Holly is executive producer on Claire Dix’s SUNLIGHT, starring Barry Ward, which is currently in postproduction as part of Screen Ireland’s POV Scheme. Holly’s other film credits include Sophie Fiennes’ GRACE JONES: BLOODLIGHT AND BAMI, a documentary on the musical and fashion icon; THE QUEEN OF IRELAND, a documentary about accidental LGBT activist Panti Bliss; Laurent Larivière’s ABOUT JOAN, starring Isabelle Huppert and Lars Eidinger; Kieron J. Walsh’s THE RACER, starring Louis Talpe and Tara Lee; Chris Baugh’s BOYS FROM COUNTY HELL, which was selected for the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival and acquired by Shudder in North America; Mike Ahern and Enda Loughman’s EXTRA ORDINARY, starring Maeve Higgins and Barry Ward; Seamus Murphy’s A DOG CALLED MONEY, chronicling musician PJ Harvey’s journey through the creative process on one of her albums; and Chanya Button’s VITA & VIRGINIA, starring Gemma Arterton and Isabella Rossellini.
Holly was a “Producer on the Move” at Cannes, a former board member of Screen Ireland and former co-chair and founding member of Women in Film and Television Ireland. She is currently a member of the Irish Film and Television Academy, BAFTA, BIFA and the European Film Academy. Holly is also founder and co-creative director of X-Pollinator, a cross-disciplinary training and networking initiative for female creative talent.
Ones that surprise me, & that make me feel: whether that’s laugh, cry or be angry: the most vivid movie memories I have are always down to this.
Making a couple of shorts as part of my Masters in Film Studies in UCD – having not really contemplated being a producer or truthfully really even knowing what a producer did, I realised it’s the perfect marriage of so many things I love &/or am good at: stories, music, visuals, building & working in a team and the business/deal side too. It was a light bulb moment!
One of the great pleasure of producing is where it takes you, the people you meet & the sheer magic you can help create, but a few highlights are bringing Panti Bliss home to Ballinrobe to do her show just a week after the Marriage Referendum (she brought the house down), being not only producer but also promoter of two iconic sold out Grace Jones shows at the Olympia Theatre, shutting down Merrion Square one weekend to recreate the 1998 Tour de France for The Racer which is still the biggest shoot day I’ve ever done, & getting to visit & work in beautiful Aotearoa (New Zealand) for our latest production The Gone. Grace meeting Panti after I showed her The Queen of Ireland is particularly memorable: two absolute Queens!
I’ll never choose!
