Interview with Award Winning Director Noel Brady

Thursday, October 31st, 2013 at 3:56 pm | News & Events

1. Did you always want to work in the film business?

Oh yes, ever since I was just a little kid going to see you movies, I knew it’s want I wanted to do. Like a lot of people of my era, I grew up with a little known movie called ‘Star Wars’. As a kid I was fascinated with special effects, camera, editing and the whole process in telling story through film. Little did I realize how much there was to learn, and even to this day, and I’m sure way into the future, those lessons will continue.

2. How did you start off in the business?

My very first job was as camera assistant on a feature film called ‘The Ritual’, now this was way back in 1999. After five years of college I learned that the reality of film making can be very different from the glamorous notion of what film making is perceived to be. It can mean very long days sometimes twelve or fifteen hours and on this particular production it was just work experience, no pay. But I have to say I learned a great deal from working on that production. After that I was in RTÉ as a production assistant and from there I went free-lance and found my way in to post production and editing. I now have my own production company called ‘Phoenix Artz’ where I produce all manner of productions from corporate to promotional videos.

 

3. Any tips for aspiring directors/film makers?

As far as tips go, if there’s a movie you love, learn everything you can about it. Ask yourself why does the movie work so well for me, is it the story, the acting, the directing? And when you think you might have found some of those answers to those questions, just go out and do it. Technology has moved on so much nowadays that films can be made relatively cheaply. And there is no better teacher than experience, so just do it, and do it a lot. When I look at any of the film makers or artists that have inspired me, the one thing they share in common is their dedication and perseverance. I had made forty short films with my friends before I made what I would consider my first proper short film in 2005 which was called ‘Movers and Shakers’.

 

4. Favourite actor?

Now that’s a hard one, and I would be hard pushed to pick just one actor, there is so many great actors to choose from. You have greats like Michael Caine, DeNiro, Judi Denche, Spencer Treacy, Jodie Foster, Gary Oldman, I mean the list just goes on. However perhaps Robin Williams would be a big favorite of mine, and perhaps not an obvious one in the canon of great actors and maybe one that gets looked over a little. I mean you’re going from comedy in ‘Mork from Ork’ to a killer in ‘Insomnia’ and back to comedy again with ‘Mr’s Doubtfire’. Then in the middle of that you have ‘One Hour Photo’ where he portrays a very complex and twisted character, but yet somehow not the straight forward ‘bad guy’.  And of course lets not forget ‘Good Will Hunting’, yeah I think this is a pretty good actor.

 

5. Favourite director?

Once again this would be a hard one. I would have to start with the obvious and mention Mr Lucas, it’s where it all started for me, and again and not at all a surprise would be Mr Spielberg. These two giants have not only made great movies but have contributed and influenced how film is made today. Going back further, I would have to go with the Master, Alfred Hitchcock. To me Hitchcock was an absolute genius and paved the way for the likes of Lucas and Spielberg. Coming more up to date I would have to mention M.Night Shyamalan, which is a film maker that is, by some people really criticized, but is one I really admire for his great ability to tell story through the film.  

6. Favourite film?

Where do I begin, again too many to mention really. Going back to older movies, we have the ‘Twelve Angry Men’, ‘The Quiet Man’, coming a little more forward in time, ‘Easy Rider’ ‘Star Wars’, ‘Jaws’ , ‘The Crow’ and coming right up to date, we have ‘Tree of Life’ and even this year ‘Les Misérables’. Almost impossible to pick just one movie, there are far too many movies that I both love and feel inspired by.

7. Who has been the most influential person in your life so far?

There would be no one person in my life that I feel that I could say that they have being the one person to fill that role.  Influence, encouragement and inspiration for me comes from many different places. Sometimes from people I know a very long time and have influenced me on a personal level, others like the film makers I have mentioned in my previous answer whom I’ve never met, and yet influence me greatly.

8. Earliest memory?

As far as film making goes, my earliest memory would be as a little boy staring in the window of ‘Halls Cameras’ a camera shop in Talbot street. I can vividly remember looking at this camera and thinking, ‘If I could just get that I could make my own Star Wars’.  I didn’t know it at the time but what I was looking at was a ‘Super 8 cinecam’ camera, remember this is the late seventies. Anyway many years would go by before I would eventually get my first camera which was a ‘Video 8’ video camera. The rest as they say is history.  

 

9. What would be your idea of the perfect day?

A perfect day for me is that feeling you get at the end of that day just knowing that you’ve gotten the most out of that day, and giving the most to that day. At the risk of sounding like some self help book, it’s all about felling alive and not just having chalked up another day. And I think it’s what you do with your day that makes it perfect or not. Other than that, lounging on some tropical beach with no one else but the people you love in your life wouldn’t be so bad either.