Shimmy Marcus

Shimmy Marcus is an Irish filmmaker.

Shimmy Marcus
Born1966
Dublin
Occupation(s)Film director, Sound engineer

Early life

Marcus was born and raised in the Dublin suburb of Terenure, the son of Louis Marcus (twice Oscar nominated documentary film-maker). He was educated at Stratford College, and studied Business Management and Advertising in Dublin Institute of Technology.

After some years of traveling around the world, Marcus returned to Dublin in the early 1990s to work briefly as a recording and live sound engineer before turning to stage lighting and design. He developed stage lighting for several Irish indie bands at the time, including Engine Alley,[1] LiR, Peach, and The Unbelievable Children.

Career

He wrote his first speculative screenplay Headrush over Christmas 1994 and it was optioned shortly after by Ed Guiney of Element Films. He made his first short film in 1998, 7th Heaven, which won the "Best Short Film" award at the Irish International Film Festival in New York.[2][3] In 1999, he won the Miramax Scriptwriting Award for Headrush.[4]

In 2000 he released the feature documentary Aidan Walsh: Master of the Universe[5] which he directed, produced, and co-edited about underground cult performer Aidan Walsh. The film went on to win awards and became the first documentary made on video to receive theatrical and video distribution in Ireland.

In 2003 he completed Headrush.[6] Again Marcus received awards and positive reviews, but despite positive reviews in outlets such as Variety,[7] the film failed to receive wide distribution. In 2005 he released the film himself across 10 screens in Ireland, gaining modest box office takings.

Marcus continued experiment with different work, most notably his interpretations of three chapters from James Joyce's Ulysses in the feature documentary Imagining Ulysses[8] and his series of Limelight Shorts[9] commissioned by the Dublin Theatre Festival to celebrate their 50th Anniversary.

Marcus also directed a documentary for RTÉ's U2 Night (25 June 2005), and a music videos for Fun Lovin' Criminals, Snow Patrol, Gavin Friday, Skin (Skunk Anansie),[10] Republic of Loose, and BP Fallon with Jack White.[11]

In 2009 he complete his second feature Soulboy.[12] Set against the backdrop of the Northern Soul scene in the North of England in the mid 1970s, the film came second in the "Audience Award for Best Film" at its premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. The low budget film was well-received by some critics.[13][14] and was released in the UK in September 2010. The Guardian called it The Comeback Kid for punching above its weight at the box office.[15]

His second feature documentary, Good Cake, Bad Cake about the Irish band LiR and their quest to make it in the music business, also received strong reviews on its limited release.[16][17]

Since then, Marcus has made two more award-winning short films, Rhinos and Hannah Cohen's Holy Communion. In 2014 he set up Bow Street Academy for Screen Acting in Smithfield, Dublin, where he is the artistic director.

Filmography
  • Holocaust Survivors living in Ireland (Documentary) (2016)
  • A Disconnected Rhythm (Documentary) (2014)
  • Hannah Cohen's Holy Communion (Short) (2012)
  • Rhinos (Short) (2011)
  • Good Cake Bad Cake - The Story of Lir(2013)
  • Soulboy (2010)
  • Breaking Boundaries (2008)
  • Headrush (2003)
  • Ivor the Insomniac (2001)
  • Aidan Walsh: Master of the Universe(2000)
  • 7th Heaven (1999)

References
  1. Engine Alley - Dancing Queen on YouTube Retrieved 2011-01-11.
  2. "Short Filmmaking in Ireland - The Irish Film & Television Network". www.iftn.ie. Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  3. "Shimmy Marcus". sdgi.ie. Screen Directors Guild of Ireland. Archived from the original on 2 January 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2022. 7th Heaven [..] Winner Best Short Film, Irish International Film Festival, New York
  4. Ted Sheehy (17 March 2000). "Marcus wins Miramax, Irish Film Institute award". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
  5. Aidan Walsh - Master of the Universe on YouTube Retrieved 2011-01-11.
  6. HEADRUSH on YouTube
  7. KEN EISNER. "Headrush Review". Variety.
  8. "'Imagining Ulysses' Gets Top Honour In Chicago". IFTN. 3 August 2004. Archived from the original on 29 September 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
  9. "LIMELIGHT - the Forgotten". YouTube. Archived from the original on 17 June 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  10. Skin - Nothing But on YouTube
  11. BP Fallon: I Believe In Elvis Presley produced by Jack White III on YouTube
  12. SoulBoy2010. "SoulBoy Trailer". Archived from the original on 30 June 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2016 – via YouTube.
  13. Anthony Quinn (3 September 2010). "Soulboy (15)". Independent. United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  14. "Shimmy Marcus Introduces 'Soul Boy'". 20 August 2010. Archived from the original on 26 December 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
  15. Charles Gant (21 September 2010). "Comeback kid Will Ferrell leaves Devil in the dust for top spot in UK cinemas". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  16. Brady, Tara. "Good Cake, Bad Cake: The downfall of the Dublin band once hailed as the next U2". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 29 June 2022. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  17. Tara Brady (7 September 2010). "Shimmying his way back into the limelight". The Ticket. The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
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