Laura O'Shea: Shadow Directing on The Dry & Hidden Assets Season 2

Career Progression from Acting to Directing

Laura found her own organic route into filmmaking while pursuing acting. Originally from Limerick, she moved to Dublin to study acting at Bow Street Academy. While Bow Street has a renowned track record of successful graduates, opportunities for actors are competitive and Laura found herself among many actors who realised that producing one’s own work is a way to get seen and stand out.

Directing started out as a vehicle to project my acting career. Despite getting first-rate training as an actor in Bow St, I found the lack of auditions and opportunities that were available to me as an actor a little underwhelming. A couple of us from my year decided to get proactive and start making work ourselves and force people to look at us. It was a budget of €500. It went on and won best short. A €500 short on the longlist for a BAFTA!

A pivotal piece of work for Laura was when she directed and starred in her first short film, Hold the Line, on a modest budget of €500. A tender story drawn from personal experience of working in customer service. The short was well received at film festivals and propelled her profile as a filmmaker forward, reaffirming her determination to forge her path in the industry. Subsequently, she and Tony Doyle wrote, directed and starred in the the short Match.

I cannot express how little we knew what we were doing. It was a shock, but a great incentive to keep going. So we made a few more, did a festival run and won some awards for Match. I realised that we made people feel things and that I didn’t care if I wasn’t in them. I wanted to direct. It happened very naturally.

Her next short was the IFTA-nominated Wednesday's Child, which won the Oscar® qualifying Tiernan McBride Award for Best Short Drama at the 34th Galway Film Fleadh, making Laura the first woman to receive this honour in over 20 years. Subsequently, she was awarded the DIFF Discovery Award, which celebrates emerging Irish talent at the Dublin International Film Festival in 2023.

Wednesday’s Child was my third short and the first that wasn’t my script or my baby. The film won the Tiernan McBride Award for Best Short Drama at the 34th Galway Film Fleadh. This was a huge achievement and gave us tremendous wind in our sails. It was a lovely sign from the universe to continue pursuing my passion. Since then, I've been striving to work on larger sets to understand their operations, which has brought me to where I am now.

Shadow Directing Experience on The Dry & Hidden Assets Season 2

Laura's evolution as a Director has been marked by a series of milestones, each contributing to her growth and development. From the intimate portrayal of personal experiences in her early shorts to shadowing experienced Directors on notable projects like The Dry and Hidden Assets Season 2, Laura's journey underscores the importance of seizing opportunities for learning and mentorship. Her transition into television directing, particularly as a Shadow Director on Hidden Assets, provided invaluable insights into the fast-paced nature of TV production and the nuances of visual storytelling.

I think across the board, TV is so fast paced compared to feature or short film sets. There is no time for lamenting certain things. Just getting the pace in my bones was really useful. Being sat beside the Director and script supervisor in a full-time capacity you see how it works and you absorb it into your DNA.

Laura’s experiences on The Dry and Hidden Assets Season 2 were vastly different but equally enriching. During a 10-day shadowing on The Dry under Director Paddy Breathnach, she followed a structured learning plan. Furthermore, Laura would also receive dedicated one-on-one professional mentoring support from Paddy, having been selected to participate in Screen Ireland's Screen Mentoring Scheme.

I was so lucky to shadow Paddy and Thaddeus, they are seasoned and have done it a long time. Rarely seeing them stressed and having them be so cool and calm was great and was so useful. They were setting the tone for the rest of the crew. They keep their heads and it trickles down to everyone else. The Directors were incredibly supportive and approachable, making the experiences really invaluable. I kept a shadow journal and had regular check-ins from the Skills Officer Miriam Cahill and Skills Development Executive Emer MacAvin from Screen Ireland.

In contrast, her 11-week shadowing position under Director Thaddeus O'Sullivan on Hidden Assets Season 2 was a full-time commitment. She was given extensive access to all aspects of the production beyond the shadow directing role, with access to all the rough cuts and producers' notes, which provided the most comprehensive shadowing experience she has had.

One of Laura’s most significant learning opportunities came from working with Director Thaddeus O’Sullivan. Coming from an acting background, Laura found it particularly valuable to work with Thaddeus from a visual perspective, bridging her knowledge gap in visual storytelling and further enhancing her directing skills.

Thaddeus was a Director of Photography first, so he has an automatic visual thing, which really filled a gap for me, especially in setting up a shot.

Career Progression & Future Opportunities

Building on this experience and her successes, Laura continued to pursue new opportunities with determination and persistence. Recognising the momentum gained from her previous successes, she was keen to leverage her achievements to advance her career further.

After Wednesday’s Child I knew I had to strike while the iron was hot. I was knocking on doors and bugging people. I now have an agent in the UK who represents me and puts me forward for work and gets me meetings.

Throughout her career, Laura remains committed to honing her craft and pushing boundaries creatively. Her directorial style, characterised by a blend of filmic realism and human connection, reflects her fascination with capturing the extraordinary in ordinary moments. Looking ahead, Laura is determined to secure her first TV credit as a Director and is actively pursuing opportunities to helm her debut feature film. In addition to her own creative endeavours, she has also been actively involved in mentoring and advocating for talent and skills development for emerging filmmakers. This has extended to her returning to Bow Street, as a mentor on a crash course for short filmmaking. 

Laura's journey highlights the challenges and opportunities facing aspiring filmmakers in the Irish screen industry. In a landscape of evolving trends and emerging voices, her advice to aspiring Directors echoes her own experience—embrace the process, make your own work, and embrace the lessons learned along the way.

You need to give yourself that agency to have control over your future. It will make you better. By the time you come around to actually making it you will know 17 things you don't need to do. Far more valuable than sitting around and planning. Just get out and do it. If it is awful you don’t have to show anybody!

About The Dry

When Shiv Sheridan returns to Dublin after years of partying in London, she is sober and full of good intentions - but being back with her family makes staying on ‘the dry’ much harder than she expected. As Shiv tries to navigate this new phase of her life, so must her family, and they all have issues they don’t want to face.

The Dry Seasons 1 and 2 are now streaming on the RTÉ Player.

About Hidden Assets Season 2

Retreating to Co Clare, Ireland, Bibi Brannigan is struggling to deal with the fallout from her past crimes when an attempt on her life forces her to approach the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) in search of a deal. In return for protection, she will help them uncover the true conspirators behind a previous Belgian bombing campaign. But there have been changes in CAB and a new team lead DS Claire Wallace is less inclined than her predecessor to deal with Bibi. When the threat can no longer be ignored, Claire, along with Counter Terrorism Unit’s Christian de Jong embark on a lethal, high stakes investigation with international political implications where nothing is as it seems.

Hidden Assets Seasons 1 and 2 are now streaming on the RTÉ Player.