Young Women in Film & TV 2020

Cathy Brady is a two-time IFTA-winning director, having won Best Short in 2011 for her first film Small Change and again in 2013 for Morning, which was also selected for the BFI London Film Festival 2012 and won the Short Film Nominee prize for the European Film Awards at Cork Film Festival.

In 2011, Brady directed the BIFA nominated short Rough Skin (written by Laura Lomas and starring Vicky McClure) as part of Channel 4's Coming Up scheme. Her short film, Wasted, competed at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2013. In the same year, Brady was named one of Screen Daily’s ‘Stars of Tomorrow’.

In 2014, Brady directed on the BAFTA-nominated drama-thriller series Glue. Most recently, Brady directed Stefanie Preissner's TV comedy series Can’t Cope/Won’t Cope for Dead Pan Pictures and RTE, which is currently showing on BBC Three. Her debut feature as writer-director, Wildfire, is currently in development, and will be produced by Carlo Cresto-Dina (The Wonders, Cannes Grand Jury Prize 2014) along with Cowboy Films.

Vanessa is currently a lecturer at the NFS, IADT with a Liberal Arts degree from University of Limerick and has a MA in Screenwriting. In her professional practice, she worked on the feature documentary ‘The 34’ as co-director and producer – winning Audience Award & Spirit of the Festival at GAZE 2017. She is also the first recipient of the Tyrone Guthrie Film Bursary award. She wrote and directed an Arts Council of Ireland project ‘ The Abandoning’, winning Best Short Film’ at the Sky Road Film Festival and received special mention at the Indie Cork Film Festival along with Highly Commended at the Belfast Film Festival. Vanessa wrote and directed a short documentary ‘The Beast’ produced by Andrew Freedman for award winning film company, Venom. She has also worked extensively for Loopline Film on a variety of documentary projects, series including feature documentaries ‘John Ford – Dreaming The Quiet Man’ and ‘Jimmy Murakami – Non Alien’ winner of the Best Film Award at the Sacramento Film Festival. Recipient of three IFTA nominations she wrote and directed a Screen Ireland (formerly Irish Film Board) funded short film ‘The White Dress’ which won best short film awards at the Foyle, Belfast & Geneva Film Festivals as well as awards at the Galway Film Fleadh, Kerry Film Festival.

Anna Merritt graduated in May 2012 from the National Film School at Dun Laoghaire Institute of Design and Technology with an MA in Screenwriting. She has a feature script, called CHARLIE'S HENS, currently in development with the Irish Film Board. Anna is from London and worked for a several years in the UK film and TV industry, reading scripts for Renaissance Films, DNA Films and Working Title. She then worked in Company Pictures before moving to Ireland in 2001. She read for BBC Northern Ireland and RTE while completing the Development Executive Traineeship with Screen Training Ireland. She worked for Subotica Entertainment from 2003 – 2006, script-editing PROOF, a 4 x 1 hour drama series for RTE that aired in January 2004, and PROOF 2 that aired in March 2005. She was also the script editor and development executive on SMALL ENGINE REPAIR, Niall Heery’s directorial debut and on DAISY CHAIN written by Lauren Mackenzie and directed by Aisling Walsh, during this time. In 2007, she worked as script editor on the 5th series of The Clinic for RTE.

Deirdre O’Toole studied film making in the National Film School (NFS) at the Institute of Art, Design & Technology (IADT). Her work as a cinematographer, has been screened in many international film festivals and broadcast on national and international television. Deirdre has also had photographs published in the national press. Deirdre currently works as a lecturer in the NFS at IADT. She has given guest lectures and tutored at University College Dublin and the University of Staffordshire. Deirdre is currently a PhD candidate.

Rebecca Roper is a lecturer at the NFS in IADT.  Her professional practice as casting director informs her work in the NFS. Rebecca trained as an actor and in the past also managed a theatre company. She has worked on several successful box office movies:  'Batman Begins', directed by Christopher Nolan, 'Alexander' directed by Oliver Stone, 'Arthur and the Invisibles' directed by Luc Besson, 'Peter Pan' directed by P.J. Hogan, 'The Actors' directed by Conor McPherson, 'Shrooms' directed by Paddy Breathnach, and 'Patrick's Day directed by Terry McMahon.

Having started her career producing TV commercials with the likes of David Fincher and Ken Loach, Jean has been working in the film and television industry for more than thirty years.  She has worked extensively in both fiction and non-fiction in development and production.  She is currently at lecturer at the IADT’s NFS and is the Chair of the BA in Film and Television program as well as the Programme Co-ordinator for the MA in Creative Production + Screen Finance at IADT.