RT & Irish Film Board Launch New Season of Storyland

RT & Irish Film Board Launch New Season of Storyland 19 January 2015: RT and the Irish Film Board/B rd Scannan na hEireann release five new original online dramas for the new season of Storyland.

With over 600,000 people watching the concluding part of Charlie last night, audiences can look forward to discovering five new original dramas, launched today by RT and the Irish Film Board for the new season of Storyland, a commissioning platform to identify new and emerging creative talent in Ireland.

Showcasing a great range of creative talent, the five new dramas to be shown nationally and internationally on the Storyland hub on RT Player www.rte.ie/storyland brings new talent and great new stories to audiences.

Beginning today, a new series will be released on RT Player each Monday over the next five weeks. The first series to be released this week is Burning Wishes, a black comedy about death, friendship and good ol' fashioned grave-robbing by Deadpan Pictures.

David Crean, Executive Producer for RT Television said RT dramas such as Love/Hate, Amber and Charlie demonstrate the insatiable appetite for great Irish drama. So we are excited to bring the new season of Storyland to audiences both nationally and internationally through RT Player with five wholly original dramas and comedies for audiences to get engrossed in.

Across writing, acting and directing, Storyland showcases the great breadth of Ireland's creative talent and has proven to be a hugely important commissioning platform for RT and the Irish Film Board to build working relationships with new and emerging creative entrepreneurs for the TV and film industry in Ireland. added David Crean.

James Hickey, Chief Executive, Bord Scann n na h ireann/the Irish Film Board said The Irish Film Board is happy to have participated for the first time in the Storyland project. Supporting new and emerging talent in storytelling through the medium of television drama enables us to assist in the development of the careers of writers, directors, producers, actors and other creative personnel working on these projects. This is to the long term benefit of both the Irish Film Board and RT in the area of feature film and television drama production. We look forward to the growth in the strength and depth of that talent with the benefit of experience of working on Storyland.

Close to 200 aspiring and experienced drama production teams pitched their ideas to make a series for Storyland. Five production companies across Ireland won commissions to create 5 original dramas (4 x 6 minute web episodes) to be shown on RT Player. The five production companies are Black Sheep Productions, Blinder Films, Deadpan Pictures, Fantastic Films, and Stirling Film and Television Productions.

The new Storyland dramas can be watched over the coming five weeks on the Storyland hub on RT Player www.rte.ie/storyland

Burning Wishes / Deadpan Pictures

Release Date: Monday, 19th January

Ne'er-do-well brothers Seamus and Martin Geraghty promise to honour their friend Paudie's deathbed request and scatter his ashes at their favourite childhood spot. After letting him down in the past, this is one promise to Paudie that Seamus is determined to keep even when Paudie winds up buried instead of being cremated. Burning Wishes is a black comedy about death, friendship and good ol' fashioned grave-robbing.

FARR/ Stirling Film and TV Productions

Release Date: Monday, 26th January

Farr is a crime drama set in Belfast. It centres on Michael Gallagher, an ambitious young detective who has been promoted to a task force aimed at taking down the city's most dangerous crime family, the Farrs. As his investigation deepens, a murder of one of the Farrs pushes Michael towards a reckoning with his own dark past. As the bodies and betrayals mount, Michael must choose between destroying the Farrs or saving himself.

Ctrl/Black Sheep Productions

Release Date: Monday, 2nd February

Ctrl is a fast-paced thriller set in Dublin that follows Colin, a brilliant young hacker and his exploits in the world of online hacktivisim. In order to gain the trust of this hactivist group, Colin must jump through various hoops in order to prove himself as he struggles with the consequences of living a secret double life.

Rapt/Blinder Films

Release Date: Monday, 9th February

Rapt is a sci-fi drama set in a Dublin where, in a single instant, everyone has vanished. Everyone, that is, but paramedic and single mum Ange Smith, who finds herself alone in an empty world and desperate to find her way home to her baby daughter. Except the world isn't as empty as she might have thought strange and dangerous forces are on the prowl

(R)onanism / Fantastic Films

Release Date: Monday, 16th February

Set in Cork, (R)onanism is a comedy drama about Ronan, a guy who falls in love with himself, marries himself and plans to spend the rest of his life with himself! But little does Ronan know that Noddy, the first self-proclaimed ronanist', has been secretly filming him and posting the videos online. When the videos go viral, Ronan turns to his friend Laura for help as cash-obsessed talent manager McPhun tries to exploit Ronan's new found popularity.

Now in its fifth season, Storyland has proven to be an invaluable springboard for writers, actors, directors and producers, who include, among many others; Thomas Martin (Danger High Voltage, Jenny Was a Friend of Mine,RAW), Kevin McGahern (Republic of Telly, Hardy Bucks), Marie Caffrey and Nikki Racklin of Zanzibar Films (Cuckoo), Paul Duane, Rob Cawley and Gary Duggan (Happy Slapper) who went on to make Amber for RT One and actress Charlie Murphy (Love/Hate) as well as Hardy Bucks who went on to have a RT Two TV series and a feature film following their Storyland success.

LINK:	http://www.rte.ie/about/en/press-office/press-releases/2015/0119/67384...
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