A Look at the Production of the IFTA Awards

03 Jun 2015 | The Production Team behind this year’s ceremony

The 2015 IFTA Film & Drama Awards, presented by Caroline Morahan, took place last Sunday, May 24 and aired on Bank Holiday Monday on TV3. Here, we take a closer look at the production team behind this year’s ceremony.

25 awards were presented on May 24 marking achievements in the careers of producers, directors, writers, actors, and HODs, along with the Lifetime Achievement Award being presented to Jim Sheridan.

Speaking about this year’s ceremony, IFTA CEO and Executive Producer Áine Moriarty said:“On behalf of the Academy, I would like to extend our thanks to the fantastic production team for their superb work and for their professionalism. We have received great feedback from industry and attendees at the ceremony, and it is a credit to the production team.”

The Producer of this year’s show was Dolores Comerford while Associate Producers were Gary Flood and Tony Deegan. The Production Manager was Dee Keane with Observe and CAVS were the service providers.

Dolores Comerford is no stranger to working on the IFTA Awards having worked on previous Awards ceremonies in 2011, 2010 and 2004. Other credits of Comerford’s include ‘The Late Late Toy Show’, ‘Seoige and O'Shea’, ‘Celebrity Jigs & Reels’ and ‘When Dreams Come True’.

Speaking about this year’s ceremony Dolores said: “I am absolutely thrilled with how this year’s show went. It was definitely a gig well done, everyone performed fantastically and I think it undeniably hit a wonderful note with everyone in the industry.”

Associate Producer Tony Deegan also has a lot of experience working on entertainment shows with past credits including the ‘Irish Traditional Music Awards’, ‘You’re A Star’ and ‘Naked Camera’. Deegan is also a veteran producer of the IFTA Awards.

Gary Flood was working on his first IFTA Awards ceremony as Associate Producer but he has previously worked on well-watched Irish shows such as ‘The Play Next Door’ (as Series Producer), ‘Whose Holiday Is It Anyway’ (also as Series Producer) and ‘Take Me Out’ (as Associate Producer). Flood also brought his extensive experience as Script Editor, working closely with Scriptwriter John Henderson this year.

Speaking about his first IFTA ceremony, Gary said: “The night went like clockwork. The ceremony was bang on the money and it went exactly as we intended it to.”

Dee Keane was working on her first IFTA Awards ceremony this year but the Production Manager has an impressive pedigree when it comes to working on entertainment shows; past credits include TV3’s ‘The Algorithm’, ‘Crossfire’ and ‘Toyshow 2014’ as well as Sideline’s ‘Take Me Out’ and Animo TV and Kite’s hit show ‘Ireland’s Fittest Family’.

The production team were in safe hands with their service providers - Observe and CAVS. Outside broadcast company Observe provided all of the OB services and truck headed up by leading OB expert Alan Burns. Observe are one of the leading Outside Broadcast providers in Ireland and provide Host Broadcaster facilities in a wide range of areas including sport, light entertainment, news, state occasions and special events. Under the Screen Scene Group, they have recently landed a worldwide partner and owner when US-multinational company NEP bought them out; NEP being responsible year after year for delivering the world’s most watched sporting event, The Super Bowl.

Observe provided the truck, led by Bob Corkey in the Directors chair and Studio BCO Irene Hayden.

CAVS is one of Europe’s leading audio visual production providers, headquartered in Ireland. They provide top class audio visual services and some of the best production professionals in the business. Past credits of CAVS includes the BT Young Scientist Awards, the Meteor Awards and Websummit 2014. For the IFTA ceremony, CAVS were responsible all of the audio-visual elements for the show.

Anita Barrett designed the set at the Mansion House while Lighting Designer Andrew Leonard provided the lighting. The Floor Manager on the night was Tadgh de Brún while the Stage Manager was Orla Nic Cartaigh.

The TV3 one-hour special aired on Bank Holiday Monday. Presented by Louise Duffy and Eoghan Dogherty, the Executive Producer for TV3 was Andrew Byrne while Colin Cowman was the producer and director.

Jim Sheridan’s Lifetime Tribute was edited at Windmill Lane by John O’Connor; Alan Sullivan, assisted by Suzanne Blake, at EGG Post-Production produced all of the nominee packages, the VO was recorded at Ardmore Sound; Bob Caldwell at HOUSE edited the film trailers for the ceremony. Arron Ingles of Piranha Bar produced the graphics and visuals used across the show, including the opening sequence, commercial break graphics, and on-screen visuals.