Three years and one pandemic later…
Picture credit Thomas Concordia
I took a long two year break from documenting the worst days of the pandemic here in New York – here’s a little update. I lost a few other folks along the way, including my brother. But here we all stand, a testament to resilience but really, more one of luck. I’d started writing this blog as a way to keep my sanity during the New York lockdown. I felt if I could pour words into what I was seeing, thinking, feeling, I could disassociate myself from what, at that time, seemed like an endlessly despairing path to hell. It was two years before I finally caught COVID, in Ireland of all places. I wrote a story about it but never published it. One because it felt like bragging – why did it take me so long? And two, not sure anyone would care.
My second sanity escape hatch was filming the empty New York City laid out before me. Looking back, I’m so happy I’d the presence of mind to document it. Some of you no doubt enjoyed the little video vignettes I was publishing on my Youtube channel as you cocooned indoors. Mawkishly peeking out the windows as the tv screamed endless horror. And some clown suggested we all drink bleach.
One side project that came out of that process was a documentary short I called Outside In. Why? Because back in March/April of 2020, I was one of the few people outside looking in, while everyone else was ….well you know the rest. Spending that time also learning how to edit and make a documentary, I was surprised at what happened next. Ten Best Documentary awards, multiple finalist in many more, having my footage appear and credited in cinemas nationwide, (Broadway Rising is now on Amazon Prime), this little engine that could ending up playing at film festivals around the world. I was immersed with audiences from around the world and privileged to hear their personal stories.
On Monday August 21st, Outside In will have its television debut. Ireland’s national broadcaster RTE will be airing on RTE2 11.35pm as part of it’s Short Screen series. I’m thrilled that it will get to reach a wider audience and keen to hear people’s feedback. I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a shout our to fellow Bray man Seamus Duggan, who played a key role in getting the film on RTE. Thank You. And to my doc team, thank you all for taking the ride along with me…..Mark Byrne, Sachidanand Sankaranarayanan, Wang Ping, Stacy Igel, Ari Mintz, Kevin Cooney, Suzanne O’Toole, and off course Anosha Lewis, Aidan and Alanna. Without you, I’d be lost.
Mark
