Wexford man’s short film set to premiere in the US

A Wexford man’s short film is set to premiere in the US…

New Ross local, Shane O’Connor, will see his short film ‘The Things We Do’ premiere in San Francisco, United States, on Friday.

Wexford native Shane had written ‘The Things We Do’ and also acted as the short-film’s director. The World Premiere took place at the The Galway Film Fleadh in July of this year.

“It was received really well in Galway. People coming up to me saying how they enjoyed it was surreal. A rep from the San Francisco Film Festival approached me and she was at the screening. She loved it and invited us to screen in the US on September 19th,” Shane told Wexford Weekly.

The short film covers the subject of gambling addiction. It follows the story of Paul, a loving father and husband, who struggles with a gambling addiction which then spirals out of control. His addiction jeopardises everything the family holds dear.

We caught up with Wexford man Shane to discuss the writing process involved, his motivations for writing a short-film on this topic, the feedback to date, and the process of securing funding from both The Gambling Awareness Trust and Screen Ireland.

“After experiencing a family member deal with gambling addiction, it stayed with me into my adult years. The memory of the struggle stayed with me. Four years ago, I started a photo series on the Irish film industry, photographing everyone from actors, directors, writers and more. It’s now the largest collection of its kind, Some include Barry Keoghan, Aidan Gillen, Claire Dunne, Fionnula Flannagan, Alison Oliver, Gabriel Byrne and more. I photographed an actor and we talked about filmmaking and they mentioned I should start writing scripts and so I did which led to The Things We Do being created,” Shane said.

For some, the writing process can be a difficult one. But for Shane, it came natural once he started – an element of writing that another Wexford author, Karl McGlone, had spoken about in a recent interview with Wexford Weekly.

“Before I started writing was the hardest part. Looking at the screen not knowing how to start, but once I did, it flowed out of me. You get in to a flow when your in it and it’s very therapeutic,” he said.

The short-film is set in New Ross and it’s a place that Shane knows all too well. Shane acted as the daily stills photographer and is credited in the camera and electrical department for the film Small Things Like These, a film based on Claire Keegan’s novel which gained global notoriety. The idea of not having to travel too far was just one motivating factor:

“The film was set in New Ross. I wanted to film in my hometown after working on Small Things Like These. It was nice to not have to travel far,” he told Wexford Weekly.

‘The Thigns We Do’ was funded by both The Gambling Awareness Trust and Screen Wexford. He proposed the short film idea to them – and they loved it:

“I applied for the 2024 Screen Wexford Bursary and received that. I contacted GAT and met with them with the script and budget and they loved the idea and they agreed to fund the film,” he said.

On Friday, September 19th, the short-film will premiere in the US. Highlighting that gambling addiction effects all walks of life, he is hopeful that it will be well-received by the audience in America:

“I hope it will be received well. Gambling addiction affects people globally, so if someone sees it in the US and it resonates with them then I’ve done a good job,” he said.

Writing and directing short-film is an achivement in itself. However, Shane is not one for taking plaudits – and instead, he is quick to highlight the bigger picutre, noting his motivations for completing the project in the first place – which was to help others:

“If anyone out there deals with gambling addiction, even a family member that lives with someone with the addiction they can reach out to gamblingcare.ie There are services out there that not only help the person with the addiction but the family also,” he said.

‘The Things We Do’ premiere in San Francisco, United States, on Friday 19th September.

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