CAREY FITZGERALD is the founder of Shout London: The Ashford Place Mental Health Film and Arts Festival.
The Managing Director of Silver Mountain Productions has a long-standing involvement with the Ashford Place charity in Cricklewood, north London, which motivated her to explore ways of combining her own industry expertise with the charity’s pioneering work supporting the most marginalised and vulnerable in society.
From that grew the idea for the new festival, which takes place next week.
Showcasing at The Kiln Cinema in Kilburn and at The Crown Hotel London, the free to attend inaugural edition of Shout London will be held on October 10 and 11, to coincide with World Mental Health Day.
This week Ms Fitzgerald took time out to talk to the Irish Post...
What are you up to right now?
Burning the candle at both ends finalising plans for the festival
Where did the idea for Shout London come from?
It is something that I have wanted to do for ages but it needed the right partners which we now have. I also made complete sense to combine the work Ashford Place does with my film and arts industry contacts.
How challenging is it to launch a new festival?
Enormously – I cannot imagine how difficult it must be or organise something like Glastonbury.
Who are your heroes?
My late parents.
What's been the best decade of your life so far and why?
As I get older, I get better at appreciating life, so every decade is better than the last.
What record sends a shiver down your spine?
Anything from Dusty Springfield, it takes me back to my childhood watching my beautiful big sister, Katherine, getting ready to go out while listening to Dusty.
What is your favourite place in Ireland?
My Father’s birthplace, Cork. I’m so proud that my business, Silver Mountain Productions, is a Cork-based company and that I’m able to divide my time between the UK and Ireland.
What makes you angry?
People who use others for their own advantage.
What book influenced you most?
A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
If you could change one thing in your life, what would it be?
To have more hours in the day.
Can you recommend an interesting website?
Pinterest – such amazing photography to marvel at.
What is the best lesson life has taught you?
Do it now and never put it off until tomorrow.
What is your favourite film and why?
North By North West – style, glamour, action and romance in a two-hour package.
What do you believe in?
The power of self-belief.
What trait do others criticise you for?
Unrestrained energy.
Where do you live and what are the best and worst things about that place?
London – I love the history and energy of the city and, having always worked in an international business, it is an easy place to live and travel from.
What do you consider the greatest work of art?
The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
What is your ultimate guilty pleasure?
Sauvignon Blanc.
Who is/was the love of your life?
My husband, Ronald de Neef.
For further information, to book your free ticket or to view the festival programme click here
See More: Ashford Place, Carey Fitzgerald, London, SHOUT LONDON
