Young Offenders crew member’s first film making waves in U.S

A FORMER crew member from the Young Offenders television show has become a star in his own right following the success of his debut feature film, which is making waves across the Atlantic.

Winner of the Best Independent Feature Film award at the 2021 Dublin Underground Cinema International Film Festival, Once Upon a Time in Ireland was directed and co-written by Crosshaven native, Conor Slattery.

It sees a band of Republican IRA idealists contemplate their fate while under siege from pro-treaty British-supported troops during Ireland’s Civil War. Conor, who previously worked as a second assistant director for the Young Offenders television series, has reason to celebrate another success after news that his film will screen at the Capital Irish Film Festival in Washington in March.

Speaking about his previous experiences in television, Conor said: “The Young Offenders had a really heart-warming script.

“It’s a loveable story with loveable characters. The script for Once Upon a Time in Ireland would also touch your heart but in a completely different way. It’s visually compelling and one of those beautiful timeless classic movies which is exactly what I set out to achieve.”

Conor, who co-wrote the film with Gemma McCarthy, described how he selected the location for the film at Rocky Bay beach.

He approached a man who works in the area and who he said he knew would have a good knowledge of the beaches.

“I asked him if he knew of any caves I could film in and he advised me to wait until the tide went out. Myself and the executive producer Keith waited around for an hour before wading through the water together to find the location.

“We decided on the middle cave as it would be the safest to get out of. Had we gone with another cave, there was a chance we might have got caught out by the tide.”

Conor said he was blown away by the calibre of acting in the film, which also starred Young Offenders actor Conor Dwayne.

“Lorcan Hayes is a ballet dancer, who performed in Berlin and New York and this was his first film. He did an outstanding job as did so many of the other actors. I wanted to work with amazing actors who were kind, hard-working and creative and that’s exactly what I got.”

Conor also enjoyed starring in the film.

“The reason I took on a role was because it meant I would have access to as many shots of that character as I needed.

“We shot for five or six hours a day, but no longer because of the nature of the tide.”

The 49-year-old travelled far and wide to create visually compelling shots for the film.

“I was getting shots of birds in the third week to symbolise freedom. This worked well in contrast to the characters who were trapped in the cave.

“I also travelled in search of effective storm shots because I wanted to show how the men were under attack in so many ways including from the elements.”

Conor’s two youngest sons, Oscar and Louis, played instrumental roles in the production process.

“I brought the boys to the merries in Tramore. We bought a bag of chips and just waited for the seagulls to come down so we could record the audio we needed for those particular scenes.”