope, Perry Como and Bing Crosby bantering and singing about the Christmas miracle.
But they’re all dead now so instead join Tracy and Martina, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia’s “typical” millennials who are holding court with friends as they wait for Santa to arrive.
Sure, there’s a little bit of drama going (there always is with these two) but grab some eggnog (spiked and not-too-spiked to choose from), turn up the brightness on your computer monitor and enjoy as they welcome their special musical and comedy friends, all with their Celtic roots showing!
Screening as part of International Feature Films 2 from 7pm on 20th Jan. Tickets.
The Dublin International Comedy Film Festival 2022 runs 20-22 January 2022. You can see the full programme here.
Meet the Filmmakers
Bébhinn Naughton
Director Bébhinn Naughton has been working in film & television post production since graduating from Dublin City University with a degree in Communications.
Her experience working in Visual Effects has provided an invaluable opportunity to collaborate with some of the world’s leading production studios. To date, her screen credits working as a VFX Coordinator include Scorsese’s The Irishman, Aretha Franklin biopic Respect and Marvel’s Black Widow.
During the pandemic, she finally took the plunge into filmmaking by both directing and producing her first official short film with a small but talented crew all whilst working alongside the editorial department for the Academy Award winning director Benjamin Cleary’s upcoming Apple-Original, drama/sci-fi feature film.
Having moved to London towards the end of 2021, she hopes to grow her network and collaborate with filmmakers from all different backgrounds, from all over the world.
Adam William Cahill
Adam was born in London, England to an Irish mother and English father. His parents divorced when he was five years old, after which he moved to his mother’s hometown of Dublin, Ireland. Despite the hardship involved, he’s grateful to have been able to develop a distinctly Irish voice and sense of humour which would uniquely colour his later work in his creative life. Upon leaving school, Adam began to develop his skills as a video editor, working for an alternative media group creating short documentaries. However, in college his attentions quickly turned to narrative drama and not long after he graduated from the University of Wolverhampton with a Bachelor of Arts Degree. Wasting no time at all, Adam wrote his first feature film Follow the Dead a month after finishing college, and went into production shortly thereafter. Since then Adam has set up Wild Stag Productions, with his ambition being to use the medium of film to tell unique, thought provoking stories, with an emphasis on making Irish genre films.
Lara Cassidy
Lara is what one might call ‘a lifer’ in the film industry. She began in the business at the tender age of 10 as a model and actor. Since then she has built her life performing various roles over time: make-up artist, talent agent, casting director, writer, producer and most predominantly (and by far her favourite) director. Lara embraces every opportunity to be on set, working with her team and crew members, everyone using their passion, talent and skills to create a master vision, all in the name of entertaining others. While Lara has directed projects in practically every genre, comedy is where her heart lives.
Lara is the proud recipient of the 2016 Women in Film and Television’s “Wave Award” for Inspiration, Talent and Guidance. Other awards and accolades include a Webby nod, (the Oscars of the internet!) Time magazines “Top 10 of Everything in 2009” and the BBC’s “Best of 2009” for her history making viral video, “United Breaks Guitars”. She has received Canada’s National Screen Institutes (NSI) “Drama Prize”, the “CBC Bridge Award”, a USA “Cable Fax Faxie” Nomination, “Music Video of the Year” and “Production Company of the Year” at Canada’s East Coast Music Awards (ECMA’s) too many times to count – and that’s just to name a few. Most recently she was nominated for the 2021 Nova Scotia Film Industry awards as ‘Director of the Year’ for the project ‘Tracy and Martina’s Cape Breton Christmas’ which is now a 6 part series on the streaming service swearnet.com called “Tracy and Martina’s Dirty Deeds Done Right”.
When not in production, Lara practices piloting small airplanes and forging artworks by renaissance artists…just in case one day she finds she needs a side-hustle…
Len MacKeigan
Len MacKeigan is a Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada based comedy writer and producer who has written for children, Poko, Lunar Jim (CBC), Pucca (Jetix Europe), Olliver’s Adventures and Eckhart, (Teletoon), adults This Hour has 22 Minutes (CBC) and in-betweens; Streetcents (CBC).
He produced a live variety show for the CBC entitled Live! At 25:00, and has co-produced several documentaries for Canadian TV.
He has worked as unit manager for numerous CBC Halifax productions including Land and Sea, Street Cents, and Canada Now and has production managed The Halifax Comedy Festival for the same network for the past 10 years.
His most recent productions are a TV Special, Tracy and Martina’s Cape Breton Christmas which featured Heater Rankin, Bette MacDonald and Maynard Morrison and a six-part series Tracy and Martina’s Dirty Deeds Done Right for Swearnet.com streaming service where he was writer/producer.
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