Portrait of an Irish Filmmaker

Irish film director, Tom Prendeville, who is a one man film studio talks about his two new feature films which are set to hit US screens in the coming year.

Tourist Trap is a comedy featuring thespians Declan Kidd and Alan Clarke in the title roles.

The story follows the ups and downs of stock trader Chuck Brent played by Kidd, who, unwittingly destroys his own Wall Street bank and ends up as an international fugitive on the run.

Lying low in a dingy low rent part of Dublin, de-banked and living on his wits, Chuck meets a femme fatale who throws him a lifeline running a bar with only one beer tap and even fewer customers:

“It’s a holiday in hell type movie with plenty of laughs. Dublin City looks super-sleazy. I am sure US audiences will enjoy the movie as much as we enjoyed making it,” said Director Tom Prendeville.

The film also features scenes shot on location in New York and on the spectacular Dingle Peninsula in the South West of Ireland; a world famous location which has featured in many international movies over the years.

According to the film maker, most of the scenes of Tourist Trap were shot outdoors so as to take maximum advantage of Dublin City’s gritty charms:

“Dublin and Ireland is the star of the movie. I wanted that to be reflected in the film as much as possible. Indoor shoots can be done anywhere and don’t give you any real sense of where you are.”

“Also, the light in Ireland is magnificent, the colours of the landscape in the spring and summer are incredibly vivid and super saturated- everything looks other-worldly.”

To keep the budget from overheating, the filmmaker also wrote the script and acted as producer:

“When your budget is modest you have no choice but to take on a whole variety of different jobs. The trick is; not to do them all at the same time.”

“With independent film making you have to be very careful with finances. It can take up to three years between writing a script, filming and then editing and then a final screening in front of an audience. That is a very long time before you see any return.”

The Dublin born film maker shot another movie. Atlantic Conspiracy in Ireland last year. The film, which is a thriller, is due for release on streaming services next year.

In recent years Movie Theatres have gone into decline with dwindling audiences.

Tom Prendeville has a more upbeat view and points to the advent of large giant flat screen TV’s in many bars, which he describes as essentially ‘mini cinemas,’ which serve beer instead of popcorn:

“Maybe the pub is the new incarnation of the cinema- who knows! Forty years ago Irish and British pubs did not serve food; now many pubs have morphed into restaurants. It’s not such a stretch that they might also evolve into mini-cinemas.”

Irish movies are going through a purple patch with thousands now employed in the thriving industry.

However, things weren’t always so rosy; Tourist Trap, film Cinematographer, John Ryan, remembers a time when there was no film industry in Ireland:

“In the 1980’s there was really nothing being made here and it was ruinously expensive to film anything cinematic. Things change, digital equipment is far cheaper and easier to use which has revolutionized everything.”

Tourist Trap is due for release on December 31^st 2026.