LARA HICKEY

CEO & CREATIVE PRODUCER

LARA HICKEY is an award winning Irish producer with Copper Alley Productions, based in Dublin, and holds a First Class Honours MA in Creative Production and Screen Finance from the National Film School, IADT.  Lara has recently been nominated for the Galway Film Fleadh’s Bingham Ray Award at the 34th Galway Film Fleadh.

Lara produced the IFTA nominated BAINNE, directed by Jack Reynor and starring Will Poulter, in association with Sky Arts and Screen Ireland which won Best First Short at Galway Film Fleadh 2019, and that same year CYNTHIA, directed by Jack Hickey and starring Clare Dunne and Moe Dunford won the prestigious Tiernan McBride award for Best Short Drama, longlisting it for the Academy Awards. She has since gone on to produce four more short films and had her work selected internationally at over 65 festivals including Sitges Film Festival, Fantastic Fest and most recently with the Screen Ireland Focus Short LAMB by Sinéad O’Loughlin, which had its World Premiere at Tribeca Film Festival in New York; and BURN IT ALL written & directed by Jack Hickey, which had its world premiere at the 34th Galway Film Fleadh, where Lara was also nominated for the Bingham Ray new talent award.

Lara currently has four feature films in development with Screen Ireland for Copper Alley Productions, and is Co-Creative Director of X-POLLINATOR, with Co-director and founder Katie Holly (Blinder Films), a development initiative for female creative talent, funded by Screen Ireland, Creative Europe and the BAI. Lara is a member of the European Producers Club, Screen Producers Ireland, Women in Film and Television, European Women’s Audio-visual Network (EWA) and the Irish Film and Television Academy (IFTA).

JACK HICKEY

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Jack Hickey is an actor and award-winning writer and director based in Dublin. Jack made his debut short film as a writer/director in 2019. CYNTHIA, starring Clare Dunne (Kin, Herself) and Moe Dunford (Vikings, Dublin Murders), premiered at the 31st Galway Film Fleadh in July 2019 and won the prestigious Tiernan McBride Award for Best Short Drama, and the award for Best Short Film at the Irish Film Awards in London, selected by Lenny Abrahamson (Normal People, Room), and the Audience Award at the Irish Film Festa Roma in 2020. Jack’s most recent short BURN IT ALL (starring Toni O’Rourke and Deirdre O’Kane) premiered at the 34th Galway Film Fleadh, where it won The Donal Gilligan Award for Best Cinematography. It has also won Best Narrative Short at The Kerry International Film Festival, and will be embarking on its festival run in 2023.

Jack most recently starred in critically acclaimed Irish hit film SEA FEVER (Fantastic Films) directed by the BAFTA award winning Neasa Hardiman (Jessica Jones, Happy Valley) which premiered at Toronto International Film Festival in 2019 and screened at the Dublin International Film Festival in 2020.

He has appeared across two seasons of Netflix’s VALHALLA, and Showtime’s Emmy nominated gothic drama PENNY DREADFUL, starring Josh Hartnett and Eva Green. Other credits include: Game of Thrones (HBO), Is This Coercion? (BBC), Jericho (ITV), Rebellion (RTÉ), Emmerdale (ITV) Vikings (History Channel), Harry Wild (Acorn TV), and feature films Danny Boy, The Light of Day, and Mary Shelley, starring Elle Fanning.

Jack currently has two feature films in development with Screen Ireland.

JAMES HICKEY

CHAIR

James Hickey has recently completed two terms as CEO of Screen Ireland from 2011 to 2019. During his period as CEO, the agency funded many successful feature films and TV drama series, including the Academy Awards nominated feature films BROOKLYN, starring Saoirse Ronan, and ROOM, directed by Lenny Abrahamson, and the Golden Globes/Emmy nominated TV series NORMAL PEOPLE. Also funded by the agency during that period were the European co-productions, SONG OF THE SEA directed by Tomm Moore, THE LOBSTER directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and the three seasons TV series PENNY DREADFUL.

James is a leading expert in Ireland on the Irish Section 481 film tax credit. During his tenure, he was responsible for commissioning the Olsberg/SPI Report on the Economic Analysis of the Audiovisual Sector in Ireland which was published in 2018 and which led to the renewal of the Section 481 film tax credit in Ireland for a further five years from 2019 to 2024.

He is currently working as a consultant with the European Producers’ Club, is a member of the Film and TV Drama Committee of Screen Producers Ireland, a member of the board of directors of the Irish Music Rights Organisation, Deputy Chair of the Lir, National Academy of Dramatic Art at Trinity College Dublin and a member of the board of directors of the Galway Film Centre, which runs the Western Region Audiovisual Producers (WRAP) Fund and is the lead organisation for Screen Ireland’s Talent Development Academy for Television Drama.

Before he became CEO of Screen Ireland, James was a leading media and entertainment lawyer in Ireland and a partner in Ireland’s largest law firm, Matheson (formerly Matheson Ormsby Prentice) from 1992 to 2011. He was also Chairman of the National Theatre Society (the Abbey Theatre) from 1992 to 2001. His earlier work as a lawyer included the funding and production of  MY LEFT FOOT and THE FIELD both directed by Jim Sheridan, THE GENERAL directed by John Boorman, ADAM AND PAUL and GARAGE directed by Lenny Abrahamson, the four seasons TV series THE TUDORS and the distribution of ONCE directed by John Carney.

He is a member of the European Film Academy.

CONTACT

[email protected]