大象传媒

"We are delighted to announce the Voices writers we have been working with in our Belfast hub this year. They are an incredibly talented, creative, and passionate group of writers and it has been such a pleasure to work with them all and see their skills and ideas develop over the course of the programme. Their enthusiasm and dedication have inspired us and we can鈥檛 wait to see what exciting things they鈥檒l do next!"

Heather Larmour, Commissioning Executive for 大象传媒 Drama and 大象传媒 Writers

Shane Callaghan

Shane is a screenwriter from Dublin. His first script - Irish Clodagh - placed in the top 1% of the 大象传媒's Open Call 2023. In addition to Irish Clodagh, he is currently developing another  TV series idea entitled Weirdo, specifically for the 大象传媒 Voices programme. As a writer, he enjoys tackling dark subject matters and trying to find the beauty and humour in them. Prior to becoming a screenwriter, he spent almost a decade in sports journalism and, alongside writing, proudly co-owns a small cleaning business in Dublin.

Paul Carey

Paul Carey is an award-winning screenwriter from Mid-Ulster. A graduate of the National Film and Television School鈥檚 Screenwriting MA, Paul's work often challenges and explores a range of political and social themes through an absurdist lens and a blend of comedy and horror. Starting out creating his own zero-budget short parodies, with his co-written/co-directed Noir parody winning the inaugural Cork Film Festival Award at the First Cut Youth Film Festival, Paul鈥檚 follow-up short work would be selected for various festivals around the world, including Palm Springs, POFF and Encounters.   

His writing on the Irish fantasy video game HARP SONG has been shortlisted for a Student BAFTA Award while his concept sitcom pilot CASUALS won Best Entertainment & Comedy Drama at the 2023 Student RTS Awards. Paul was also featured on the shortlist for Northern Ireland Screen鈥檚 2022 New Writers Focus and most recently was involved in the writer's room for Lisa McGee and Hat Trick Production鈥檚 upcoming Netflix series HOW TO GET TO HEAVEN FROM BELFAST. 

He is represented by Lily Williams and Mark Starling at Curtis Brown.

Patricia Downey

As a writer, Patricia has gained a reputation for authentic and provocative work, shedding light in some very dark places.  Her plays have toured Ireland and the UK and to the USA, Canada and Germany.   

She was part of Hedgebrook鈥檚 Writer-in-Residence Program in 2015 and received a bursary to attend the National Television & Film School鈥檚 Screenwriting for Film & TV course in March 2023.      

She has a particular interest in women鈥檚 stories and the female perspective 鈥� and an extremely dark sense of humour. 

Patricia鈥檚 first foray into screenwriting was in 2021,when she produced a series of short pieces about domestic violence under the heading 鈥淣o Boundaries鈥�, for a social media campaign by the Department of Justice (NI).  In 2023 she wrote, directed and produced her first short film, 鈥淓ight of Swords鈥�, which has garnered accolades from around the world, and now she is developing two storylines to pitch to TV companies. 

Rhys Dunlop and Alan Mahon

Rhys and Alan met in 2011 when training as actors at The Lir. They set up a theatre company together and produced four plays before falling in love with writing.

Their debut play LAD, a satire of toxic masculinity, sold out runs at Dublin Fringe Festival and London鈥檚 VAULT Festival. Their second play Be Home For Dinner was funded by the Arts Council and will premiere in Dublin in 2025.

Their 大象传媒 voices project The Asylum is about Steve, a retired footballer who starts work at a hotel housing asylum seekers and unwittingly gets involved with a mysterious woman and her struggle to pay a debt to some dangerous people. 

Rhys Dunlop is from Belfast and lives in Sheffield with his wife and daughter. His acting work has taken him from Belfast Lyric鈥檚 theatre to base camp on mount Everest.

Alan Mahon is from Dublin. His debut solo play A Young Man Comes was shortlisted for the Verity Bargate Award. 

Cassie Friel

Cassie Friel is an award winning writer and poet from Ireland. Her work has placed in the Austin Film Festival and the Cork International Film Festival. While writing she has worked in front of the camera on many projects, including Game of Thrones and The Northman. 

An avid reader, she has been writing novels since she was a teenager, mostly about love, blood and the importance of imagining others complexly.

Dale Leadon-Bolger

Dale Leadon-Bolger is an award-winning filmmaker from Wicklow. He was awarded funding from Screen Ireland for his short film WEIGHT under the Actor as Creator initiative, a film that he directed and produced, which will have its premiere at this year鈥檚 Galway Film Fleadh. This film is based on his pilot screenplay GALLOP, which earned him a place on this year鈥檚 大象传媒 Voices. 

Dale was commissioned by Virgin Media Television and Screen Ireland to produce and direct the documentary WHEN HORSES RUN, which looked at the mental health of Irish jockeys. Having broadcast, it subsequently played globally at festivals and was nominated for the Headline Mental Health Media Awards and won the Irish Consulate Award at the Chicago Irish Film Festival. 

Dale studied Drama and Performance Studies at The University of Galway - a course set up in conjunction with the Huston Film School. He then attended The Bow Street Academy for Screen Acting, where he now tutors. He holds a First Class Masters in Screenwriting from The National Film School, IADT, where he was Student of the Year in Screenwriting. 

Acting credits include RIPPER STREET (大象传媒), BAD SISTERS (Apple TV), REBELLION (RTE) and THE DRUMMER AND THE KEEPER (Element Pictures).

Caitlin Magnall-Kearns

Caitlin Magnall-Kearns is a writer from East Belfast who is passionate about telling new Northern Irish stories from underrepresented and unheard perspectives. Alongside Belfast Voices, Caitlin is currently part of the 大象传媒 Comedy Collective 2024. Having written two short commissions for 大象传媒 Radio 4 she is currently writing her first 44鈥� Commission for them with FABEL Productions. A New Playwright with the Lyric Theatre, Belfast in 2021, she has since had various short plays and monologues performed across the UK and Ireland in venues such as The Lowry, Camden People鈥檚 Theatre and Theatre 503. She is also currently a BAFTA Connect member and part of the Percolate development programme with Bewley鈥檚 Cafe Theatre, Dublin.

Anthony Moriarty

Anthony Moriarty is a screenwriter and filmmaker from Cork City. His screenwriting earned him selections on Channel 4鈥檚 prestigious 4Screenwriting, the 大象传媒 Voices program, and shortlists such as The Nicholl Fellowship (AMPAS), 大象传媒 Writers, and Oxbelly Labs (Lulu Wang, Barry Jenkins, Jen Blake). 

Anthony鈥檚 pilot scripts have been optioned by Warp Films and Double Dutch Production. He is developing a feature film with Screen Ireland and a series idea as a producer with Virgin Media Ireland. Anthony wrote, directed, produced, and starred in his Screen Ireland-funded short, 鈥業nherent,鈥� which premiered at Galway Film Fleadh and received selections and best film nominations nationally and internationally. 

Anthony began his career as an actor, working alongside Colin Farrell and John C. Reilly in Yorgos Lanthimos鈥� Oscar-nominated The Lobster. He went on to work in film, television, and theatre before becoming a screenwriter and filmmaker. United Agents represents Anthony as a screenwriter.

Claire Sullivan

Claire Sullivan is a Belfast-based writer with a background in theatre and radio. She was selected as one of Northern Ireland Office鈥檚 鈥�21 Artists for the 21st Century鈥� with her play DEAD ON and has written two dramas about mental health for 大象传媒 Radio 4, FALSE ALARM and CARRICK-A-REDE, in which she also performed. Additionally, Claire wrote for 大象传媒 Radio 4鈥檚 THE NEWS QUIZ.

After studying Scriptwriting and Performance at the University of East Anglia, where she specialised in screenwriting, Claire worked in both TV development and production. She is currently script editing on Lisa McGee鈥檚 upcoming Netflix series HOW TO GET TO HEAVEN FROM BELFAST.

Claire has eclectic taste in TV programmes and, while her writing naturally slants towards the comedic, she writes across both drama and comedy.  Claire鈥檚 comedy pilot Back Home earned her a place on 大象传媒 Voices. She is developing the rest of the series while also working on a psychological thriller, a comedy-drama and a sit-com.

Shannon Welby

Shannon is a screenwriter from the North West of Ireland. Her work includes being part of the writer's room for award-winning 大象传媒 drama 'Blue Lights', writing an episode of Cartoon Network series 'Goat Girl', and being a shadow writer on Kiwi-Irish thriller 'The Gone'. Last year nominated for Galway Film Fleadh's 'Bingham Ray New Talent' Award, Shannon's accolades include reaching the top 1% of 4,287 scripts for 大象传媒 Writersroom Open Call, development with RT脡 Storyland, Screen Ireland Spotlight TV Comedy, and Virgin Media Discovers Final 30. Shannon recently received a commission from 大象传媒 Comedy, 大象传媒 Northern Ireland and Hat Trick Productions for an original comedy short idea. Shannon enjoys writing both comedy and drama. Her mantra is 鈥榞ood collaboration, good manners, and good craic鈥�.