Film writer, producer and director Brendan O’Neill recently won the UK Parliamentary ‘Film The House’ competition 2015 for Around Again. The movie is currently doing the festival circuit and features Brendan’s young niece Kate O’Neill in her screen debut. O’Neill is Birmingham born to Kerry parents who hail from Valentia Island and Portmagee. He started filmmaking after a career in the software industry and has thrown himself into learning the craft — crowdfunding, producing, writing and directing projects on tight budgets.
What are you up to right now?
I’m writing an animated feature screenplay called Scampenstein. I’m also looking to do some more short films soon and hopefully one day direct feature-length films.
Who are your heroes?
Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Malala Yousafzai. An Irish hero would be Michael Collins. Film heroes would be Stanley Kubrick and Martin Scorcese amongst others.
What’s been the best decade of your life so far and why?
I’m hoping that is still to come but I enjoyed the five years I spent living in Ireland from 1996 onwards.
What song sends a shiver down your spine?
Grace by The Barleycorn.
What is your favourite place in Ireland?
Valentia Island and Portmagee in Co. Kerry; Garrafrauns in Co. Galway. I love Clare too. I once had a poem published in The Clare Champion.
What makes you angry?
Injustice. Disloyalty. Racism.
Brendan's niece, Kate O'Neill, making her debut in Around Again (Picture: Oliver Charles Woolley Photography)If you could change one thing in your life, what would it be?
I’d love to go back 30 years and go to film school. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do at that age. Digital technology has made filmmaking much more accessible. It wasn’t back then. The downside of broader access is that quality control at all stages of film production is now even more critical — there’s a lot more filmmakers out there.
What book influenced you most?
I like Flann O’Brien’s work, particularly The Third Policeman.
Which local star in any field should the world outside Ireland know about?
Lenny Abrahamson is a great filmmaker. Maurice Fitzgerald was an exceptional Gaelic footballer in his day.
What was the worst moment of your life?
Being dumped over the phone after going out with someone for three years.
Can you recommend an interesting website?
IMDB.com lists films and the actors, crew and production companies that helped get them made.
What is the best lesson life has taught you?
To persevere.
O'Neill on the set of Around AgainWhat is your favourite film and why?
Taxi Driver by Scorcese. A brilliant, visceral film by a brilliant filmmaker.
What trait do others criticise you for?
Best ask them.
What do you believe in?
I’m a Christian so believe in human rights, social justice, kindness, tolerance, peace and equality.
What are the best and worst things about where you live?
Birmingham is a great city, although it is much maligned by people who don’t know it. It has a real buzz about it at the moment — lots of talented people doing interesting things. I wish it had an underground metro system and a proper river running through it.
On what occasion is it OK to lie?
When doing so would protect someone from harm.
What do you consider the greatest work of art?
Guernica by Picasso but there are many, many others.
What is your ultimate guilty pleasure?
Melton Mowbray pork pie with lashings of tomato sauce.
Who is the love of your life?
I’m hoping the lady love of my life is still to come.
See More: Around Again, Brendan O'neill, Featured, Film
