€30,000 Production Bursary Awarded and Immersive Stories: Conference & Exhibition curated by Eoghan Cunneen of Lucasfilm announced for the Audi Dublin International Film Festival 2018
Creative Director Aoife Doyle and Producer Niamh Herrity of Pink Kong Studios alongside writer Denis James Ryan were together awarded a bursary to a value of €30,000 by ADIFF, Screen Training Ireland & Audi Ireland to produce their virtual reality concept The Tundra which will premiere as part of Immersive Stories: Conference & Exhibition at the Audi Dublin International Film Festival 2018.
The award was made after a competitive pitching process at the Immersive Content Creation Event and Hackathon that took place in Dublin on 23rd & 24th September. The industry participants’ electric response to the event that featured keynote speakers such as VR pioneer and Head of Submarine Channel Michel Reilhac and Emmy Award-winning VR director Stefan Grambart demonstrates the excitement that new technological platforms and new forms of storytelling are generating in the Irish film, TV and media production sector. ADIFF TV has just released a video report giving a taste of the weekend and what’s to come in next year’s Audi Dublin International Film Festival.
ADIFF Festival Director Gráinne Humphreys said “In partnership with Audi, our title sponsor and Screen Training Ireland we’re proud to be at the forefront of mapping out new ways of imagining stories and experiences for new technological platforms. We were delighted with the high standard of competing projects for the bursary and we’re looking forward to seeing our winning project, The Tundra from Pink Kong Studios’, develop in the run-up to the 2018 Audi Dublin International Film Festival where it will premiere as part of our Immersive Stories: Conference & Exhibition. Curated by Eoghan Cunneen from Lucasfilm, this major new addition to the programme will bring a variety of keynote speakers and an interactive VR arcade.”
Richard Molloy, Head of Marketing and Product for Audi Ireland said: “Audi Ireland would like to extend its congratulations to the winning entry, The Tundra from Pink Kong Studios. We were particularly inspired by their creative interpretation of the project theme ‘25th Hour’ and very much look forward to the premiere of the virtual reality concept as part of the 2018 Audi Dublin International Film Festival. Furthermore, the high standard of all entries confirms Ireland’s exciting future in this emerging and expanding industry”
Aoife Doyle, Creative Director of Pink Kong Studios said “We’re over the moon to have had our piece The Tundra chosen as the winner of the ADIFF award for VR short. Virtual Reality is something we’ve been wanting to explore in the studio for some time. We’re super excited to now have the opportunity to create our first VR film with the support of the Audi Dublin International Film Festival and Screen Training Ireland.”
(Above L to R: Richard Molloy of Audi Ireland with the bursary-winning team from Pink Kong Studios Aoife Doyle, Denis James Ryan and Niamh Herrity.)
The winning concept responded to the theme set by Audi of the ‘25th Hour’, the hour many will gain due to the future arrival of self-driving cars. The judging panel included actor, filmmaker and photographer Hugh O’Conor on behalf of ADIFF, Emmy-award-winning VR director Stefan Grambart and Richard Molloy, Head of Marketing & Product, Audi Ireland.
Watch this video on ADIFF’s Immersive Stories: Conference & Exhibition
Screen Training Ireland is a long-term partner of the Audi Dublin International Film Festival. Their partnership has developed significantly with this project: together developing creative and innovative ways to address training needs within the screen sector. This collaboration will continue into ADIFF 2018 where Immersive Stories: Conference & Exhibition will benefit from Screen Training Ireland’s support and expertise.
Curator of the Immersive Stories: Conference & Exhibition, Eoghan Cunneen, is a Senior Software Engineer at Lucasfilm Ltd’s Advanced Development Group where he has worked on Star Wars: Trials on Tatooine and Alejandro Iñarritu’s highly acclaimed Carne y Arena, the first virtual reality experience to be included at the Festival de Cannes in May 2017. Eoghan is also the co-founder of the Irish VFX + Animation Summit and previously worked at Academy Award-winning visual effects studio Framestore where he worked on titles such as Gravity, Paddington,Robocop and Clash of the Titans.