LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION! are words many of us dream of saying.

Stephen Crilly from South Lotts, decided he was going to do more than daydream about making movies, so at the tender age of sixteen, he said goodbye to Marian College and hello to a future in film.

Passionate about film from a very early age, Stephen would rent out 3 or 4 videos a night. But having left school, nothing happened for a year.

Things changed when Stephen went on a film foundation course in Filmbase. Not only did he get insight into the world of film, he met other filmmakers and with Kevin De La Isla, set up a production company called I.C. Films.

His aim was to get experience in films doing various roles. For the film ‘Lucid’, Stephen cast Tom Maguire as the lead. This association was the start of collaboration which would last many years. They co-directed a short called ‘Incabus’ in September 2002. Returning from holiday in Mexico with Kevin, Steve was delighted to learn that the film was accepted by the Belfast Film Festival and the world famous Raindance Film Festival in America.

Stephen also produced ‘The Last Temptation of Hughie and Owenie’. Written by Tom Maguire, it tells the story of two old bachelors living together in the country. Shot on high definition video in Monaghan over four days in January everything that could go wrong went wrong!

The equipment turned up late. The electricity went for a couple of hours. There was no heating in the cottage. With a perishing crew and cast, the last day of shooting took a manic eighteen hours. But that was not the end of it: post-production facilities were cancelled by Tom’s friend in London. Thankfully, Jim Duggan of Screenscene stepped in and offered his services, saving the day and the film.

The film premiered at the Foyle Film Festival in 2004 as well as being shown on RTE.

Spurred on by ambition, Steve then decided to go solo. He wrote a thriller called ‘Cannon Fodder’ and cast Sharon McCoy and Paul Gosper as the leads. He was delighted when two weeks later Sharon was nominated for the Irish Times Theatre Awards. The film was shot over an intensive two and a half days using Stevens’s grandmother’s house in Skibbereen, West Cork.

‘Cannon Fodder’ and ‘The Last Temptation of Hughie and Owenie’ were recently selected for the Los Angeles Short Film Festival.

‘Cannon Fodder’ was also one of seven selected for the Young Film-maker of the Year Award in the U.K and Ireland. He also conceived a couple of projects and documentaries with Dublin Corporation on the regeneration of the inner city with Paddy Mc Gauley, editor of ‘Link’ magazine.
His most recent work has been a video which was made to give information to the elderly on how to apply for housing. Sitting in the Westin Hotel recently, this young film maker told me he sees himself primarily as a storyteller using film as a canvas for his work.

While Stephen is quick to point out that behind his success there has been a huge amount of preparation and work, his ability to produce, direct, and oversee a project from beginning to end is a dream come true. He hopes to continue making more shorts and progress to feature films.

Stephen is also interested in collaborating with other producers and film makers on various projects.

For more information you can contact Stephen at 087- 1210473.