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THE STRATOSPHERIC SUCCESS of Irish television drama Normal People was confirmed yesterday when it was announced it was nominated for four Emmys.
The adaptation of Sally Rooney’s popular novel has seen Emmy nods for the lead actor Paul Mescal, director Lenny Abrahamson, Louise Kiely for casting and Alice Birch and Rooney, herself, for writing.
For Abrahamson, it’s the latest accolade to come his way, building on a stellar career to date.
The Dublin-born director’s early career was characterised by Irish-set films such as Adam and Paul, Garage and What Richard Did – all three of which netted him Irish Film and Television Awards.
These were followed by more international acclaim for the likes of Frank and Room, the latter of which earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Director. His success isn’t confined to the Big Screen, however.
Normal People arguably stands as one of his biggest successes to date, but the first time one of his works hit our small screens may come as a surprise to some.
Abrahamson was actually the director behind some of the famous Carlsberg ads of the early 2000s – such as the iconic pre-World Cup 2002 ad where Ireland won the whole thing with Jason McAteer scoring the winner in the final.
He told the Irish Times in 2007 that the McAteer ad was his best but he also liked the one “where the guys are going to a nightclub and looking really scruffy, and the one with the catch line about Carlsberg not doing flatmates, but if they did they would be the best flatmates in the world”. (Rewatching this advert has made me shudder thinking of how much a room in that place would cost to rent now.)
Another TV project of Abrahamson’s – that is perhaps overlooked – of the mid-2000s was an RTÉ series called Prosperity.
Released in September 2007 – at the height of Celtic Tiger hubris – it told the story of four people on the fringes of Irish society over the course of a single day.
Screen Scene / Vimeo
Going against the idea that “all of us partied” at this time, it looks at people as they struggle to cope with the difficult situations they find themselves in due to social circumstances and other factors.
Abrahamson said at the time: “We made Prosperity to show that there are people who have been very much left behind by the changes that have happened in Ireland.
And we’re not saying those changes are all bad – neither of us are that naïve. In many ways they’ve been fantastic and many people have benefited. But there is a huge section of society that hasn’t and they rarely get talked about.
While Prosperity netted the director another IFTA, it wasn’t until his later films that Abrahamson’s stock rose to the heights it has since reached.
The success of Normal People is very much an Irish success with Abrahamson at the helm and funding from Screen Ireland. Like many of his previous projects, Normal People was Irish-funded with Irish talent at the core both in front of and behind the camera.
Across the world, audiences tuned in to see how the complicated relationship between Connell (Paul Mescal) and Marianne (Daisy Edgar-Jones) developed as they left school and went to university.
The show’s portrayal of sex was praised, as were the strong performances from the two leads.
Dr Annie Doona, the chair of Screen Ireland, told TheJournal.ie that there is a strong sense of pride in what this show has been able to achieve, and it was built on a solid grounding for many involved.
She said: “Key Irish talent were involved in the show at every level, and this creative talent -from casting to cinematography – has cut their teeth on Irish productions over the years, developing skills that are internationally recognised around the world.
Lenny’s career has of course gone from strength to strength, and we are delighted to have been able to support him from the very early stages of his career.
Dr Doona said investment in creative talent in the early stages of an artist’s career pays huge dividends and Abrahamson’s work is an example of that happening.
“Not only in terms of their own progression but also from the perspective of the return we get from him nationally – from our enjoyment of the work created, the national conversations it creates, and the worldwide profile given to our beautiful filming locations,” she said.
But is the future positive for Irish-set TV and film now – even post-Covid – to follow on from what’s gone before?
Screen Ireland’s chair said: “Earlier this year we announced increased funding for TV production and we also recently appointed a TV Project Manager. Andrew Byrne is the first person to hold this position in Screen Ireland and he will work across TV drama and TV animation projects supported by Screen Ireland, from initial concept and development stage through to production.
We have had strong TV successes in the past, but the way in which people are consuming content has changed rapidly and the global appetite for high-end, original TV drama is at an all-time high, so we are keen to ensure that we do what we can to support Irish creative talent to realise their potential in that area.
Covid-19, however, remains the elephant in the room when it comes to progress and Screen Ireland is hoping increased funding can help to support the sector going forward.
Dr Donna said: “Last month we launched a €1 million COVID-19 Production Fund, which is designed to partially offset additional production costs associated with implementing the new guidelines, and the Department of Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht last week committed to a pilot Performance and Production Support Package, €5 million of which will be allocated to the audiovisual industry, as well as an additional €3 million in TV Drama funding.”
With TV productions here now able to resume under public health guidance, the industry is hoping that the success of Normal People – and of its popular director – can be replicated into the future.
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Cos Trump supporters are easily led cult followers, that’s it.
@Pete Crosbie: An example of the intolerant left
@Vic Vinegar: No one is required to tolerate the behavior of others when it harm’s or puts 3rd parties at risk. Like in a pandemic.
@Vic Vinegar: Right Wingers: literally putting the lives of thousands at risk by blocking access to hospitals in the midst of a pandemic where the US has more deaths than anyone else.
Left Winger: Stop that it’s moronic
Right winger: SO MUCH FOR THE TOLERANT LEFT!!
@Keith O’Reilly: you’re easily led by the sounds of it
@Vic Vinegar: so anyone who criticises Trump supporters are the intolerant left. I’m criticising them, not because I’m part of the left, but because there dopes. As Trump himself said in people magazine in 1998, if he ran for president he would do so as a republican, as they are stupid and believe everything they see on Fox News. But hey Viv, you keep doing what you’re doing, you never know someday you might formulate an informed opinion all on your own.
@Chyippo: 1) The US has more deaths than any other country because the figures coming out of bigger countries cannot be trusted, e.g. China!
2) The US is actually doing better than a host of European countries including IRELAND! Why dont you vent your anger closer to home!
@Vic Vinegar: troll alert!
@JackSimpson: but you can trust this guy..
February 26, 2020. President Trump: “When you have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down close to zero, that’s a pretty good job we’ve done.”
“We think and we hope, based on all signs that the problem goes away in April” February 13th
There are now 771.000 cases and over 41,000 deaths.
Did any other world leader run their mouth like that and grossly underestimate the threat to this degree ?
@Diaspora’d: 1) DT did underestimate the problem along with most world leaders, heathcare officials (including Fauci on multiple occasions), WHO, etc. If we can no longer trust DT as he underestimated the issue, are you saying that we no longer trust the WHO, most other world leaders and health officials who also underestimated the problem?
2) “We think and we hope, based on all signs that the problem goes away in April” February 13th – In hindsight, it was not an accurate prediction. The comment was from Feb and a lot has happened since. Lets look at what happened back in Jan and Feb. Due to China’s slow response, the world really didn’t know anything about this until Jan 7th when it was named. The first confirmed case of CV in the US was Jan 21st. On Jan 21st Fauci (one of the worlds leading experts on this) said that the virus was not a major threat to the ppl of the US and is not something ppl should be worried about now. On Jan 23rd, Fauci said that there was no chance in the world that the US could shut down US major cities like they did in China. On Jan 26th, he said again that this is not something the US ppl should worry about. Virus task forced annouced on Jan 29th. China flight ban announced on Jan 31st. Meanwhile, the dems and their mob in the media are still embroiled in the impeachment hoax. On the same day as DT announced the travel ban, Fauci said, we still have low risk to the US public. On Feb 1st, Biden said DT was fearmongering. On Feb 5th, an NYT headline “Who says it is not safe to travel to China” – the CV travel ban is unjust and does not work anyway. On Feb 6th, Biden calls DT xenophobic. On Feb 7, Pelosi calls DT racist + tells people to go out and visit Chinatown. On February 17th, Fauci called the risk of CV in US as minuscule – skip mask and wash hands. On March 9th, Fauci said that going on a cruise is okay if you are healthy.
3) “There are now 771.000 cases and over 41,000 deaths.” The US is not doing great but there are many countries doing worse, most in Europe, yet no criticism of them! I can only think of 2 reasons for all the Trump bashing: i) Ratings and/or ii) Trump is an anti-globalist. As of today, the US is on 126 deaths per 1 million ppl vs 503 in Belgium, 446 in Spain, 399 in Italy, 310 in France, 243 in UK, 219 in Netherlands, 165 in Switzerland, 156 in Sweden and 139 in IRELAND. On the testing front (tests per million), the US is doing okay too at just over 12,000 tests per 1 million, ahead of many European countries.
@JackSimpson: you missed the point.
Trump really went out of his way to downplay the threat to such an extreme degree that he made ludicrous statements that were so way off the mark.
@JackSimpson: Keep taking the tablets they may eventually work
Sort of ironic to see the protesters showing ‘Freedom banners’ and protesting the restrictions ….while wearing face masks.
@Honeybee: I’d say let them at it if it only impacted themselves… but they could end up causing the death of someone innocent. And I say innocent because someone trying to abide by the restrictions and reduce the load on the health system is innocent. Fair play to the nurses and doctors who showed up to block them. Let them work a shift in a hospital and then see if they feel the same.
@Honeybee: and assault weapons … to much violence to kill a virus
I think Darwin would have had serious problems applying his theory of evolution to modern day America.
@sally: well in some millions of years probably if they survive they will evolve in something similar to another kind of ape …
@sally: these are only the Fringe elements. The numbers are shockingly low if your aTrump supporter. The vast majority of ppl are adhering to the guidelines and 2/3s of Americans believe Trump acted too slowly. Why was he elected? The hate vote and the unforeseen Donkey vote ! Hope the donkeys have learned their lesson.
Trump is a fan because he sees everything as a popularity contest. It is amusing seeing some of these protestors in full ppe
@Bennett blaster: Trump is the biggest narcissist in human history … although he seems to be not human
Trump is the best thing that happened that Country .. Roll on 4 more years
@Maurice O Neill: Roll more of your powerful wacky backy..
@Maurice O Neill: i ws gonna ask you for even one example of how the US is better today than when he took office but I couldn’t care less in engaging in a discussion with a moron so jog on ya fool.
@Dave Hammond: My shares in a US company went up by 45 per cent
@Maurice O Neill: 45%…Thats very good, even Trumps approval rating is not that high
“One of the protesters, talk show host Ian Freeman, said: “Even if the virus were 10 times as dangerous as it is, I still wouldn’t stay inside my home. I’d rather take the risk and be a free person.””
This just sums it up. There is no defending this. Some in the US just will not listen to reason if they think it impinges on their FREEDUM
@Terrence Edwards: the refrain is “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness”
Notice that “Life” come first?
These protestors are putting that in danger.
Wish Trump and Pence would join them on the protest lines without a face mask and then tell them that there is nothing to worry about.
Because there are a lot of ill informed people out there and not only in the USA .
The simple answer to the question in the headline is their president is a muppet.
Pence is a slimy character.
Americans are getting just a one-off payment of $1200 and this won‘t go far if you are out of work for weeks/months on end. Easy to call them dumb Americans but maybe they are worried about putting food on the table and paying their bills
@Newto2016: Maybe they shouldn’t have voted for Trump then. It’s kind of tragic that these same people will vote for him again.
@Johnny 5: but Trump has been good for their economy?
@Newto2016: Yes . They call themselves the greatest nation in the world but they have an inadequate medical system , if you are not filthy rich , and an inadequate social welfare system . A third world country could do better . !!!!
@Chewey Bacca: How is Trump better for their economy except causing all the US companies losing revenues from trade wars and having to spend more on sourcing manpower and raw materials? And even if the economy was better as you said, have the American people been distributed with more wealth and benefits? Reality is they can’t even get a test for Covid??!
@Mary Mc Carthy: You’re flat out wrong. The vast majority of Americans have health insurance either through their employer, privately, through the VA or through a government programme like medicare or medicaid etc. Standards of care far surpass anything that exists in Ireland and this is reflected in the fact that the US has the highest cancer survival rates, survival after heart attack, stroke etc. Trauma care is second to none. Access to novel therapies, imaging, new forms of surgery etc are better than any other country. They have the best managed, resourced and innovative hospitals in the world. The reality is that the world benefits hugely from American innovation in health care – virtually every medical innovation in the last 80 years has come from the US medical system and they are the biggest funders of research world wide. The notion that its only for “the filthy rich” is simply not true. Also, its worth pointing out that the standard of living of the poor in the US in PPP is higher than the equivalent standard of living of the middle class in most of the world – including in many European countries. So to say a third world country could do better so way off the mark. That’s why its so hard to get a Visa btw, there’s no shortage of people trying.
@Damon16: High standard PPE doesn’t stop ya from getting infected does it? With all the time wasted trying to get “high standard” tens of thousands of medical workers are being told to use bin bags and scarfs for protection???
@Damon16: I live in the U.S. My co-worker’s Wife has a blood conditioning and went in for a routine screening and treatment two months ago. She was in there for four whole hours and got a bill for &10,000. This is happening all over the country. The health plans in place aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on. A lot of money was spent by the medical industry to prevent Clinton getting in and continuing Obamacare . Trump came in and dismantled it, giving two Trillion back to the fat cats.
@Damon16: with many health insurance plans in the USA you have to pay thousands out of pocket before insurance kicks in. When I worked in insurance here, I had a few times where I spoke to people in America arranging cover for a parent living here. They were genuinely surprised that you could get full cover in all hospitals in Ireland for (at the time) less than €6000 a year, with no deductible/out of pocket payments. A few of them expected that to be the monthly figure.
Also, a huge amount of medical knowledge we have today is based on human experiments carried out by nazis on those in concentration camps.
@Damon16: Why do you deliberately misconstrue the topic. True the top tier of health insurance does provide all those lovely health benefits for the select few. That is not a health system. The overall health system in the USA is on a par with many poor countries. The ordinary workers in shops and restaurants have poorer health outcomes because they either cannot afford to be insured or the insurance cover they have is so basic. Where it really matters births and deaths. The US has a high level of deaths per thousand births than most poorer European countries and a lower median age of death for males and females. Thats despite the fact that in the US spending is far higher.
@Newto2016: I’ve been furloughed in Minnesota, I get half my wage in unemployment plus a $600 a week covid top up and the 1200, I’m still afloat and many folks are too. Don’t belive everything you read in the papers.
@Damon16: The US has many good points if you can afford the health insurance. There are also drawbacks as the US has a problem with obesity. Yes it is also a problem in many other countries but it is particularly bad in the USA among people of all ages. https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/quality-u-s-healthcare-system-compare-countries/
@Newto2016: In addition, what effect will a destroyed economy have on the health and wellbeing of US citizens!
@Damon16: yes here in the US we do have one of the worlds best health care… if you can afford it. The VA is veterans only but many want to be treated at private institutions due to geographic access, even though they get good care. Oh and the reason there many more people who have access to same basic health insurance is because of the Affordable Health Care Act, yes millions of ppl who otherwise wouldn’t. Oh and Trump wants to end that bc it is an Obama era program. He says he has a bigger and better program but there’s nothing beyond that! His plan is probably “Don’t get sick, but if you do hurry up and die”.
@JackSimpson: might die is a better option than will die
@Seriousnojoke: l think that was sarcasm. …
Murica, what else.
@Rob: What do you base that on? Most Americans are very sensibly staying in, washing their hands to surgical standards and staying alive. A handful of tiny groups out shouting about their frustrations isn’t all of the people. Two-thirds at least are well-informed and independent enough to do the right thing by others.
Because they are thick as planks . Personally I do not care if they get sick or not but I do care that they can pass it on to vulnerable people . They are selfish moronic idiots with no empathy or compassion …. much like their leader !
Like their objections to gun control they care about more than their amendments , words written on paper , than human lives !!!!!
They should be warnings on every border into the US … ‘ Enter at your own risk ‘ ……
@Mary Mc Carthy: 10000% agree!
Because Americans by nature are self entitled insufferable know it alls. They think they know best and one hint of the ‘rights’ being infringed on they throw their toys out of the Pram.
Easily the most ignorant and uneducated nation in the world.
I’ve lived in Minnesota for the last 5 years, it’s very like home, population wise and attitude wise. A couple of hundred eejits outside the governor’s residence doesn’t indicate anything other than a couple of hundred eejits wanted a day out. The majority of folks think that Governor Walz is doing a good job, in the current climate. The media loves to paint a sweeping generalisation that yanks are thick, not true. Just like all us Paddys are not alcoholics who sing top o’ the mornin to ya. Media = drama.
@Ali Fortune Harris: You’re right. Media = entertainment. Their advertising income has fallen, so any news is a bonus to the media. I worry that it makes the media more vulnerable to the influence of vested interests who are promoting this suicidal notion of going out and about. Reassuring to read that at least 66% of North Americans are sensible, and well-informed. They’ve probably read this National Geographic article on how the 1918 pandemic spread in assorted US cities:
Because dumb is infectious and De Vos pays for it to happen.
Cause the brain cell that there all using has left – let’s hope Darwinism will sort till all out
@The Red Devil: they belong to that kind of apes that has 2 neurons 1 open their eyes and the other one close it, so when they are talking as their stupid president, they are deaf, forget that they think, … impossible
The anti-Trump looneys are out in force today!
The thing in America there doesn’t appear to be a safety net for people who live there, and that’s why they are desperate to get back to work !
Maybe cause their never was a government gave back power after it done with whatever war. Excuse of the moment.
Because Americans are Thick
To remain at home in order to stop a disease that could kill everybody is seen by these stupid people as a threat to their freedom, and in order to impose their ideas they need assault weapons???? This is really sick..
@Jose Luis: The country is at war with this virus, the equivalent is being in a bomb shelter and protesting that you have the right to go outside while bombs are dropping from sky.
@Diaspora’d: No, that’s not the equivalent. If you go outside of the bomb shelter it’s only yourself that will get hurt or killed. During a pandemic you are risking the lives of other people too.
@John Scott: t
@John Scott: they’re insisting that the bomb shelter doors are open
Because they’re morons listening to a moron!
No explanation needed, some Americans are ignorant morons.
@Raymond Dennehy: They really really are…
These protests are politically motivated to deflect from Trumps disastrous handling of the crisis. The protests in Virginia are sponsored by a group funded Betsy De Vos Trumps evil and obnoxious education secretary who is trying to destroy the public education system in the US. All Republicans are evil, special place in hell for them
Because they’re stupid!
Take it from this American ex-pat… they really are that stupid and ignorant en-masse.
@Todd Hebert: and another one right here. I shake my head every day over what’s going on
10 – 14 days from now these people will start to see why they should have stayed indoors
have your say