PERSONAL PROFILE
Fiona Ashe is an award-winning Director, who has completed five short films and three musical theatre DVDs. She has been commissioned by the Irish Film Board, sold a film to RTE and won an international award. Her work is endorsed by many renowned directors, including Mark W Travis and Jim Sheridan. She has several feature-length film & TV dramas in development (in English and Irish), and is keen to hear from producers seeking new collaborations.
CAREER HISTORY
Fiona holds a Diploma in Advanced Film Directing from the New York Film Academy. While in NYC, Fiona directed a 16mm short film, ‘Shades of Gray’. It was screened in 6 international festivals, at the Irish Film Institute and was bought by RTE. It was named Best Film Noir at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival in 2003 and was described by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Jim Sheridan as “very well directed”.
Fiona recently completed ‘The Actor and Director in Rehearsal and Performance: A Collaborative Relationship’ training under the direction of renowned Hollywood director, Mark W. Travis (creative consultant on ‘Men of Honor’, director of ‘Family Ties’). She’s currently rehearsing with the Alumni group from this course.
Her latest film, ‘Rapunzel – The Blonde Years’, was commissioned under the Irish Film Board’s Virtual Cinema 1 Scheme. This medieval comedy – which echoes the style of ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’ – has already secured distribution and has screened at three festivals.
Fiona’s digital short film, ‘I Love You Suzie’, received its world premiere at the Boston Irish Film Festival 2007. In 2008, she completed ‘Save Tara Valley’, about a human aerial art project on the Hill of Tara opposing the construction of the M3 motorway through the historic Tara Valley. The film features Irish Hollywood star, Stuart Townsend.
Fiona’s first 16mm short film, ‘Look My Way’, centred on the struggle for independence of a disabled woman. It grew out of Fiona’s experiences of working for a progressive voluntary organization alongside Christian O’Reilly, who went on to write the story for ‘Inside I’m Dancing’.
Fiona was selected for the first ever Berlinale Talent Campus in February 2003 – a winter film academy which brought 500 filmmakers from 61 countries together on the fringes of the prestigious Berlin Film Festival. It included director’s masterclasses taught by Wim Wenders, Anthony Minghella, Mike Figgis, Stephen Frears and Spike Lee.
Fiona has worked as a news and current affairs producer with TV3 and also in the independent production sector. Many of her films explore current affairs topics.
Fiona is a graduate of the Professional Screenwriting Series: top-level Los Angeles training taught by Hollywood writer/producer Hal Croasmun of Class 3 Entertainment. She has taken screenwriting masterclasses taught by Robert Towne (‘Chinatown’) and Paul Schrader (‘Taxi Driver’) as well as visual structure training taught by Bruce Block (co-producer, ‘What Women Want’).
In 2008, she graduated from the New Media Factory at the Dundalk Institute of Technology.
Fiona is a member of the Screen Directors Guild of Ireland and the Irish Playwrights and Screenwriters Guild. She’s also a founding member of the Irish Film and Television Academy.
Her debut feature screenplay ‘Cracks in the Ice’, explores the subversive links between the exploitation of Africa’s natural resources and global terrorism. It is currently being read by Fox Searchlight, Paramount Vantage, RHI Entertainment (formerly Hallmark Entertainment), MTV Films Europe and New Line Cinema.
email: director@fionaashe.com
website: http://www.fionaashe.com
