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Film in Cork
17/12/2015

Film in Cork catches up with writer/director Shaun O’ Connor about his latest project “Sketch!”

First things first, can you tell us a little bit about “Sketch!”?

Sketch! is a brand new comedy show from myself and writer / actor Tadhg Hickey. It’s our third commission from RTE in just over a year, having made ‘Ronanism’ for Storyland last year and then a series of sketches for ‘Comedy Bites’ a few months back. Sketch! itself is a pilot though, so it’s a full half-hour TV show that RTE have commissioned us to make for Xmas.

 

There seems to be a lot of Cork talent involved. Have you guys worked together before?

Yeah there’s a load of Cork folks involved — We’ve built up an excellent team (both cast & crew) over the last few years and it was great to be able to call on them for this project. It was our biggest shoot to date but we knew we could rely on everyone. We’re also working with an amazing producer (Claire O Connell) so that was hugely important for working on a project with a bigger budget / logistics etc.Funeral_1

 

You’ve had a lot of success over the years, with ‘Uisce Beatha’, ‘Rest my Bones’, as well as the RTE Storyland ‘Ronanism’. What would you say is the most important thing you’ve learnt as you progressed from directing shorts to directing for RTE?

The most important thing is to surround yourself with people who are excellent at their job and who have a great attitude. Also, bring spare batteries and wear comfortable shoes!

 

What are you favourite things about shooting in Cork?

There’s an incredibly supportive filmmaking community here — not to mention a great city and stunning countryside. There’s no shortage of excellent locations nearby.

For “Sketch!” we needed over a dozen different locations and were able to find everything we needed within an hour’s drive from the city.Studio.Still002

 

And finally…when can we watch it?!

“Sketch!” is on St. Stephen’s night at 11.55 on RTE2 and will be available to watch on the RTE Player the following day.

Make sure to tune in and to share the page!

 

We’re also available at

https://www.facebook.com/SketchRTE

https://twitter.com/SketchRTE