PROGRAMME 5
The Works Presents continues its series in which John Kelly meets key figures from the worlds of film, literature, music, theatre and the visual arts.
In the fifth episode of the series, John meets with acclaimed Irish film director, John Carney, to discuss his most recent box-office smash, ‘Sing Street’ as well as his eclectic career that has touched on all genres from music, television and film.
Always an artistic mind, John started his career as the bassist in much loved band ‘The Frames’ but he says he quickly knew that the realities of being in a touring band meant that a long term music career was not for him.
From his earliest movies such as ‘Park’ and ‘November Afternoon’, John reminisces on his career to date and discusses the difficulty on looking back on your work as you get older.
Throughout his career, John has worked with some of the biggest stars of the silver screen including Cillian Murphy, Keira Knightley and Mark Ruffalo. But he has also ventured into television with his RTE comedy series, ‘Bachelor’s Walk’. The hit series was something of a landmark moment for John as he found people across the country were laughing along with him – so much so that it is still something people ask him about today.
Perhaps John’s biggest success has been the Oscar winning movie ‘Once’. Created at a time when John was struggling to pay rent, he says he never expected it to be such a success and attributes everything that has happened because of it as ‘luck’.
With his two recent box-office successes, ‘Begin Again’ and ‘Sing Street’, featuring music as the key storyline, John talks about the importance of music in his life and it is clear that he has not totally left his early music career behind.
‘Sing Street’ has been described as the feel good hit of the year and is currently available on DVD and Blu Ray.