My Weekend: I get to indulge in my hobby as a profession

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your work:

My name is Liam O’Leary, I’m 21 years old and I am from just outside Youghal, County Cork. At the moment I live in Dublin, studying film at Griffith College Dublin, and I also work as a freelance photographer and videographer for whatever strange event might pop up.

I was born in Essex, my mother is from there, and when I was three moved to Wexford, where my father was from, and then we ended up in Cork somehow.

When I was young, I used to draw terrible comics, and in primary school I would write and write and write stories of all kinds. When I was a teenager, I started to realise that it was actually films through which I wanted to tell my stories, and after doing a number of workshops with Cork Young Filmmakers and attending the First Cut! Youth Film Festival for a few years, decided for sure it was what I wanted to study.

I have been involved with the First Cut! Youth Film Festival for the last five years, and it is always a highlight. 

It’s a great opportunity to meet other young filmmakers, watch a bunch of brilliant shorts, and chat about them afterwards.

For the last couple of years I have been on the Youth Council for the festival, where we get to choose a film for the Youth Council Award. It’s a really fun process, getting together and watching 10 or so films chosen for us, and picking out our award winner, although the debates can get heated at times! First Cut! was one of my first introductions to filmmaking and film festivals, and was a huge inspiration for me to become involved in the scene.

What is your ideal way to spend a Friday night?

It depends on the Friday night! In an ideal world, either watching a film or playing video games until the sun rises, but unfortunately I don’t often get the opportunity for that! The result of student life is that nights sort of blend into days, into evenings, until you find yourself filling out an interview like this at 2am in the morning. Trying to balance study and peripheral work is something I’m new to, and I’m often busy if I’m not sleeping, but I like staying on my toes.

Lie ins or up with the lark.. which is it for you?

Usually a lie in is much appreciated. That being said, although an early start can be a struggle at first, after an hour of being up I always feel more productive and positive about my day, like I’ve gained a couple of hours on my usual self.

Does work creep into your weekend at all?

When doesn’t it? I view the week as seven days, it doesn’t really have a start or end for me. 

When you don’t have fixed hours, and do have a bunch of college work to catch up on, there is always something you can be working on.

If money was no object where would you head to on a weekend city break? And who would you bring with you?

Somewhere in the states, for sure. Maybe New York, or LA. I’ve never been and would love to go, just to get a taste of the world we see in so much of our media. I’d bring my partner, Sophie, and score some boyfriend points at the same time.

Closer to home, is there some place you like to head to recharge the batteries?

Home, back to Cork. Being in Dublin is amazing, when I’m here I feel more productive and connected. My parents live in the middle of nowhere, so heading home every once in a while is a great way to detox and switch off for a while. The air is also fresher down there!

Do you like to catch up with family/friends at the weekend?

As I mentioned, weekends don’t really exist for me, so at least once a week at any point I’ll shoot my parents a call or text to stay in touch, but I only get a chance to visit them once every few months. 

It’s definitely something I want to do more. In terms of friends, it just so happens that I am forced to see them every day at college, so the weekend is a chance to finally avoid them.

Do you get to indulge any hobbies? Even as a spectator?

My worst hobby is watching YouTube. It’s too addictive and I have recently deleted it from everything I own in an attempt to sort myself out.

I play a lot of video games, which I find to be an amazing method of just clearing my mind and going someplace else for a few hours.

But I am lucky to be in a position where I am paid to do what I love, which is filmmaking. It’s not something I take for granted that I get to indulge my hobby as a profession.

Entertain or be entertained? If it’s the latter do you have a signature dish?

It’s a lot nicer to be entertained, but my apartment unfortunately acts as a central location for my friends, and for these occasions my signature dish is usually the local Chinese.

We have so many places to eat out in Cork —where are your go to spots for coffee/ lunch/ special meal?

When I lived in Cork and I took trips to the city, my favourite place to eat was a small restaurant called Uncle Pete’s. There was just something about it I loved, but unfortunately it closed down during the pandemic I believe.

Up here in Dublin, when I get a chance to head out for dinner, it will usually be someplace new each time, but my personal favourites are MacGowans of Phibsboro (great place for a pint as well!), Banyi (Japanese food) and Captain America’s on Grafton Street, I know there used to be one in Cork as well! I’m not really a big coffee or tea person, so usually skip those meetups.

Sunday night comes around too fast.. how do you normally spend it?

Usually I spend Sundays frustrated with myself for not getting enough work done before the next week starts! As I mentioned, there isn’t really a period where I switch off until holidays, so most nights I usually just spend finishing up some work and getting ready for the next day.

What time does your alarm clock go off on Monday morning?

The beauty of my job is that I never know, and that is something I love.

One week I might have a lovely lie in, and have a job filming a laser being shot at buildings in the city centre out of a car window that night (true story!), or it might be up at 6am to get to a film set in Wicklow for 8. Or more realistically, it goes off at 8am for college. But as they say, variety is the… something something. 

I can never get bored of it.

Running from March 4 to March 9 more than 200 films created by young people will screen at the First Cut! Youth Film Festival in the Regal Cinema in Youghal.
Liam O’ Leary’s film The Money Shot will screen at the festival on Saturday, March 9.
See www.firstcutfilmfestival.com