Castlewellan producer’s short comedy-drama due for release

Castlewellan producer’s short comedy-drama due for release

20 April 2016

A YOUNG Castlewellan filmmaker is hoping to hit the movie festival scene with a quirky take on the job interview from hell.

Neill O’Higgins is the producer of the short comedy-drama The Irrational Tendencies of Elias.

A final-year university student studying Film and Television Production in England, the film forms part of Neill’s assessment, but his team have set their sights high and want a bigger audience for their creation.

“We are already in talks of having it screened at Keswick Film Festival’s Osprey Short Film Awards in late February 2017, as well as looking into other festivals both nationally and internationally,” said the 21 year-old. 

“We want to take part in the Cinematic Belfast October 2016 International Film Festival For Young People and members of the group are looking into film festivals local to them including North West England and North Wales. At the moment we are also researching into international film festivals including the Camden Film Festival.”

The Irrational Tendencies of Elias forms part of Neill’s final project at Edge Hill University, in which he was asked to create a 10 minute short film.

Summing up the creation of their team of seven, Neill said the film was about a “desperate, unemployed perfectionist who must stand out for the right reasons to win over a potential employer in an interview from hell”.

“Since our film was taking place inside an office, it was important to myself and the crew that we filmed this inside an actual office,” he said. “We wanted to push ourselves to find an office space that would be the perfect setting to bring our film to life. 

“As students from Edge Hill University, we could have easily booked some rooms in the University and tried to pass it off as an office space and not a University campus. But we wanted to stay clear from that. We wanted to go the extra mile, put in more work and planning and find a genuine office. 

“I contacted a business park in Ormskirk, Lancashire, and pitching our idea to them, they became interested in what we were wanting to do. They then showed me the third floor office of the Malthouse Business Park and it was perfect. It was exactly what we needed.

“I have never seen an office like it. The architectural design, filled with the wooden beams and the warm colours of the celling, filled me with excitement as I knew this would be the perfect spot for our film.”

Neill’s interest in film came early on in secondary school, at St Colman’s College in Newry.

“I was and still am a big fan of soundtracks and scores for movies,” he said. “Taking the A-level subject Moving Image Arts, which is when we got to make films, I got the bug and enthusiasm from there. And eventually went off to study for a degree in Film and Television Production.

“Our influence for this film was the director Wes Anderson. Personally the film makers that inspire myself are Christopher Nolan and Casey Neistat.

“I would like to continue producing films and enter them into film festivals and ideally for a career I would like to work for one of the major broadcasters in Ireland.

“The cast and crew are all very proud of the work that has went into planning and making of The Irrational Tendencies of Elias and we are excited to share the release of our short film .”

The Irrational Tendencies of Elias is available to view on YouTube from April 26.