Screen Directors Guild of Ireland

We are delighted to announce SDGI is 10 years old.

On September 22nd one of the largest gatherings of Irish and international film and television directors took place to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Screen Directors Guild of Ireland (SDGI).

The day-long event included masterclass sessions presented by internationally acclaimed directors Sir Alan Parker (The Commitments) and Michael Apted (Gorillas in the Mist, The World is Not Enough). The masterclasses will be available on SDGI’s podcast channel on iTunes in the next few weeks.

In the evening, Irish directors gathered at the Gala Awards Dinner with Sir Alan Parker and Michael Apted, who were presented with honorary membership of the SDGI. The directors were approached by SDGI in recognition of their enthusiasm to celebrate Irish filmmaking.

Sir Alan Parker’s long, varied and hugely successful body of work includes The Commitments, one of the most popular Irish films ever. Sir Alan was presented with his honorary membership by the novelist who penned the book on which this film was based, Roddy Doyle.

Michael Apted’s career is no less impressive than that of Sir Alan Parker, with credits on massively popular and memorable films such as Gorillas in the Mist, Coal Miner’s Daughter, Nell, and his work on television includes the groundbreaking “7 Up” series, where the director visits a group of people in seven year intervals to document their lives. He has just finished shooting the latest chapter in The Chronicles of Narnia series, which is due for release in December.

The Awards dinner also paid tribute to the winner of this year’s Directors Finders Series, an annual initiative of the Guild, which is vital to developing and showcasing Irish filmmaking talent. The winner of this year’s prestigious award is Ian Power and his film The Runway, which screened to great acclaim at this year’s Galway Film Fleadh.

For photos of the event, please visit our Facebook page.

The Screen Directors Guild of Ireland is delighted to announce the sixth annual Directors Finders Series run in association with the Directors Guild of America.

This event presents Irish feature directors a unique opportunity to screen their film in the prestigious DGA Theatre, Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles to key distributors & film industry representatives in an effort to gain a US distribution deal.

This opportunity also affords the winning director a unique networking experience during their time in LA in order to enhance & develop their international directorial career.

Criteria
The film must be shot in Ireland and directors must be members of SDGI (new membership is available to directors working in Ireland, subject to certain criteria). The film can be fiction or documentary and must be feature length. The feature must not have US distribution. There is no timeline stipulation and the decision will be made by an international panel of industry experts including a representative from UK distribution house, Pathe! UK.

Entry Deadline is Friday 11th June 2010.

Enquires
michelle@sdgi.ie or by calling 087 814 0713
Application forms available here or by emailing Michelle Connolly, Production Manager on the above email.

The SDGI AGM 2009 was held on Wednesday 2nd of December in the Sycamore Club, Temple Bar.

An update on the Screen Directors Guild of Ireland activies is outlined in the SDGI AGM document.

The SDGI Animation Directory lists over 60 directors working in the medium of animation.

This directory represents a very fine collection of animation directing talent in Ireland. In the very near future you will be able to view samples of the directors work on this website. Our live action directors will be represented there also. So well done to Steve Woods in particular for getting this organised and I hope it acts as a catalyst in the recognition of animation directors in Ireland.

Ciaran Donnelly
Chairman
Screen Directors Guild of Ireland