Liberation Entertainment and Samson Films present in association with Radio Telefís Éireann and the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland with the participation of Bord Scannán na hÉireann/The Irish Film Board

EDEN

Directed by Declan Recks Produced by David Collins Screenplay by Eugene O’Brien (Based on his original play)

Film Festivals Edinburgh International Film Festival Tribeca Film Festival Los Angeles Irish Film Festival

Awards Eileen Walsh, Best Actress - 2008 Tribeca Film Festival

Specs 84 Mins - Color - Dolby Digital - English - Not Rated

NY PUBLICITY LA PUBLICITY Falco, Ink. Marina Bailey Film Publicity Shannon Treusch Marina Bailey Betsy Rudnick 323.650.3627 212.445.7100 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

DISTRIBUTION CONTACT FIELD PUBLICTY Liberation Entertainment Liberation Entertainment Emily Woodburne James Teel 917.403.6638 310.475.6678 [email protected] [email protected]

OPENS NOVEMBER 7 th IN NEW YORK and NOVEMBER 21 st in LOS ANGELES

For photography and materials please visit www.EdenMovie.net

1 EDEN

CAST

Billy Farrell AIDAN KELLY Breda Farrell EILEEN WALSH Eoghan PADRAIC DELANEY Breffni Grehan KARL SHIELS Eilish Moore LESLEY CONROY Imelda Egan SARAH GREENE Edel Farrell CAROLYN MURRAY James Farrell BRENDAN KELLEHER Tony Tyrell ENDA OATES Yvonne Egan KATE O'TOOLE Ernie Egan GARY LILBURN Feggy Fennelly NOEL O'DONOVAN Naomi MICHELLE BEAMISH Quenchers Quinn RICHIE RECKS Dessie GAVIN O'CONNOR Dessie's Girlfriend KATIE McGRATH Amanda LEEONA DUFF Night Watchman ALI CHABANOV Flynn's Barman PAUL NORTON Golf Club Band PAT ENNIS BERNARD COYLE JOSEPH RABBETTE ALAN RECKS Egan Party Singers DAVID PEYTON HARRY SHIELS

CREW

Directed by Declan Recks Written by Eugene O’Brien Produced by David Collins Co-Producer Brian Willis Director of Photography Owen McPolin Editor Gareth Young Composers Stephen Rennicks and Hugh Drumm Production Designer John Hand Sound Mixer Phillipe Faujas Costume Designer Louise Stanton Casting Director Rebecca Roper

2 EDEN

Short Synopsis

Breda and Billy Farrell are a seemingly happy, normal couple approaching their tenth anniversary. In private, however, their marriage shows signs of strain. As Billy begins to obsess over a younger woman, Breda desperately searches for a way to preserve their bond.

Synopsis

Approaching their tenth anniversary, Billy and Breda Farrell seem to have the ideal marriage. But at night behind closed doors, Breda knows that their intimate bond is slowly unravelling: she tells a friend can’t remember how long it’s been since they’ve made love, as Billy seems to have lost interest. In fact, Billy has also become fascinated with Imelda Egan, the vivacious daughter of a colleague. His brief social exchanges with her leading to unexpected thoughts that distract him from Breda. Breda hopes that the upcoming anniversary will provide the couple a chance to relive their earlier, carefree days together. She suggests that they go out separately with friends and meet up at the local club. At first, things seem to go well: but under the prying eyes of their friends and the influence of Imelda’s nearby presence, Billy panics, and makes a crucial decision that leaves Breda all alone. Next, Breda and Billy must finally begin to confront the serious issues that have caused them to slowly drift apart. An intimate, universal drama about a couple in crisis, Eden is adapted by Eugene O’Brien from his acclaimed stage play, directed by Declan Recks, produced by David Collins, and stars Aidan Kelly as Billy and Eileen Murphy as Breda.

3 EDEN

About the Production

Eden first came to the attention of director Declan Recks in May 2000, when both he and writer Eugene O'Brien were in Los Angeles for a screening of new films by Irish Directors, organized by Irish Screen magazine. Recks was there with his short film Quando, while O’Brien had written and acted in a short called Cold Turkey . Over the course of a week, O’Brien told Recks the entire story of Eden , occasionally acting out large sections. In 2001, the two-character play was staged to both popular and critical acclaim on the Peacock stage of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, winning the Irish Times Theatre Award for Best New Play. Since then, it has been performed in London, New York and around the world, and translated into ten languages. Partially because of the play’s success, Eugene O'Brien came to the attention of Accomplice TV, where producers David Collins and Ed Guiney commissioned him to write “Pure Mule,” a six-part television series for RTÉ set in the unique world of the Irish Midlands. Declan Recks wasn't involved in “Pure Mule” in the program’s early stages. As Recks remembers, “Eugene would tell me bits and pieces about the show, but we decided not to talk too much about it as there were many similarities between it and Eden , which I was adapting as a screenplay.” After several drafts, Recks was still not happy with his own adaptation, so he decided to take a break from working on the script. It was, coincidentally, around this time that he was asked to direct the first three episodes of “Pure Mule.” The show proved to be a huge hit, winning five Irish Film and Television awards (including a supporting actress nod for actress Eileen Murphy). With more success to their credit, Samson Film agreed to further develop Eden , with O’Brien tackling the adaptation and Recks attached as director.

4 Eugene O'Brien recalls the origins of the story as a way to explore part of his own cultural past. “ Eden is about where I'm from, Edenderry, in County Offaly. The characters are based on people I knew, the events based on stories I'd heard. I wanted to restore the language of the town and the innards of that environment where I'm from. That’s where the monologues came from in the play, and what I hoped to capture in a more cinematic fashion with the screenplay.” As a character study, Eden is the absorbing story of how two people stop talking to each other. Billy and Breda Farrell are a decidedly normal Irish couple, in a relationship that seems very typical but is covering up layers of complexity and contradiction. Eugene O'Brien says of Billy and Breda, “They are normal human beings. They've just drifted apart -- stopped talking, stopped communicating, stopped having sex. Breda blames herself for the marriage not being right. Billy blames himself as well… although he would never show it. They love each other, but they don’t have the language or emotional honesty to face up to their problem.” Eileen Walsh, whose subtle and illuminating portrayal of Breda earned her the Best Actress Award at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival in New York, concurs. “The crux of the problem is that Billy and Breda don't speak, they don't argue, they don't let things out, because they're so frightened of what will come out.” Walsh sees Breda as “a very simple woman in terms of her needs and aspirations. All she's looking for is contentment and happiness with her home and family.” Her colleague Aidan Kelly, who plays Billy, offers, “ Eden is about what happens when a couple doesn’t pay attention to each other, when they becomes caught in the vicious circle of normal day-to-day-domesticity, making it impossible for them to find any kind of excitement.” Billy is a man who has difficulty expressing himself. “It's a particularly male thing,” says Recks, “not being able to talk about your feelings and your emotions, and Billy is the classic portrayal of that.” O'Brien recalls how after performances of the play, men would come up to him and shake his hand and say, “How did you know that was my life and problems with drink and women?”

5 According to the writer, Billy is just a regular guy trying to get through the day. “Like us all, he has strange weaknesses, regrets and little bouts of madness. And a slight Irish problem called over-reliance on alcohol. Throw all that in the mix and you could have half the men in Ireland.” Because it was originally presented on the stage as a series of intersecting monologues between Billy and Breda, adapting the internationally acclaimed Eden to the screen presented a number of challenges. As O'Brien notes, “There are advantages and disadvantages of adapting your own material. I'm sure there's stuff I should have let go of or cut. But at the other end of the stick, you have a deep understanding of the characters that no one else could possibly have of them.” Aidan Kelly notes the inherent paradox of the original play, which he describes as “two monologues in which Billy and Breda talk about the fact that they can't talk to each other… they explain very lucidly how they cannot communicate.” O’Brien took on the problem of adapting Billy’s character by creating a more fully articulated world around Billy, an indirect outward expression of what's going on inside him. As the production moved forward with the script taking shape, Declan Recks and casting director Rebecca Roper auditioned a large number of actors for the supporting roles in film. However, the lists for the two main leads were relatively short. They tried many variations but when Aidan Kelly and Eileen Walsh read opposite each other, according to Recks, “they knocked everyone else off the scale.” As soon as he saw them, he knew they were the right ones. The same is true, Recks maintains about the kids in the films. As soon as Brendan Kelleher walked in and opened his mouth, he thought, “there's James.” Recks was also happy to have cast a young actor from the area: “Brendan has the accent, he has the whole Offaly thing going on.” Interestingly, the part of Breda in the original Abbey Theatre run of the stage play was performed initially by Catherine Walsh -- the older sister of Eileen Walsh. Eileen had no intention of competing against her sibling for the role. The younger Walsh explains: “When it came to auditioning for Eden , I

6 didn't want to be seen for it, but Catherine called me and said she had just got the phone call to say they were going younger with the role, so I'd better be seen for it!” Walsh auditioned for and landed the role, and her casting proved to be one of the production’s strongest elements. “Eileen had the theatrical experience to take on the more difficult moments that were rendered in monologue,” remembers Declan Recks, citing a powerfully intimate scene where Breda’s confession of a sexual fantasy to a friend prompts a vividly rendered reaction. “At the same time, she’s got such tremendous instincts for the subtle demands of film. With Eileen’s performance, Breda became a powerful combination of emotional warmth, sexual frustration and real vulnerability.” The first thing Aidan Kelly did, when the opportunity arose to play the part, was pick up a copy of the play. About half way through reading it, he put it down, realising that the film was an entirely different animal from the play: “I just concentrated then on the film script and forgot about everything that came before. In the play, you could say there are clues to the character… but you can't play the play, you have to play the film.” With both Eugene O'Brien and Declan Recks hailing from County Offaly – from Edenderry and Clara respectively – the opportunity to shoot the film in their home county was certainly appealing. It is a world they both know intimately, one that is close to their own life experiences. It also meant that the actors became immersed in the world they were portraying. As Eileen Walsh comments: “The good thing about filming away is that everybody's away from home. So everyone's kind of out on a limb, which adds its own little interesting thing.” Being away from Dublin and the big city also meant – for most of the actors – being away from the familiar. Padraic Delaney, who plays Eoghan, recalls how, in the hour and twenty minutes on the way to location, he noticed the land all becomes flat: “There's something ancient and lovely about the

7 place. You feel you're leaving Dublin behind and coming into a new world. A lot of history was made out here in the midlands of Ireland.” The location also allowed the actors to hone their midlands accents and behavioural traits. As Aidan Kelly notes with a wink, “By osmosis, we're taking in a lot of the accent. There's a certain kind of way people are there, that Dublin people will not be, that Derry people will not be, that Cork people will not be. We can only benefit from that and that usually involves going for a pint in the evenings… It's research. A lot of research. There's a lot of research going on.” And the conclusion of all this “research,” according to Kelly? “It's a landscape thing as much as anything else. The flat landscape comes across in the accent. And I think it comes across in an attitude that people have, and a humour that they have as well that is different. It's a lovely quality… but it's a quality unto itself that you see down here and you don’t see anywhere else.” “The accent,” Eileen Walsh comments, “is so lovely… there's so much leaning into it. And the more you lean, the more you realise it's a slower pace. It's very passionate, because it's fully meant and meaty. It's the guts, the true innards of Ireland.” The enchanting flatness of the region also permeated the film’s visual style. From the start, Declan Recks and Director of Photography Owen McPolin knew they wanted to shoot the film in full anamorphic widescreen. This was for a number of artistic reasons, especially, as McPolin notes, because “the landscape down there in County Offaly is notoriously flat and this was an aspect ratio we thought would really suit that.” McPolin explains the approach to the photography of the film. “ Eden is about two characters, telling the same story from two different perspectives, so we had to delineate between each character photographically, cinematically. Billy’s main drive is his obsession with Imelda, and Breda’s main drive is to find out what's up with her husband and to recover her marriage. Photographically, we tried to find a style for each of them, to show his desire and her emotion. We needed to find two styles that would then, of course, marry into one overall style.”

8 McPolin has worked before with both Declan Recks and Production Designer John Hand, notably on “Pure Mule.” McPolin describes beginning work on Eden as “a little like slipping into the same shoes again. I’ve known Declan for quite a few years now, so I hope we’ve got a pretty good rapport, a good short-hand. John Hand also had a really clear idea of what Declan wanted in terms of the colour schemes, so we clicked really well in what we were trying to achieve visually.” McPolin, however, was aware of one potential pitfall of working with the same creative team: “You don’t want to tread the same creative ground, and that can sometimes make you tread ground that is not actually appropriate. So you have to be very conscious of that.” However, the script for Eden was “so utterly different from the ‘Pure Mule’ scripts, it was always going to differentiate itself visually.” The five week shoot in the summer of 2007 proved to be a relatively smooth experience. As Aidan Kelly observed of Declan Recks' on-set demeanour, “Declan is captain of the ship. There has to be trust on set. I have to be able to look at him and know that if something isn't working, he'll ask me to do it again… and if it is working, he's happy to move on. That level of trust was there from the first.” Some of the actors on the film were working on other projects at the time, and were required to turn up on set after a full day’s work on another in another county. Aidan Kelly was in rehearsal for a play in Galway, while Padraic Delaney was working on the second series of the television series “The Tudors.” Delaney, however, did not see his double workload as a disadvantage. “Going from playing George Boleyn, an incestuous rapist, to Eoghan, a travelling folding putting green salesman…they're completely different characters and that in itself is a challenge. I loved the chance to get into character during a one and a half hour taxi journey from Dublin to Tullamore.” The experience of shooting entirely on location formed a close-knit artistic community. As Lesley Conroy, who plays Breda’s confidant Eilish Moore, comments, “When you work down the country, it's more like a

9 community. You're socialising together. There's more of a spirit of togetherness, a sense that you're creating something rather than turning up for a job. There always just seems to be a great atmosphere of work – and wanting to get it right – and everybody just gels and I think that's half the battle… and then you just do the work and it's easy.” This production reunited many of the team that worked on “Pure Mule”: writer Eugene O'Brien, director Declan Recks, producer David Collins, director of photography Owen McPolin, production designer John Hand, sound mixer Philippe Faujas and actors Eileen Walsh and Padraic Delaney all worked on the series. Eileen notes the challenge of working with those you've worked well with before: “I so love Declan and Owen and David and Eugene that I so want to please them, you set the bar very high for yourself.” Also -- somewhat coincidentally -- there were many other connections between the cast and crew on the film. Aidan Kelly and Karl Shiels (who plays Billy’s gregarious best friend Breffni) both acted in Mark O'Rowe's play Howie the Rookie , touring all over the world with the show. Even more significantly, Karl adds, “We're also actually brothers-in-law. We married two sisters. I'm actually godfather to one of his children. To bring that history and familiarity to the set was great.” Furthermore, Eugene O'Brien once shared a house with Karl Shiels. Karl explains his long friendship with Eugene and how he grew up with that “Edenderry sound”: “I was living with Eugene for about four years, so the accent was sort of ingrained. The secret to the midland accent is not to play it but don't go into breath. Keep it strong. I was there at the very first reading of Eden and I was there as Eden progressed from just an idea in his head to a stage play into the play being produced into the play touring. I've also seen Eugene as an actor. It's good to know Eugene and to be able to question anything about my character.” In January 2007, Declan Recks, Owen McPolin and David Collins approached Dublin-based post-production house Egg to see if they could do a digital intermediate (DI) on a film shot on 35 mm. The DI process is not a new one by any means but it has typically been reserved for big budget Hollywood

10 features. This was not the first time David, Declan and Owen had so challenged Egg – Pure Mule became the post-produced the first TV drama in Ireland to be shot entirely on HD. The film was edited by Gareth Young, another familiar face from “Pure Mule.” “This,” he notes, “took a lot of the usual guess work out of the editing process. It's much easier when you know a team and know we all have the same thoughts and ideas.” Eden , Young maintains, is a very different beast from Pure Mule . “It's more reflective… the setting up of the characters has to happen more concisely, and the pace of the film is different because of this.” The character of Billy, according to Young, was the most complicated and it was important to set the right tone. “Billy is a confused individual. In the edit, it was important to make sure the audience would still remain sympathetic to Billy even though what he was doing was unpalatable. We used existing light flares – and added new ones in post to signpost his frame of mind.” The music for the soundtrack of Eden was composed by Stephen Rennicks and engineered by Hugh Drumm. Rennicks notes of the process: “I'd worked with Declan before on ‘Pure Mule,’ so I knew the work was going to be minimalist to some extent, lacking in obvious emotion.” For inspiration and to suggest the kind of evocatively understated tone he thought would complement the picture, Recks presented Rennicks with music by Icelandic group Sigur Rós, an ensemble that employ strange quirky instruments, combining a harmonium with synthesizer sounds. “It’s a weird, funky, slightly broken down sound,” says Rennicks. Producer David Collins was intimately involved in all aspects of production and post-production and music was no exception. He insisted to Rennicks that much of the character of Billy is anchored in the past. His life is about reflection and memory. Rennicks took all this on board and made a musical association between Billy and certain echo and reverberation effects. “There is a much greater sense of sadness in Billy’s music,” he says. “His character is quite lonely. The music should suggest that all is not right. He’s at an age where he doesn’t really confide much, so that has to be helped by the

11 music. Men of that age pretend that everything is okay, until it goes completely wrong.” As a counter-point, Breda's music reflects how she deals with things and is, thus, more optimistic. “It’s the same musical family: guitar, harmonium and strange glassy synthesizer sounds. But they were treated differently, more optimistically.” As editing on Eden began, the crew suffered a blow when they learned of the sudden illness and death of Richie Recks, father of director Declan Recks. Involved in amateur dramatics all his life, Richie featured as the barber Seamus Devine in “Pure Mule” and barman Quenchers Quinn in Eden . The film is dedicated to his memory.

12 Eden

About the Cast

AIDAN KELLY (Billy Farrell) Aidan Kelly has worked extensively in the theatre. Most recently, he played Jamie in Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night, C in Terminus , Marc Antony in Julius Caesar , Father Flynn in Doubt and Howie Lee in Howie the Rookie . Television roles include the Channel 5 telefilm “Kitchen,” (for Channel 5), “The Clinic,” “Bachelors Walk,” “Proof,” “Murphy’s Law,” “Small Engine Repair,” “Fair City,” and “Making the Cut.” On film he was seen in the drama Pride and Joy, and is currently working on the action thriller Porcelain.

EILEEN WALSH (Breda Farrell) Eileen Walsh’s work at the legendary Abbey Theatre in Dublin includes productions of Terminus, Saved, Portia Couglhan, and Ariel. Other theatre credits include The Merchant of Venice, Phaedra’s Love, Disco Pigs, Crave, The Drowned World, Splendour, Troilus and Cressida, Boomtown, Danti Dan, Crestfall, The Entertainer , and Mary Stuart. Television credits include her award-winning recurring role on “Pure Mule,” and film credits include Nicholas Nickelby, The Magdalene Sister, Janice Beard, When Brendan Met Trudy, Miss Julie, The Last Bus Home, Spaghetti Slow, The Van, and 33X Around the Sun. She will next be seen in a supporting role in the mystery thriller Triage starring Colin Farrell. For her role in Eden , Eileen Walsh won the Best Actress Award at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival in New York.

PADRAIC DELANEY (Eoghan) Padraic Delaney graduated with a BA in Theatre Studies from TCD in 2001. Theatre work includes Hamlet, The Yalta Game, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Hollow in the Sand, and This Lime Tree Bower. Television credits

13 include the acclaimed Showtime series “The Tudors,” “Legend,” “Pure Mule” “The Cove,” and “The Clinic.” On film, Delaney appeared in the leading role of Ken Loach's The Wind That Shakes the Barley , opposite Cillian Murphy, which won the Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006.

KARL SHIELS (Breffni) Karl Shiels has acted extensively in the theatre, winning the best Actor Award at the Dublin Theatre festival for his role in Comedians in 1999. Other work includes: The Pride of Parnall Street, Beauty in a Broken Place, At Swim Two Birds, The Barbaric Comedies, Henry IV (Part One), Duck, The Shadow of a Gunman, The Spanish Tragedy, The Duchess of Malfi, This Lime Tree Bower, Howie the Rookie, Hamlet, Oedipus Loves You, and Sleeping Beauty.” Television work includes “Prospertiy,” “The Clinic,” “Doctors,” “Any Time Now,” “Attachments,” and “On Home Ground.” Shiels’ film roles include Get Rich or Die Trying, Batman Begins, Veronica Guerin, Intermission, Mystics, and Capital Letters.

LESLEY CONROY (Eilish Moore) Lesley Conroy trained at the Samuel Beckett Centre, Trinity College Dublin. She has worked extensively on the Irish stage with The Abbey Theatre, Loose Cannon and Bedrock. Television work includes: “The Running Mate,” “The Clinic,” “The Big Bow Wow,” “Kaislean Klaus,” and “Ri Ra.” Her film work includes roles in Angela Mooney Dies Again, My Brother’s War, Saltwater, Call Girl, A Man of Few Words, Strength and Honour, and The Helpless Spider.

KATE O'TOOLE (Yvonne Egan) American audiences might recognize Kate O’Toole from her role on stateside daytime dramas such as “All My Children” and “Search for Tomorrow” as well as the series “The Tudors” and “Tales from the Darkside.” Her other TV work in the UK and Ireland includes “John Huston and the Dubliners,” “A Hungry Feeling,” “The Life and Death of Brendan Behan,” “The Bill,” “Some

14 Enchanted Evening,” “Karaoke,” “Gleroe,” “Get Well Soon,” “No Tears,” “The Big Bow Wow,” “Foreign Exchange,” “Malice Aforethought” and “Proof 2.” On film, her credits include Laughter in the Dark, Club Paradise, The Dead, Ballad of the Emerald Isle, Principles of Physics, Dancing at Lughnasa, Nora, and Possession. O’Toole’s theatre work includes Double Cross, John Bull’s Other Island, Vanderbilts Candida, Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, Don Juan and Slave Island, House of Bernarda Alba, A Little Like Drowning, Macbeth, The Donoghue Sisters, The Increased Difficulty of Concentration, Reflected Glory, Private Dick, Hamlet’s Nightmare, The Provoked Wife, The Blue Machusla, The Barbaric Comedies, Three Tall Women, Dead Funny, The Mercy Seat and Drama at Inish.

ENDA OATES (Tony Tyrrell) Enda Oates is well-known to British television viewers as the Reverend George Black in “Glenroe.” Other television work includes “Stardust,” “Upwardly Mobile,” “The Clinic,” “Ballykissangel,” “Fair City,” “Killanaskully,” “Showbands,” “Trí Scéal,” and “Aifric.” Films include Ordinary Decent Criminal, An Everlasting Piece, The Longest Ditch, Crossmaheart, Fools of Fortune, A Man of No Importance, and Rogart. His many theatrical credits over the years include True Believers, Uncle Vanya, The Tempest, and the Sam Mendes- directed And the Plough and the Stars.

SARAH GREEN (Imelda Egan) Sarah Green graduated from the Gaiety School of Acting in 2006. Since then, she has appeared in The Empress of India, The Year of the Hiker, and Playboy of the Western World. Other theatre credits include Fame: The Musical and Titus Andronicus. Her television credits include “Bachelors Walk Christmas Special” and presenter of the Den Tots’ “Bandstand” and “Speed Dating.” She recently completed playing the lead role in the romantic drama Love and Savagery , which will be released in 2009.

15 Eden

About the Filmmakers

EUGENE O'BRIEN (Screenplay) Eugene O’Brien's play Eden premiered at The Peacock Theatre in Dublin in January 2001. It was awarded Best New Play and Best Actress (Catherine Walsh) at the Irish Times/ESB Theatre Awards 2001, the Stewart Parker Best New Play of 2001 and the Rooney Prize for Literature 2003. Since then, the play has been translated into six languages and staged all over the world. O’Brien’s six-part drama series “Pure Mule” aired in 2005 to critical acclaim and won five Irish Film & Television awards. In additional to several film projects, he is developing a new six-part drama with Accomplice Television for RTE.

DECLAN RECKS (Director) Declan Recks is a graduate of Dun Laoghaire College of Art and Design and UCLA Extension, where he studied film and television. In addition to several award winning short films, Declan has directed episodes of “On Home Ground” (RTE), “Any Time Now” (RTE/BBC), and “The Clinic” (RTE). In 2005, Declan directed the first three episodes of Eugene O'Brien's “Pure Mule,” produced by David Collins & Ed Guiney. The show received 5 IFTAS (Irish TV & Film Awards) including Best Director. In 2007, Declan directed the critically acclaimed Irish language mini series “The Running Mate” for TG4. The show went on to win Best Drama at the 2007 IFTAS.

DAVID COLLINS (Producer) David Collins is the managing director of Samson Films, one of Ireland’s leading independent production companies. Recent feature film credits include the international hit Once , written and directed by John Carney, which won the World Cinema Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival and earned an

16 Academy Award for the song "Falling Slowly"; True North , written and directed by Steve Hudson, and Asylum , directed by David McKenzie. Recent television credits include “Dan & Becs,” “Pure Mule,” and “Bachelors Walk.” Collins is currently producing Stuart White’s Crossmaglen with Brenda Fricker and Claire Forlani, and the science fiction thriller Telepathy with Sam Neill and Miranda Richardson.

OWEN McPOLIN (Director of Photography) Owen McPolin graduated from the West Surrey Of Art & Design in 1992 and since then has worked as Lighting Cameraman on many TV dramas, including “Pure Mule,” “Showbands,” and “Hide & Seek” for RTE; “Rough Diamond” for the BBC; and “The Catalpa Rescue” for ABC Australia. He was also Director of Photography on the feature films Mapmaker, Headrush, Spin the Bottle and Trouble with Sex. McPolin wrote and directed the feature film Drinking Crude , the mini-series “Three Stories / Trí Scéal” and directed episodic television drama for RTE. He is currently lensing the television series “Little Dorritt” and “BitterSweet.”

JOHN HAND (Production Designer) John’s feature film credits include the multi-award winning Song for a Raggy Boy, starring Aidan Quinn and directed by Aisling Walsh; Watermelon , starring Anna Friel and Brenda Fricker; and True North , starring Gary Lewis, Peter Mullan and Martin Compston. TV work includes Eugene O'Brien's “Pure Mule” – which was highly regarded for its unflinching integrity and reflection of contemporary Midlands Ireland – the first series of “Killanaskully” and “Damage” for RTE television. He has also designed many TV commercials and music videos and also the video work of John Kenny and Pat Shortt of the D’un Believables.

17 GARETH YOUNG (Editor) Gareth has been editing for 20 years and is one of Ireland's most experienced and respected drama editors. He returned to Ireland, following seven years with Palace Pictures where he edited productions for BBC, UTV and Channel 4 as well as several years contracting with the BBC. He set up EGG Post Production in 2004 with co-partners Gary Shortall and Eugene McCrystal. With over 100 hours of prime-time drama edited to date, some of Gareth's key credits include - the acclaimed “Pure Mule,” “The Clinic,” “Ballykissangel,” and “The Running Mate.”

SPONGE MUSIC / STEPEN RENNICKS AND HUGH DRUMM (Music) Stephen Rennicks and Hugh Drumm have been working together for ten years, writing and producing music for film and television. Between them their film credits include Garagh, Adam and Paul, Boy Eats Girl, Man About Dog, and Pride and Joy. Television credits include “Prosperity” and “Pure Mule.”

18 Eden

Additional Production Credits

For Samson Films

Associate Producer MARTINA NILAND Head of Development NEAL ROWLAND Development Executive MAGGIE MITCHELL Production Executives YVONNE CORSCADDEN MARY CLAIRE WHITE

Production Coordinator BIANCA GAVIN Assistant Coordinator JANE McCABE Production Accountant CON CREMINS Accounts Trainee ADAM HUGHES Location Manager GORDON WYCHERLEY Location Trainee DONAL HASSETT Art Directors OWEN POWER MICHAEL MOYNIHAN Production Buyer NOEL WALSH Assistant Buyer EMER O'CARROLL Standby Props CHAN KIN Assistant Standby Props IRINA PAWASSAR Dressing Props/Driver MIKE BURKE Construction Dailies THIERRY MULLIEZ 1st Assistant Director DAVID BYRNE 2nd Assistant Director BRIAN 'Joker' MULVEY 3rd Assistant Director JIM CORR Trainee Assistant Director ALAN O'BRIEN Extras Co-ordinators GEORGINA SHORTT BRIAN MULLINS Focus Puller MICHI MAROSSZEKY Clapper Loader RON COE Camera Trainees MIKE LERNIHAN BRIAN TALBOT Grip SAM PHILLIPS Camera Truck Driver WAYNE CULLEN Casting Cameraman DONAL LENEHAN Boom Operators LIZ GREENE CIARAN NUGENT Gaffer NOEL CULLEN Best Boy KIERAN DEMPSEY Generator Operator SEAN CAHILL Standby Rigger WILLIAM O'BRIEN

19 Standby Carpenter JOHN O'CONNELL Standby Painter DES KEENA Stagehand DAVID COWLEY Script Supervisor ÀINE MAIRE Nì THAIBHIS Stills Photographer BERNARD WALSH Costume Supervisor JO MAPP Costume Assistant VANESSA BREEN Costume Trainee SARAH CORCORRAN Make-Up & Hair PATSY GILES Hair Assistants EVELYN LUNNY TERRY RALPH Make-Up Assistant LIZ BYRNE Make-Up & EMER HICKEY Hair Trainee Production Trainees AIDAN DUFF LAURA CONROY Production Trainee/ ANDREW MAHON Rushes Runners BARRY MAHON Script Clearance CIARA MARTIN Sound Playback DEREK RECKS Stunt Co-ordinator DONAL O'FARRELL Marine Coordinator ALISTAIR RUMBALL Caterers McEVOY CATERING Dialogue Coach CAHILL QUINN Chaperones GERALDINE BUCKLEY SHARON MURRAY Action Vehicles STEPHEN CARROLL Action Vehicle Coordinator DAVID BEAKHURST Facilities STEPHEN FEARAN Transport Captain PAUL CULLEN Minibus Driver JIMMY 'The Bus' DEVLIN Unit Driver DERMOT MOORE Facilities Drivers PATRICK FISHER FRANK McMANUS JIMMY MacLERNON JIM 'Whiskers' TANSEY

Additional Pick-Up Crew

Camera Assistant ANDREW O’ REILLY Location Scout COLM NOLAN

For Egg Post Production

DI Colourist EUGENE McCRYSTAL Visual Effects THOMAS FITZGERALD

20 Assistant Editor ORLA MALONE DI Data Manager MICHAEL HIGGINS Post Production DEE COLLIER Coordinator

For Ardmore Sound

Supervising Sound Editor PATRICK DRUMMOND Dialogue Editor SARAH GAINES FX/Foley Editor CHRISTOPHER WALSH ADR Mixer JOHN FITZGERALD Foley Artist CAOIMHE DOYLE Foley Mixer JEAN McGRATH Recording Mixers JOHN FITZGERALD TOM JOHNSON Recorded at ARDMORE SOUND, IRELAND

For Sponge Music

Strings Arranged by KENNETH RICE String Section WILLIAM BUTT BETH DAVIES JOANNE QUIGLEY KENNETH RICE Vocals EVANNA LYONS All Other Instruments STEPHEN RENNICKS HUGH DRUMM Additional programming NIALL RENNICKS Music Recorded at SPONGE MUSIC (Hugh Drumm) CAULDRON STUDIOS (Ciarán Byrne)

For Technicolor Creative Services (London)

Project Manager NIKKI GROVES Digital Scanning BEN SETTERFIELD DANIEL DOLAN Data Management MATTHEW BENNS DI Sales Consultant MATT ADAMS Rushes Coordinator JAI WILLIAMS Rushes Telecine Grader ROBIN LANGER

21 Rushes Contact BARRY HATSWELL Lab Contact KEITH BRYANT Laboratory Services TECHNICOLOR (UK) 2k Film Transfer TECHNICOLOR (UK) Digital Intermediate EGG POST PRODUCTION Camera Rental THE PRODUCTION DEPOT Lighting CINE-ELECTRIC Couriers AERFAST INTERNATIONAL Walkie Talkies SHOOT NI Car Hire ATLAS CAR HIRE EPK KEVIN HUGHES Section 481 Funding ANGLO IRISH BANK Insurers JOHN O'SULLIVAN Media Insurance Auditors BROPHY GILLESPIE Production Legal Services JAMES HICKEY Matheson Ormsby Prentice

With Thanks to

Cáit Collins John Leahy Adrian Devane Lauren Mackenzie Alan Duffy Jackie Mills Ann Farrelly Laurence Murphy Keith Faulkner Rufina Recks Frank Gilsenan Offaly County Council Stuart Hetherington Tullamore Golf Club Edel Kennedy Tullamore Rugby Club Gerard Killally The People of Tullamore

With Special Thanks to Diarmaid Breathnach Mark Byrne Teresa McGrane Alan Maher Andrew Meehan Simon Perry

22 Music Credits

‘Let’s Dance’ Written by Chris Rea Performed by Pat Ennis, Bernard Coyle, Joseph Rabbette, Alan Recks © Magnet Music Ltd By kind permission of Warner/Chappell Music Ltd.

‘Is This The Way To Amarillo’ Written by Neil Sedaka & Howard Greenfield Performed by Pat Ennis, Bernard Coyle, Joseph Rabbette, Alan Recks © Kirshner Songs Inc. By kind permission of Warner/Chappell Music Ltd.

'Love It When You Call' Written by Daniel Sells, Richard Jones, Kevin Jeremiah, Ciaran Jeremiah, Paul Stewart Performed by The Feeling Published by EMI Music Publishing Ltd. Courtesy of Island UK (Under Licence from Universal Music Operations Ltd.)

'Now That I’ve Found It' Written by Tim O'Donovan Performed by Neosupervital © NSV Music 'All My Friends' Written by J. Murphy Performed by LCD Soundsystem Published by Guy with Head and Arms Music (Administered by Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.) Licensed Courtesy of EMI Records Ltd.

'Addicted To Company' Written by Maher Performed by Paddy Casey Published by Sony/ATV Music Publishing © 2007 Sony BMG Music Entertainment (Ireland) Ltd. Licensed Courtesy of Sony BMG Commercial Markets (UK)

'Beautiful' Written by Moby Performed by Moby Published by Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. & The Little Idiot Music Licensed courtesy of Mute Records Ltd. & Warner/Chappell Music Ltd.

'July' Written by Edmund Enright Performed by David Peyton © Warner/Chappell Music Ltd.

'True' Written by Gary Kemp Performed by Eileen Walsh Licensed courtesy of Reformation Publishing

2 'The House of the Rising Sun' Written by Alan Price Performed by Harry Shiels © EMI Music Publishing Ltd.

'The House of the Rising Sun' Written by Alan Price Performed by Sinead O'Connor  EMI Music Publishing Ltd. Licensed Courtesy of EMI Records Ltd.

'Birdseed and Trash' Written by Edmund Enright, Ben Parker and Jason Hazeley Performed by Mundy Published by Warner/Chappell Music Ltd. & Universal Music Publishing MGB Ltd. Licensed courtesy of Camcor Recording

Developed with the assistance of Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board Produced with the support of investment incentives for the Irish Film Industry provided by the Government of Ireland Made with the support of the Sound & Vision Broadcasting Funding Scheme, a Broadcasting Commission of Ireland Initiative Produced in association with RTÉ Filmed on location in Co. Offaly, Ireland, with the assistance of Bord Scannán na hÉireann/ the Irish Film Board Regional Film and Television Fund

© 2008 Samson Films Ltd. All Rights Reserved

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