Coláiste Dhúlaigh College of Further Education are delighted to congratulate their Film & TV Production BA Degree tutor, Leticia Agudo, who has been awarded a prize for Outstanding Achievement in Writing by International Screenwriting Competition (ISC) for her script Casa de Sullivan.
The screenplay documents the retirement of two women from different backgrounds, Irish and Spanish, and is set in Agudo’s home territory of Andalucia. “The premise is a battle of wills and cultures, I took inspiration from women I have known throughout the years”. Leticia, who is particularly interested in writing roles for women, is a member of Women in Film & Television Ireland since its beginnings. She feels it’s important to represent older women in particular for whom traditionally there has been a lack of opportunity.
Leticia, who has written, produced and directed across a variety of projects in theatre, television, film and animation – has been teaching on CDCFE’s Film Production Higher National Diploma and BA Honours Degree, which is awarded by University of Wolverhampton, for many years. She is also co-owner of production company Whackala which she founded with her husband Paul McGrath. Currently they are working on “The Grumpy Onion” an animation for RTE Junior.
“I have to be strict with myself when balancing the demands of both teaching and my work in the industry, I divide myself in half. The best advice I can give to my students is not to rush into things. Work with experienced people and try to make good connections. There are so many interesting creative jobs in the industry, from camera and sound to development etc.”
Leticia has recently worked on projects like “Remote” which was an anthology of covid stories that was released during the pandemic. She also wrote and directed “#NanaRocks” a short film that is currently playing in international film festivals. The director has great plans for the Casa de Sullivan script and says she would love to work with Antonio Banderas’ production company on it. “Its really competitive to get funding in Ireland, so it has been great to have my work noticed with the ISC award. It can be hard to get rejections for my script work but you learn to have a thick skin. I am a director first at heart and I love being on set – I can just see how everything should look”
The Film and Television Production HND course in Coláiste Dhúlaigh College of Further Education are now accepting online applications. This academic year, the third “Top-Up” degree year was Springboard+ funded, meaning students had a significant reduction in course fees. The Springboard+ initiative is funded by the government of Ireland in order to address skills shortages in areas such as the creative industries. Leaving Certificate graduates and mature students can apply for the HND course, while those with a HND or equivalent experience can go directly into the degree year which is accredited by University of Wolverhampton. Online applications are now open for courses starting in September. For more details on Film Production and the other courses offered at Coláiste Dhúlaigh CFE see www.cdcfe.ie.
