Sheamus Smith, Greg Smith and guests at the Festival Club

244-01-J.jpg

Dublin Core

Title

Sheamus Smith, Greg Smith and guests at the Festival Club

Subject

Cork Film Festival, Festival Club, Sheamus Smith, Hillary O'Herlihy, Bill O'Herlihy, William (Bill) Harpur, RTÉ, Sheila Hampson, Greg Smith, Irish Film Board, Film Censor

Description

This is a black and white photo of festival guests at the Harp-sponsored festival club. The photo identifies the producer Greg Smith, William (Bill) Harpur, former film censor Sheamus Smith, Sheila Hampson, and Hillary O’Herlihy, the wife of Bill O’Herlihy. They are standing together, drink in hand, some smiling for the camera.

Sheamus Smith, wearing his distinctive glasses, stands on the left. Smith started working as a cameraman at the newly formed Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) in 1961 before becoming a producer and director with the station in 1963. The following decade he was appointed managing director of Ardmore Film Studios in 1975 and was instrumental in setting up the Irish Film Board. Most notably he was appointed Irish film censor and would go on to become Ireland's longest-serving film censor in the history of the State (1986-2002). He published his memoir Off Screen (Gill and MacMillan) in 2007.

The producer Greg Smith (1939-2009), in a light-coloured jacket, stands on the far right of the photo. Smith owned a talent agency in London where he signed on the Irish film-maker Norman Cohen with whom turned a series of risqué best-selling paperback books, by Christopher Wood, into a successful run of ‘confessions’ movies including Confessions of a Pop Performer (Norman Cohen, 1975), Confessions of a Driving Instructor (Claire Brough, 1976), and Confessions from a Holiday Camp (Norman Cohen, 1977). He went on to produce Stand up, Virgin Soldiers (Norman Cohen, 1977), starring his then-wife Lynda Bellingham who was also at the Cork Film Festival.

Hillary O’Herlihy was married to the Cork-born, Glasheen-raised, RTÉ television broadcaster, and Irish Film Board Chairman Bill O’Herlihy. O’Herlihy (1938-2015) was a household name best known for his sports coverage, along with co-presenters Eamon Dunphy and John Giles, on programmes such as Sunday Sport and Sports Stadium and in his time presented 10 FIFA World Cups and 10 Summer Olympic Games. He was a keen cinephile and brought this to his work at the Irish Film Board. O’Herlihy promoted the film industry and in particular, was keen to develop filming in rural Ireland. He also worked for some time as PR for the Cork Film Festival where he emphasised the focus on Irish film. (Niamh Horan, ‘Bill O’Herlihy: I lost millions from life savings’, Irish Independent, 28.04.2013.)

Creator

University College Cork, Cork Film Festival, Donal Sheehan

Source

Cork Film Festival Collection

Publisher

University College Cork

Contributor

Donal Sheehan

Rights

©Donal Sheehan. All rights reserved. Please credit Cork International Film Festival & provide a link back to this site.

Format

Photo
TIFF
JPEG

Language

English, eng

Coverage

Cork, Ireland

Still Image Item Type Metadata

Original Format

Photo

Physical Dimensions

212 x 163mm

Collection

Citation

University College Cork, Cork Film Festival, Donal Sheehan , “Sheamus Smith, Greg Smith and guests at the Festival Club,” Cork International Film Festival Archive, accessed November 9, 2024, https://corkfilmfest.ucc.ie/items/show/280.