A Portlaoise woman was recently selected to take part in a prestigious mentoring programme which aims to support upcoming producers in managing their careers and developing their international network, by providing them with the opportunity to learn from established mentors working within the European film industry.
“ACE Producers is an EU network group that supports producers in particular and is quite prestigious so I was completely floored when I saw I made the ten place selection,” said Leeona Duff.
The 31-year-old has been living in Galway for the last couple of years but grew up in Portlaoise.
“After school I went to the National Film School at the Institute of Art, Design and Techology (IADT) where I graduated with a first in production and screenwriting, did a bunch of travelling including living in Tokyo for a while with my now husband David, and have been working in the screen industry for just over the last decade.
“In 2017 I put together Up On Blue Bridge Productions with another local film creative Katherine Foyle so we could develop our own slate of long form content,” she said.
The company name, Up On Blue Bridge Productions, refers to the infamous Portlaoise blue bridge on James Fintan Lalor Avenue which was demolished in August 2011.
“Katherine is an accomplished comic illustrator who has been working in the screen industry for about a decade as a director/editor and who is also half of the Not Not podcast, a creative partnership with Caoimhe Doyle, bridging philosophy and pop culture.
“We have just wrapped a fiction feature with the working title of Demon Hunter: Time 2 Kill which we shot mostly last September in Kentucky in the US, finishing up in the Dublin mountains with the police coming to save the day.
“The film is about demon hunter Taryn Barker, played by the amazing Niamh Hogan who is sent back in time. She has to defeat demonic bad guys and find another half of a magical medallion to save the world from evil reptilian overlords – you know, standard stuff,” quipped Leeona.
Her parents, Sean and Geraldine Duff, are well known locally for their interest in rock ‘n’ roll. “They instilled in me a tenacious work ethic and the importance of doing what you want to do because you only get one life to do it in.
“I was always creative growing up, just as well because I couldn’t hurl to save my life unlike my very sporty siblings.
“I attended Órlagh McCrory’s Chatterbox School of Speech and Drama and was then very involved with local youth theatre. I was always drawing and writing as well, sometimes when I probably should’ve been listening in class,” smiled Leeona.
Up On Blue Bridge Productions is just about to finish post-production of its second TV documentary which she hopes will be coming to screens soon. The company is lining up a short film to be shot at the start of July which will be a proof of concept short for another exciting feature project.
Up On Blue Bridge Productions’ also offer script services for both shorts and feature projects, details of this and their entire slate of projects can be viewed
on www.uponbluebridgeproductions.com
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