Three men stand just inside the entrance to St Stephen’s Green in Dublin. At a glance, they could be from anywhere really, urban or rural origin indistinguishable (until you get close enough to hear the midlands brogue).
Listen to "New short film, Drifting" on Spreaker.
Current location and accents aside though, speaking with them even just for a short time, it’s extremely evident their Longford roots hold firm.
The three friends grew up together in Granard and are now in the business of making movies. Robert Higgins and Paddy McGivney are writers and directors, who own film production company Harp Media. Tomás ‘Mossy’ Devaney was an executive producer on their latest short film, which was partly shot on his family’s farm.
Dafhyd Flynn in Drifting.
The film in question, Drifting, premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh recently and stars none other than Normal People’s Paul Mescal.
All three juggle film production with day jobs. Robert freelances for a number of film companies, Paddy works for a pharmaceutical company and Mossy is a social care worker.
It’s clear film is very much a passion project for them. Their excitement and enthusiasm for Drifting is both palpable and infectious. The story focuses on Pat, who is considering emigrating and the effect this has on his volatile best friend, Cian.
Home town
Drifting is set in the midlands and was filmed in different locations around Granard – the GAA pitch, The Crossroads Inn pub and Mossy’s family’s farm. Paddy, who is also from a farm, co-wrote the film with Robert. He says they wanted to tell a story that reflects the landscape in which they grew up.
“We wanted to showcase the beautiful side to Longford. It’s an under represented part of the country in terms of tourism and the attention it gets.
“I think it helps coming from a farming background, because you grow up in nature and you do see the beauty maybe a bit more than people who aren’t from that type of background.”
Paul Mescal and Dafhyd Flynn in Drifting.
Robert adds: “Longford is hugely cinematic. There’s a lot of shooting that goes on out west and in Dublin, but the midlands is maybe not as widely seen on screen. We thought it could lend a uniqueness to the film. The fencing scenes on the farm, they show the great beauty in Longford that’s not really touched upon as often as in other counties.”
Societal issues
As well as portraying the positive aspects of their home place, they don’t shy away from addressing some of the hard hitting issues affecting people who live there.
Especially those pertaining to people their own age. Robert feels emigration is one of the big stories of their generation.
“It’s something that has affected our friend group a lot. We all came out of college during the low point of the recession, so there was a lot of emigration among our friends.”
The trio begin to list names of those who moved away and ultimately made that move permanent, painting a stark picture.
Paddy says Drifting explores both sides of emigration, the impact on those leaving and those staying behind.
“There’s a lot of ‘what could have been’ on both sides of the fence. Robert and I, both our sisters are in Australia now, and could be in Australia for the foreseeable.
“So I think it’s a massive issue in rural Ireland still. It always has been, and people seem to forget about it, almost out of sight out of mind.”
Robert Higgins, Tomás 'Mossy' Devaney and Paddy McGivney.
Although it’s only 15 minutes long, Drifting takes an all-angles snapshot of its subject matter. Culture among younger rural people is front and centre.
The filmmakers were keen to show the contemporary side to rural life, and so well-known electronic musician Dáithí was called upon for the score.
“There’s big themes to be dealt with,” says Robert, “just because it’s rural doesn’t mean it’s any less vibrant than any other part of the country or the world.”
“We also wanted to show that guys from a farming background may want to be a farmer long-term, but they can still have that interest in house music, dance music or they still might want to go to Australia,” adds Paddy.
In between serious conversations about film, pride of place and societal issues, the lads also like to have a laugh.
Expressing their thanks to Mossy’s father Owen Devaney for the use of the farm, they joke that Drifting could create a new business venture.
“He’s expecting busloads of tourists to arrive with Polaroid cameras,” laughs Paddy.
“Move over Cong in Mayo with The Quiet Man,” quips Mossy. “Longford is the new hotspot.”
Big names
When Drifting was shot in October 2019, Paul Mescal was already starting to make a name for himself on the theatre scene.
But of course, his big breakout role has come as Connell in Normal People. Having seen him in a few different productions before filming Drifting, Rob says they were very impressed and aren’t surprised at how big he’s gotten.
“The character he plays in Drifting is into GAA and Paul played county with Kildare, so we approached him and he was just great to work with.
“He’s a really creative actor, bringing loads of ideas. He’s a very collaborative presence on set.”
We’ve a lot of respect for Dafhyd playing the north Longford farmer as well as he did
IFTA nominated Dafhyd Flynn plays the other main character. Paddy explains that being from Dublin city, playing a farmer was a fresh challenge for him.
“For him to come down to Longford as a Tallaght native and mix it with the north Longford boys was a much bigger leap in that respect than it would have been for Paul. We’ve a lot of respect for Dafhyd playing the north Longford farmer as well as he did.
“He took to it like a duck to water and looked the part on the farm, but I don’t know how good he would be if he had to do an actual bit of farming,” laughs Paddy.
Small starts
With their second short film now out, the lads are in a reflective mood. Despite all three having an interest in film growing up, it was just over three years ago that they decided to give making their own movies a go. Mossy explains it all started in the bog.
“We started in the bog making our very first film with our own cameras. We thought the bog was beautiful because it has this lovely thing called bog cotton and it looks incredible.
“That was just an exercise in learning the ropes, but it could still be considered the inception of Angels Guard Thee, the first film.”
We wrote it in a day, shot it in a day and edited it that evening. That’s when we realised we needed to hire some professionals
Paddy notes that it was a huge learning curve. “We wrote it in a day, shot it in a day and edited it that evening. That’s when we realised we needed to hire some professionals,” he laughs.
“We realised we couldn’t work the camera, we couldn’t act, but we could write and we felt we could direct.
“It was a case of bringing in talented people in their own fields to compliment what we wanted to do. Harp Media is a vehicle for us to get these projects off the ground.”
Going forward, they would like to grow the business and keep making movies. They have a couple of plans in the pipeline, and no doubt whether it’s through their films or their success, they will continue to shine a light on Longford.
Read more
Electronica musician Daithí on being true to himself
Three men stand just inside the entrance to St Stephen’s Green in Dublin. At a glance, they could be from anywhere really, urban or rural origin indistinguishable (until you get close enough to hear the midlands brogue).
Listen to "New short film, Drifting" on Spreaker.
Current location and accents aside though, speaking with them even just for a short time, it’s extremely evident their Longford roots hold firm.
The three friends grew up together in Granard and are now in the business of making movies. Robert Higgins and Paddy McGivney are writers and directors, who own film production company Harp Media. Tomás ‘Mossy’ Devaney was an executive producer on their latest short film, which was partly shot on his family’s farm.
Dafhyd Flynn in Drifting.
The film in question, Drifting, premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh recently and stars none other than Normal People’s Paul Mescal.
All three juggle film production with day jobs. Robert freelances for a number of film companies, Paddy works for a pharmaceutical company and Mossy is a social care worker.
It’s clear film is very much a passion project for them. Their excitement and enthusiasm for Drifting is both palpable and infectious. The story focuses on Pat, who is considering emigrating and the effect this has on his volatile best friend, Cian.
Home town
Drifting is set in the midlands and was filmed in different locations around Granard – the GAA pitch, The Crossroads Inn pub and Mossy’s family’s farm. Paddy, who is also from a farm, co-wrote the film with Robert. He says they wanted to tell a story that reflects the landscape in which they grew up.
“We wanted to showcase the beautiful side to Longford. It’s an under represented part of the country in terms of tourism and the attention it gets.
“I think it helps coming from a farming background, because you grow up in nature and you do see the beauty maybe a bit more than people who aren’t from that type of background.”
Paul Mescal and Dafhyd Flynn in Drifting.
Robert adds: “Longford is hugely cinematic. There’s a lot of shooting that goes on out west and in Dublin, but the midlands is maybe not as widely seen on screen. We thought it could lend a uniqueness to the film. The fencing scenes on the farm, they show the great beauty in Longford that’s not really touched upon as often as in other counties.”
Societal issues
As well as portraying the positive aspects of their home place, they don’t shy away from addressing some of the hard hitting issues affecting people who live there.
Especially those pertaining to people their own age. Robert feels emigration is one of the big stories of their generation.
“It’s something that has affected our friend group a lot. We all came out of college during the low point of the recession, so there was a lot of emigration among our friends.”
The trio begin to list names of those who moved away and ultimately made that move permanent, painting a stark picture.
Paddy says Drifting explores both sides of emigration, the impact on those leaving and those staying behind.
“There’s a lot of ‘what could have been’ on both sides of the fence. Robert and I, both our sisters are in Australia now, and could be in Australia for the foreseeable.
“So I think it’s a massive issue in rural Ireland still. It always has been, and people seem to forget about it, almost out of sight out of mind.”
Robert Higgins, Tomás 'Mossy' Devaney and Paddy McGivney.
Although it’s only 15 minutes long, Drifting takes an all-angles snapshot of its subject matter. Culture among younger rural people is front and centre.
The filmmakers were keen to show the contemporary side to rural life, and so well-known electronic musician Dáithí was called upon for the score.
“There’s big themes to be dealt with,” says Robert, “just because it’s rural doesn’t mean it’s any less vibrant than any other part of the country or the world.”
“We also wanted to show that guys from a farming background may want to be a farmer long-term, but they can still have that interest in house music, dance music or they still might want to go to Australia,” adds Paddy.
In between serious conversations about film, pride of place and societal issues, the lads also like to have a laugh.
Expressing their thanks to Mossy’s father Owen Devaney for the use of the farm, they joke that Drifting could create a new business venture.
“He’s expecting busloads of tourists to arrive with Polaroid cameras,” laughs Paddy.
“Move over Cong in Mayo with The Quiet Man,” quips Mossy. “Longford is the new hotspot.”
Big names
When Drifting was shot in October 2019, Paul Mescal was already starting to make a name for himself on the theatre scene.
But of course, his big breakout role has come as Connell in Normal People. Having seen him in a few different productions before filming Drifting, Rob says they were very impressed and aren’t surprised at how big he’s gotten.
“The character he plays in Drifting is into GAA and Paul played county with Kildare, so we approached him and he was just great to work with.
“He’s a really creative actor, bringing loads of ideas. He’s a very collaborative presence on set.”
We’ve a lot of respect for Dafhyd playing the north Longford farmer as well as he did
IFTA nominated Dafhyd Flynn plays the other main character. Paddy explains that being from Dublin city, playing a farmer was a fresh challenge for him.
“For him to come down to Longford as a Tallaght native and mix it with the north Longford boys was a much bigger leap in that respect than it would have been for Paul. We’ve a lot of respect for Dafhyd playing the north Longford farmer as well as he did.
“He took to it like a duck to water and looked the part on the farm, but I don’t know how good he would be if he had to do an actual bit of farming,” laughs Paddy.
Small starts
With their second short film now out, the lads are in a reflective mood. Despite all three having an interest in film growing up, it was just over three years ago that they decided to give making their own movies a go. Mossy explains it all started in the bog.
“We started in the bog making our very first film with our own cameras. We thought the bog was beautiful because it has this lovely thing called bog cotton and it looks incredible.
“That was just an exercise in learning the ropes, but it could still be considered the inception of Angels Guard Thee, the first film.”
We wrote it in a day, shot it in a day and edited it that evening. That’s when we realised we needed to hire some professionals
Paddy notes that it was a huge learning curve. “We wrote it in a day, shot it in a day and edited it that evening. That’s when we realised we needed to hire some professionals,” he laughs.
“We realised we couldn’t work the camera, we couldn’t act, but we could write and we felt we could direct.
“It was a case of bringing in talented people in their own fields to compliment what we wanted to do. Harp Media is a vehicle for us to get these projects off the ground.”
Going forward, they would like to grow the business and keep making movies. They have a couple of plans in the pipeline, and no doubt whether it’s through their films or their success, they will continue to shine a light on Longford.
Read more
Electronica musician Daithí on being true to himself
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