The Scene

With the critical acclaim and worldwide success of their first feature film The Dig Ryan Tohill and his brother Andy achieved something they could only have dreamed of as kids The Dig (2017) proved to be the calling card for a now thriving career as film and TV directors after their successful stint directing TV drama Dalgleish they moved onto their most ambitious project yet, the just released Pa...

Since the worldwide success of Game of Thrones the film industry in Northern Ireland has gone from strength to strength with Hollywood blockbusters and high end television dramas becoming bread and butter for the local crews.  Assistant director Paul George has witnessed the industry's growth first hand. It’s Paul George on The Scene. Contents -Intro -Paul's apprenticeship with The Spenc...

Football and filmmaking have been lifelong passions for documentary producer Ally McKenzie.  After his stellar work producing 2022s TaxiJo, Ally created Match in a Minute a short form online video outlet that captures the live match day experience of football across the island of Ireland. It’s Ally McKenzie on The Scene. 0:00 Intro  0:40 Finding your voice as a filmmaker 12:17 Documentaries and Ne...

Having been raised in both London and Nigeria Tolu moved to Northern Ireland at the age of ten.  His experience growing up in Belfast gave him the tools and perspective to direct his recent BBC documentary, Black, Northern Irish and Proud.  A superb piece delving into racial relations and what it's like to be black in Northern Ireland.  Hear Tolu's story on The Scene. Contents -Intro -Ea...

She turned ranting about Newry into an art form with Facebook Live propelling Lianne McCooey to local legend status.  Her witty observations paved the way for a venture into standup comedy with her monthly comedy club consistently selling out.  Now Lianne wants to give back with aspirations of a career as a Counsellor. Contents -Intro -Transistion into standup comedy -Lianne's Facebook Live v...

**Tickets for Sean's gigs as mentioned in the show are not available on Eventbrite but instead glistrr links to which are down below When standup comic Sean McAleavey isn’t complaining about the price of pints… He is taking the comedy scene by storm having only started a few years ago he now regularly plays venues up and down the country, culminating with his first headline show earlier in th...

Rap music is not something synonymous with Irish music culture but that is changing, fast!  A pioneer in his field Alex has recorded three albums, with a forth soon on the way, at just the age of 18.  Join me as I learn the ins and outs of Ireland's fastest growing genre of music on this latest edition of The Scene. Contents -Intro -Why rap music? -Conceptualising a rap song -The modern lands...

It was the question on everyone's lips who is the Newry Spud?  Newry's worst kept secret didn't take Columbo to figure out that it is of course.... Jackie Sheridan. Starting off as a meme page and a bit of fun Newry Spud provoked and entertained its way to the biggest media following in the area.  However, there has been a dark side to Jackie's success. In his first ever sit do...

For Leah O’Rourke Jenny Joyce was the dream role. I’ve witnessed Leah’s growth as an actor 1st hand from our early collaborations all the way up to her starring in last year’s full production of TaxiJo. So how did Leah land a starring role on the iconic Derry Girls?  And what was it like to play such an iconic character?   find out on this latest edition of The Scene. =============================...

It's been long road for John but his journey has made him more than ready for his upcoming feature film directorial debut Lie of the Land.  John began his career editing in television and working with Northern Ireland production company Stirling Productions.   John went on to direct a number of short films including Exposure (2013), Echoes (2018), The Silence Between (2022).  The quality of h...

What's it like to work on the world's biggest sitcom?  The US Office was a worldwide phenomenon.  On this edition of the Scene we're joined by Anthony Farrell a comedy writer who enjoyed riding the crest of the wave working on seasons 4 and 5 of The Office. Since then Anthony has begun developing his own shows such as The Bafta winning Secret Life of Boys and The Thundermans.  I had...

Donal O’Hanlon’s joy and passion for acting has lit up the stage and entertained audiences for years.  Donal has become a focal point in enhancing the legacy of The New Point Players continuing the tremendous breeding ground for acting talent brought to prominence by the legend that is Sean Hollywood. I had the pleasure of watching his talent first hand as Donal became a fabulous foil for TaxiJo i...

From Newry News to TaxiJo Hugh Feenan and I have been working together on countless projects where it's been a constant string of great memories relive some memories with us on this latest edition of The Scene. - intro - Early Comedy Influences - The Office - Early Days of Social Media and Newry News - The Bogroll Videos - Johnny Baghead - TaxiJo - Choose Newry - The birth of Martin Hanlon -...

In this first first edition of The Scene Gino sits down with standup comic Darren Matthews to discuss the recent explosion in popularity of standup comedy in Northern Ireland.   Darren has been working as a standup comic for the best part of twelve years, hear his insights into how the comedy industry has changed over the years.  From playing in front of just handfuls of people in the early years...