The 2009 AGM of the Screen Directors Guild of Ireland took place on Wednesday December 2nd at 6.30pm in the exclusive surroundings of the Sycamore Club in Dublins Temple Bar.
Attended by over 50 SDGI members, chairman of the board Ciaran Donnelly welcomed all present and outlined the order of business for the AGM.
The meeting was addressed by SDGI Executive Director Birch Hamilton who talked on the successes and developments of 2009 for the Guild and the new initiatives and projects planned for 2010.
Other speakers on the night included Paddy Breathnach who reported on the IAESDO General Assembly meeting in London in October, Ken Wardrop who reported on the 2009 Finders Award, Jason Tammemagi, chair of the Animation Sub-committee, Ray McCormack, chair of the Documentary Sub-committee and Simon Gibney who talked on the new multi-camera mentorship programme with RTE.
With the order of business of the AGM then completed attendees then listened with enthusiasm to Keynote Speaker Michael Gubbins who spoke on the topic of new and alternate ways to make and distribute film/TV. Michael was followed by a very interesting presentation from Cay Wesnigk from OnlineFilm AG, Germany, who presented a VOD platform for directors which offers the possibility of uploading films and setting them free for download by using the internet as a direct sales channel.
The SDGI AGM will take place on Wednesday December 2nd at 6.30pm in The Sycamore Club, Sycamore Street, Temple Bar. The club can be found in the Purty Kitchen building off 34-36 Essex Street.
Light refreshments will be served before the meeting.A special preview of the future of 3D for directors will also feature at the meeting.
RSVP to Liz Dodd at liz@sdgi.ie by Monday November 30th 2009.
On Monday, 16th November Frank Kelly hosted a test screening of his new documentary project ‘140’ as part of the Wash Your Eyes programme.
‘140’ is inspired by the connectivity and synchronicity that users of micro-blogging site Twitter experience. The film consists of 140 different filmmakers, each shooting 140 seconds of film that represent what connects the filmmaker to their home. The purpose of the screening was to gage a reaction and get opinions from peers, who also discussed the what new directions the internet might take us in filmmaking.
After a the discussion, the SDGI members got together in the Porterhouse Temple Bar for drinks.
The second meeting of the newly developed Washureyes programme took place on Monday 2nd November at the SDGI Sony Screening Room.
Shimmy Marcus hosted a test screening of his new feature documentary 'Good Cake Bad Cake'. The screening was followed by an informal discussion with the purpose of exploring structure, style, clarity of story, and getting general feedback from fellow directors.
After a session of extremely constructive feedback, the SDGI members got together in the Porterhouse Temple Bar for drinks. We would like to thank the Porterhouse for coming on board as a partner of Washureyes.
With anticipation high SDGI members gathering on Monday 5th for the first screening of the newly established Wash Ur Eyes directors creative forum were not to be disappointed.
The screening of Neil Jordan’s first feature ANGEL began promptly and was followed by a wonderful and invaluable evening of dialogue between Neil and attending directors facilitated by fellow director Shimmy Marcus.
Attendees came to understand the vision behind ANGEL and Neil’s own creative style to which he has remained true in the intervening years and which allows ANGEL to remain as relevant today as it was when first made nearly 30 years ago.
