It's All Action for Cathy
With the new Irish language television show, Imeall Gael, currently being filmed in the Sean Hollywood Arts Centre in Newry, we caught up with assistant producer for the entertainment programme, Cathy Brady.
The 23-year-old, former student of Our Lady's Grammar School in Newry, is working for local production company, Big Mountain and she told us about her career and her work on the show that features some of the top Irish bands live on stage in the city centre venue.
"My background is in visual arts. I studied at the Southern Regional College in Newry, as it is known now." explains Cathy.
"I did my foundation studies there and then moved on to do a BA in Visual Arts in IADT in Dun Laoghaire and from there I moved into video. That was when I started to get a bit confused because I really loved this media experience but I don't know if I can go the art route with it. From there I was lucky enough to get experience in a feature film and I took a gap from college and since then I've worked in several features, shorts and I've also curated a contemporary art exhibition in Newry and that's when I realised that it actually was the media side of things that I was most interested in as opposed to the fine art.
"Big Mountain is my first television experience and for me it's been fantastic. It's a lot of hard work but it's really rewarding and it's fantastic to have my first media experience in Newry, which is unbelievable for me.” Cathy's enthusiasm for her work shines through and she told me just how happy she is with the role she plays in one of the first television shows to be filmed in Newry.
"It's unbelievable how suited this is for me because I have a big interest in music as well, so to actually get a media job that is based on music and in Newry is a dream come true for me, it truly is," said Cathy.
"The turnaround is so fast in this job. There is a build up of a month's work leading up to it and then when you are in the studio, you get to see all the work you have put into it with publicising it and getting people in and then seeing the bands in the studio. It's incredible to see your work turn over that fast. Even the features I've worked on, I still haven't seen yet whereas TV is so fast.”
While she says that there is plenty of hard work to be getting on with to produce Imeall Gael, Cathy feels that the sense of satisfaction that she gets in seeing the programme on air makes it all worthwhile.
"I think that once you gain any experience in the industry, the whole idea that film and TV is so glamorous does begin to wear off very quickly and it gets very real. But there is the reward of actually seeing something that you have worked on and people watching it make it all worthwhile."
"What I do is something that I'm passionate about. No matter what career you do, as long as you are passionate about it then it doesn't just become a job, it becomes more than work. You've got to do something you are passionate about because life is short and you've just got to go out there and live it."
Aside from working with Big Mountain, Cathy has been lined up to direct a music video for hotly tipped Carrickmacross band, The Flaws, next month. She will be filming the promo for the band's next single, 'Slow Dance', that will air on television screens in March, but before that, Cathy is concentrating on getting the public into the Arts Centre for the Imeall Gael show.
"I feel sometimes that I don't have enough time to do things. There is so much I want to do and so much that I still have to learn that I don't think I have accomplished that much. For where I want to go, I know that there is so much that I still have to do. When I finish a day's work, I do another day's work. I'm constantly working on things and I think it's my passion that gets me through when I'm tired because I really want it so bad that I work for it," she said.
"With getting people to an event like this it does sell itself but you have to get people as excited as you are about it. Once they see that, they will want to be part of that buzz. That's what I'm saying to everyone - to get off their bums and get out and see the show. It's worth coming to see and it's worth watching on television.
"People have to realise that if they want things like this to keep happening in Newry, then they have to get out and support it. You have to become involved and be part of it. Whether it's a big music event or another television series, it's these small stepping-stones that can potentially make a bigger, brighter future for Newry. We want people to get involved at every level, from audience members to those in the media and any young bands who are starting out. Sometimes you really have to work hard for it."
Anyone looking to become member of the audience for lmeall Gael can contact ig@bigmountainproductions.com or telephone (028) 30268719
For further information on Imeall Geal, go to www.bbc.co.uk/ni/ig or www.myspace.com/imealigeal
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