Father Ted duo team up for new Irish comedy
Father Ted actor Ardal O’Hanlon will begin promotion for new Irish movie ‘Wide Open Spaces’ next week. The film penned by Father Ted Co-Writer Arthur Mathews and directed by Tom Hall of Bachelors Walk fame began shooting on November 10th.
The comedy tells the tale of two slackers who work to pay off a debt by helping to build a Famine Theme Park for a dodgy local entrepreneur. With a classic double-act at the center, ‘Wide Open Spaces’ is a unique take on male friendship and how it is easier to break up with a girl than with your best friend.
Wide Open Spaces is a co-production between Irish company Grand Pictures (Spin the Bottle, Stew, Paths to Freedom) and Scottish company Mead Kerr (Night People). The film is being funded by Bord Scannain na hEireann (The Irish Film Board), Scottish Screen, RTE and BBC Scotland. Entertainment One are handling world sales.
Paul Donovan of Grand Pictures commented: ‘This is a very funny script with great comic talent attached. We believe Wide Open Spaces will make audiences laugh out loud at the absurdity of all our lives.”
Carole Sheridan, Head of Talent & Creativity at Scottish Screen said “Investment in Wide Open Spaces provides Scottish producer Clare Kerr with her second feature film credit and first credit on an international co-production. Although the film will shoot in Ireland, post-production will be done in Scotland, and Scottish crew have been brought on board to work with their Irish counterparts. This is the first of three projects that Scottish Screen has committed to invest in alongside the Irish Film Board; the other projects will shoot in Scotland. Scottish Screen is delighted to be entering into what we hope will be a sustained partnership.”