*Ken O’Sullivan. Photograph: George Karbus
RENOWNED film-maker Ken O’Sullivan is bringing his brand new live show to Ennis, a unique experience where he will enthrall audiences with images and stories from life under the sea.
Stories From The Sea is the aptly named show which is going to take place in glór theatre, where world-renowned film maker O’Sullivanwill share his vast knowledge from 25 years of documenting and exploring the North Atlantic Ocean.
Multi-award winning O’Sullivan has worked on numerous projects over the years which have appeared on BBC, CBC Canada, ITV UK, RTE and more. He is possibly best known for Sea Fever, a feature-length Irish surf documentary filmed over the course of two years between 2005 and 2007 to capture the mood of Irish surfing throughout the seasons.
Speaking about his stage show, Ken tells The Clare Echo, “I show excerpts from my documentaries. I have made over 20 documentaries at this stage and then I tell people the stories behind them”.
Ken aims for this show to be an education to the viewers, relishing in educating his audience on the wonders of our seas and ocean.
“The thing that I find the most gratifying in my work is when people come up to me and they say ‘oh my God I never knew we had that in Ireland, I never knew we had sharks, I never knew we had so many dolphins’ and that people are surprised by the abundance of animals in our seas and the beauty in our seas.”
With a 25 year long career there was bound to be some bumps and derailments along the way. Ken puts his success down to his sheer determination and persistence.
“Back in the early days it was hard to get a break, and I spent years trying to make a documentary about humpback whales and I got refused by 17 broadcasters and 14 countries and I had three small kids, a mortgage and no money coming in so it was really really hard. I just kind of kept going though and believing in myself ”.
Ken’s advice to any avid film maker is, “You have to believe in yourself and keep going, that’s all you can do”.
A career highlight for O’Sullivan, is when he donated his work to the secondary school curriculum. It is “my proudest professional moment, it’s great. It means that every teenager in Ireland will get to see humpback whales and basking sharks off the coast of Clare and Cork”.
Stories from the Sea is unlike anything Ken has done before, the show plays in glór on the 22nd of April at 7:30pm.
