Biography
Since forming Deadpan Pictures with Paul Donovan in 2014, Ailish and Paul have produced some of the most critically acclaimed TV shows to come out of Ireland, including Can’t Cope Won’t Cope, Northern Lights and Dead Still establishing Deadpan Pictures as the comedy drama production company in Ireland. 2025 saw the opening of Deadpan Pictures North, our Northern Ireland based entity.
Recent productions include Video Nasty, a comedy-drama series with a horror twist for BBC, WDR with Boat Rocker Studios. Irish Blood starring Alicia Silverstone, returnable murder mystery copro with Shaftsbury in Canada, which has become AMC Acorn’s highest preforming series ever; This is Not a Murder Mystery, a darkly comic period murder mystery for the New8 and Studio Canal made in coproduction with Panenka in Belgium; Showkids a family comedy for RTE and Madgic Distribution; Northern Lights, a limited drama series for TG4, Streamz and ZDFNeo in association with Screen Ireland and Lionsgate TV.
Prior to establishing Deadpan Pictures Ailish was Head of Production/ Producer for Grand Pictures. She is a graduate of Inside Pictures 2019, TransAtlantic Partners 2013, Eave 2007 and holds a diploma from UCLA in Film Development and a B.Sc in Film and Broadcasting from DIT. She was a founding member of the Irish Chapter of Women in Film and Television.
Areas of Expertise for Mentoring
• Television and film development, financing, production, distribution and marketing
• Running a small business
• Particular emphasis on scripted content, drama and more particularly comedy drama.