September 3, 2010

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Social Media is a Slam Dunk in Dundalk!

July 2, 2010 By Fiona Ashe Leave a Comment

It poured rain all morning (1st July).  So it was up to me to bring sunshine to businesses in Dundalk.  The recession has hit the North East hard, as is the case nationwide.  But professionals in Dundalk turned out in droves at the Ballymascanlon Hotel to find out how social media could help to grow their businesses.  The session was run by Dundalk Chamber and funded by the Louth County Enterprise Board.  The Chamber tell me that 180 people signed in.  180 people!  That’s a reflection of how businesses in Dundalk are engaging with the new digital world we live in, which orients around community and engagement.  I look forward to the follow up sessions.

Bill Tosh (Dundalk Chamber), Ronan Dennedy (LCEB), Fiona Ashe (Social Media Consultant) & Paddy Malone (Dundalk Chamber)

Filed Under: All Blogs, Social Media Marketing Blogs Tagged With: Ballymascanlon Hotel, consultant, director, Dundalk, Dundalk Chamber of Commerce, Facebook, Fiona Ashe, Ireland, LCEB, Louth, Louth County Enterprise Board, social media, social media marketing, trainer, Twitter, YouTube

Filmflashe#2: “The Long Tail”

July 2, 2010 By Fiona Ashe Leave a Comment

Chris Anderson explaining “The Long Tail” i.e. why Hollywood has been interpreted as representing the majority of people’s taste in film, but why the internet proves this isn’t true. Niche markets have a “long tail”.

Filed Under: All Blogs, Directing Blogs, Film Industry News Tagged With: Chris Anderson, director, directors, drama, Facebook, film director ireland, Filmflashe, Fiona Ashe, Long Tail, social media marketing, The Long Tail, Twitter, YouTube

Filmflashe#1: The New Process of Cinema

June 11, 2010 By Fiona Ashe Leave a Comment

Welcome to Filmflashe!

It’s a forum exploring how we can all become more involved in the new process of cinema, which will elevate our enjoyment of films and ensure that the films we want to see get made and distributed.

Since it’s our first day on set, so to speak, here’s an extraordinary paper delivered at the Power To The Pixel Cross Media Film Forum by renowned indie producer, Ted Hope, giving insight into this evolving cinematic process:

Take Back What Has Always Been Yours

Producer Ted Hope addressing the Power To The Pixel Cross Media Film Forum 2009

You can read further insights on Ted’s blog, Hope For Film, and his website Truly Free Film.

If you would like to keep up-to-date on the latest developments in film production, distribution and the convergence between film and social media, please connect with Filmflashe on Facebook and Filmflashe on Twitter

Filed Under: All Blogs, Directing Blogs, Film Industry News Tagged With: cross media, cross media film forum, drama, film, film director ireland, Fiona Ashe, hope for film, indie producer, power to the pixel, ted hope, truly free film

Social Media Revolution

May 6, 2010 By Fiona Ashe 2 Comment

Social media has revolutionised the way we communicate and do business:

This is an updated YouTube video of facts and figures from Erik Qualman, author of the book Socialnomics.  It contains extraordinary insights into the massive impact of social media.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this, so please leave a comment below.

Filed Under: All Blogs, Social Media Marketing Blogs Tagged With: Erik Qualman, film director ireland, Fiona Ashe, Ireland, Irish, social media marketing, Socialnomics, Twitter, YouTube

GPS for your Online Marketing

April 20, 2010 By Fiona Ashe Leave a Comment

Imagine setting out on a journey with oodles of routes to choose from to get to your destination…

How do you choose the best route?  What are your needs: shortest time vs cost-effectiveness (no tolls) vs safest roads vs nicest scenery?

The same criteria applies to online marketing.  There are many ways to achieve growth and source new clients for your business through the use of online tools such as your website, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and Twitter to name but a few.  But which one(s) are right for you?

My Social Media Marketing Audit analyses your current use of social media tools, what you would like to achieve using online marketing and creates a roadmap for you to get there.

It identifies the most effective route for you to get where you want to go and makes your journey a whole lot easier!  So click here to drive more traffic to your website!

Filed Under: All Blogs, Social Media Marketing Blogs Tagged With: director, Facebook, Fiona Ashe, GPS, LinkedIn, online marketing, online marketing audit, online marketing consultant, online marketing roadmap, roadmap, social media, social media marketing, social media marketing consultant, Twitter, website, YouTube

Script ‘Work’ in Central Park

March 28, 2010 By Fiona Ashe 6 Comment

Sunshine, Central Park and a super writing partner – the ingredients of a productive screenplay development meeting.  And I was blessed to have them all in New York City on 18th March as John David Mann and I met to work on the script for the movie of “The Go-Giver”.

It was a long-awaited meeting.  John and I have been communicating and collaborating online for many years.  It felt more like a reunion than a first meeting.  We began our day with coffee and gifts.  John presented me with an autographed copy of his and Bob Burg’s new book “Go-Givers Sell More”.  I was humbled to see that these two great men had honoured me with an acknowledgement in the book.  I’m still overwhelmed by this.

Anyway, it was a beautiful sunny day in New York City.  Much too nice to work inside!  So we walked up to Central Park and spent most of the day there, batting ideas back and forth about how to best serve the story of “The Go-Giver” through the medium of film.

John David Mann & Fiona Ashe in Central Park

The sunshine – and a saxophonist entertaining the crowds – must have been good for our creativity because we generated lots of interesting ideas for the movie (honestly, we weren’t just working on our tans and eating ice-cream!)  It’s too early to publish these ideas yet, but we are very pleased with how the project is developing.  Watch this space for further updates!

I’d love to hear how the principles in “The Go-Giver” book are working for you in your lives, so feel free to share your experiences below.

Filed Under: Directing Blogs, New York City, Writing Blogs Tagged With: Bob Burg, Central Park, film, Film Director, film director ireland, Fiona Ashe, Go-Giver, Go-Givers Sell More, GoGiver, John David Mann, New York, New York City, screenplay, screenplay development, script, script development, The Go-Giver

Why Communicate Through Video?

February 25, 2010 By Fiona Ashe Leave a Comment

Video is the most engrossing and persuasive medium and has exploded as a communications currency over the past few years. Communicating through video gives us an opportunity to show potential clients that we are professional, likeable and trustworthy. This is crucial to growing businesses because it’s proven that people will buy from others that they like and trust.

Since 93% of communications effectiveness comes from how we look and sound rather than what we say (Professor Albert Mehrabian, UCLA), non-verbal signals such as facial expressions, gestures, eye contact, posture, and tone of voice are crucial. Video – unlike e-mail and text – empowers us to use these to influence buying decisions by educating the viewer about our products and services, personalising our companies and building our brands.

So why the growth in video communications and what is its relevance to growing our businesses? For possible answers, check out this video of me on the radio talking about video.

The benefits of video marketing are extensive. Not only does it provide an additional marketing message outlet, but it also satisfies the audience’s desire for interactivity and ‘on-demand’ content.

Here’s a way for you to decide for yourself what video can do to help grow your business. Find a company that supplies products/services similar to yours and has video content on its website. Watch the videos and ask yourself how they influence your decision about whether or not to buy from that company. Then look at your own website and consider how similar audio-visual content would help you connect with new clients. If I can be of any help in generating ideas to meet your specific needs, I’d love to hear from you: Director [at] FionaAshe [dot] com.

Video facilitates us to communicate our message effectively via so many platforms, including:
♦ corporate videos
♦ ads / promos streamed on the internet and mobile phones
♦ videos of our events, presentations and conferences
♦ podcasts / video podcasts of media interviews
♦ video blogs
♦ video testimonials

Final Tip: authenticity is the core of communicating!

Filed Under: Directing Blogs Tagged With: ads, Alvert Mehrabian, communicate, corporate videos, Fiona Ashe, Mehrabian, podcasts, promos, social media marketing, UCLA, video, video blogs, video podcasts, video testimonials, videos, YouTube

Tribute to Michael Dwyer

January 3, 2010 By Fiona Ashe Leave a Comment

It is with great sadness that I heard of the death of The Irish Times’ film correspondent, Michael Dwyer.

Photo courtesy of The Irish Times

Photo courtesy of The Irish Times

The warm comments posted throughout the blogosphere demonstrate the popularity of his film reviews, which elevated the appreciation of film in Ireland.

Michael was more than a film critic, though. His passion for film motivated him to become actively involved in ensuring that Irish audiences got to see arthouse films through his work with the Federation of Irish Film Societies, the Dublin Film Festival and its successor the Dublin International Film Festival. Through these, he was also instrumental in bringing international filmmakers to Ireland to share their expertise and experience with us.

He was also instrumental in furthering and promoting the careers of Irish filmmakers and he publicly supported political initiatives which strengthened the Irish film industry.

Tributes to him can be posted here

Michael was a man of integrity and influence, of personality and passion. May he rest in peace.

Filed Under: Film Industry News Tagged With: award, BBC drama, blogosphere, Bob Burg, Cracks In The Ice, Darklight Film Festival, director, drama, Dublin Film Festival, Dublin International Film Festival, Facebook, Federation of Irish Film Societies, film, film correspondent, film critic, film director ireland, Fiona Ashe, Irish Times, John David Mann, Michael Dwyer, Rapunzel, Rapunzel - The Blonde Years, Screen Directors Guild of Ireland, SDGI, short film, The Go-Giver, Trish Groves, Tudors, Virtual Cinema

Newspaper Article ‘Drogheda Director Tipped For Top’

September 24, 2009 By Fiona Ashe Leave a Comment

The name Fiona Ashe may soon be mentioned in the same revered tones that movie-fans used to utter the names of directors Jim Sheridan and Neil Jordan.

Indeed, the Drogheda woman’s short film ‘Shades of Gray’, which she shot in New York City, was described by Oscar-nominated Sheridan as ‘very good….very well directed”.

Murder Scene

Now, award-winning Fiona, who lives in Roschoill, is not only enjoying great success with her medieval comedy ‘Rapunzel – The Blonde Years’, filmed at Barmeath Castle in Co Louth, but is attached to direct the movie adaptation of Wall Street Journal bestseller ‘The Go-Giver’ by Bob Burg and John David Mann.

‘It’s a hugely exciting time, and from having always wanted to direct films or be involved in television in some way, it’s great to be realising my ambitions, and with such amazing writers,’ the former Sacred Heart girl says.

‘Rapunzel – The Blonde Years has already secured distribution and has screened at the Galway Film Fleadh, Dublin’s Darklight Film Festival, the 11/22 Comedy Shorts Film Festival in Austria and the Notting Hill festival, which toured London, Rome, Chicago and Cannes.Rapunzel asleep lo-res

‘It is due to screen at the International Film Festival Ireland in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, and the Silk City Fest in Connecticut, USA shortly, and it has had an amazing 50,000 hits on Youtube so far.’

A graduate of Dublin City University where she received an Honours Degree in Communications Studies, Fiona also graduated from the New York Film Academy with a Diploma in Advanced Film Directing.

Her digital short film, ‘I Love You Suzie’, received its world premiere at the Boston Irish Film Festival 2007 and the following year she completed ‘Save Tara Valley’, about a human aerial art project on the Hill of Tara opposing the construction of the M3 motorway through the historic Tara Valley. The film features Irish Hollywood star, Stuart Townsend.Stuart still 1 full

‘A real highpoint came in February 2003 when I was selected for the first ever Berlinale Talent Campus – a winter film academy which brought 500 filmmakers from 61 countries together on the fringes of the prestigious Berlin Film Festival,’ she says.

Fiona’s latest project sees her adapting the book ‘The Go-Giver’ by Bob Burg and John David Mann for screen, as well as taking on the task of directing this hugely popular tale.Go-Giver-bookcover-thumb

‘I’ve always been a fan of the book, so it is amazing to have been selected to direct it,’ she says

More details on Fiona’s films and her marketing and communications company can be found on www.FionaAshe.com

Filed Under: Directing Blogs Tagged With: Alison Comyn, award, Barmeath Castle, Berlin Film Festival, Berlinale Talent Campus, Blonde Years, Bob Burg, Cannes, Communications, Darklight Film Festival, director, Drogheda, Drogheda Independent, Dublin City University, Fiona Ashe, Galway Film Fleadh, Go-Giver, Jim Sheridan, John David Mann, Louth, marketing, movie, Neil Jordan, New York, New York Film Academy, Oscar, Rapunzel, Save Tara Valley, Shades of Gray, Stuart Townsend, Wall Street Journal

‘The Soloist’

September 15, 2009 By Fiona Ashe Leave a Comment

Who directed ‘Atonement’?

Tip 1: it earned him an Oscar nomination
Tip 2: he also directed ‘Pride & Prejudice’ a few years ago.

He’s not a “brand name” director, like Steven Spielberg or Quentin Tarantino.  But he should be.  And probably will be.

His name is Joe Wright and I just saw his latest movie ‘The Soloist’.  It’s a moving story about how a disillusioned LA journalist, Steve Lopez (Robert Downey Jr.), tries to help a schizophrenic, homeless musician, Nathaniel Ayers (Jamie Foxx), who possesses extraordinary talent, even through his half-broken instruments.  As their challenging friendship develops, each must confront their deepest frustrations and fears, resulting in a transformational journey for both.

This is the third collaboration between Wright and composer, Dario Marianelli, who won an Oscar for ‘Atonement’.  A recent Dublin screening, arranged by the Irish Film & Television Academy, was the first time the Marianelli saw the finished film.  He said parts of it made the hairs stand up on the back of his neck.

The film is full of visual metaphors and smart editing.  The sound design is amazing, integrating natural sound effects with Marianelli’s adaptation of Beethoven’s compositions.  Featuring a fantastic performance from Jamie Foxx, this is an uplifting “must-see” movie and a reminder to directors like myself how to serve the needs of the audience.

Filed Under: Movie Reviews Tagged With: Atonement, Beethoven, Dario Marianelli, director, directors, Fiona Ashe, Irish Film & Television Academy, Jamie Foxx, Joe Wright, Oscar, Pride & Prejudice, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Downey Jr., Soloist, Steven Spielberg
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