The magazine Cassandra Voices have been kind enough to publish my short story ‘Island State’.
They show midget porn in the Double Down Saloon. We drink Coronas and the house cocktail, Ass Juice. The money shot in midget porn comes after the action, when the burley stud zips up his little person partner and fucks the suitcase out the window. I am flirting with a roller derby queen. We have consumed great quantities of some cheap imitation of falafel, which demands drink in its roiling savoury language, and on its own bowel wrenching terms. On the street her Disney princess miniskirt and whiffle bat get catcalls. I line up shots at the wing mirrors of parked cars and strike out.
The days of blogspamming my podcast are over! Everybody wants to love you now has a dedicated host / website. We’ve moved to Libsyn, a podcast host that’s been making shows happen even longer than me. Always wanted to try them, and it’s a vote of confidence in the show to put a few quid behind it each month. We’re going to keep working to bring better guests, better sound, be funnier and frankly have me dominate the mic a little less. Hope you’ve been enjoying it so far. If so, give us an auld email!
If you like the show you can subscribe at any of the links below.
New video I shot and edited for Berlin based musician Mariama Jalloh is out now. Link in Bio.
Director: Mariama Produced, mixed and mastered by Manuel Schlindwein Shoot, cut, grade: Gareth Stack Make Up: Larissa Hewan Pauli Hair: Lucia Binta Lammertmann Styled by Kasapio
Very special thanks to Nicole O’Connor for help, and support and most of all Ay Wing and El Loftie for making this video shoot happen in the first place.
This video was shot over two hours, as part of a larger shoot. Another video coming soon from the same shoot.
This was a really special one, with a herculean effort for all involved to make something amazing on a micro budget. Amazing work by producer James Tiberius Galvin of Shoot Cut Grade, DOP Andy Flaherty, cam / gimbal hero Ismael Diarra, stars Mike Timms, Chris Wilson and Áine Ní Loingsigh and all their friends, and of course my favourite guest star Nicole O’Connor. Thanks to Michael Stack for use of the run down house that was our location, and Ciaran Taylor, artistic director of Carpet Theatre, for lending us the costumes!
Sonairte in Winter is a short educational film presented by climate activist and nature educator Nicola Winters. The 30 minute film is available for private showings at schools and conferences, online and off.
“Sonairte [pronounced SON-ART-A] is an interactive visitor centre, located on the coast off Meath, promoting ecological awareness and sustainable living. The name Sonairte is derived from a middle Irish word meaning “positive strength”.
Sonairte was established as a charity in 1988 by members of the local community and concerned environmentalists to promote environmental awareness and education. At Sonairte we work with groups from all backgrounds, ages and abilities, including pre-schools, primary schools, post primary schools, third level institutions, tour groups and youth groups. We also provide facilities and programmes for the general public, community groups and interested individuals.
Our courses aim to provide information, education and practical skills on a range of topics, such as biodiversity, organic gardening and sustainable living. Our approach is holistic, and with small numbers on each course, learner focused.”
I spent the second half of December shooting these nine short plays for DU Conservatoire (DIT Drama Department to you and me). They’re an interesting bunch, with some genuinely great performances amongst them. Shot in hopefully a more cinematic way than most ‘zoom theatre’.
I built a custom shoulder rig to shoot these plays, and alternated between shoulder mounted, handheld, gimbal and tripod shooting, throughout.
Another video long held back by the pandemic, is finally here. It’s my music video for Crumlin based hiphop trio ‘Powerful Creative Minds‘. This is the first single off their upcoming EP. This video was a bit of a family project as not only did I work with long term collaborators James Van De Waal, and Greg O’Reilly, my girlfriend Nicole O’Connor stars and helped out with the animation.
Credits – courtesy PCM.
This is our first single of our upcoming EP ‘39’ 3️⃣9️⃣
This song is inspired by some of the relationship and friendship problems some people close to us have faced over time.
‼️All video content was shot prior to lockdown‼️
Director / Editor – Gareth Stack Camera – James Van De Waal / Greg O’Reilly Animation – Nicole O’Connor
Starring – Nicole O’Connor + Daniel Hanks Extras – Fadgie Alan , Woolfie O’Brien , Doug O’Sullivan , Markel Hendrix , Snoozie Byrne, Ross Mooney , Nicole Kelly Special Thanks to me Ma and Da and Gareth and his fantastic team for all their work
Early this year I was approached by Professor Richard Roche of Maynooth University, and musicians Aural Air (Dr. Laura Rai) & Patrick McEleney. Laura & Patrick had written a song articulating the experience of living with Alzheimer’s disease. The song was a fundraiser for the incredible Alzheimer’s Ireland, and was intended to be released during the ‘Brain Awareness Week‘ event run by the Neurological Alliance of Ireland.
Inspired by a beautiful episode of ‘The Truth’ podcast, called ‘Can You Help Me Find My Mom‘ by Diana McCorry, I developed the concept of a young girl lost in the city, who doesn’t know who or where she is, until love helps her recover her memory.
We filmed the video over a week in Dublin, with incredible help from Patricia Pierce of Our Lady’s Hospice, and all the staff at the National Botanic Gardens. Professor Roche himself produced the video and even has a cameo as a put upon doctor! Laura (a neuroscientist herself) starred, alongside veteran actor and retired psychologist Professor Emeritus Mike Timms (who previously cameo’d in my video for Chris Wilson’s ‘Now I See You‘. Finally we had the immense privilege of working with renowned Irish actress Rosemary Henderson who in addition to touring with her own show about dementia, based on her experience caring for her father, is well known at home and abroad for her work on shows like Fair City and of course Father Ted.
Our director of photography was the incredible Siobhán Rose Madden, who previously worked with me on the epic video ‘Pardon Me‘ for Shy Mascot. And our gaffer was Paul Lynch of Studio 4, without who’s help we could not have pulled this together.
The video (like everything else it seems) was delayed due to the pandemic, but we’re delighted to be able to release it today. Thanks again to everyone who gave so generously of their time. Please donate to Alzheimer’s Ireland if you can. Times are hard, but this is a brilliant charity, helping some of the most vulnerable people in our society. Alzheimer’s and dementia in general affect everyone – whether directly or through their impact on fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, friends and colleagues. Right now my own family help care for our eldest living relative, my great aunty Anna, who’s battling dementia. With luck, and the help of organisations like Alzheimer’s Ireland, research can defeat this cruel disease.
My partner, artist and graphic designer Nicole O’Connor was award a commission to paint an electrical box in Dublin. The Dublin Canvas initiative offers artists from around the city the opportunity to create an officially sanctioned piece of urban art. Adding a splash of colour to these otherwise unslightly pieces of street furniture. In this short doc, Nicole describes her connection to the city and the process involving carrying her digital design to the streets.
If you’d like to see the box in person, head on down to Island Bridge in Dublin 8. The box is just a few feet down the street from the Storyboard Cafe.
Last year my friend Shane Connelly approached me with a proposal to create some short documentaries for the Velo City festival. Velo City is a huge cycling transport policy event that happens in a different city each year. Last year Dublin played host. Shane and I are both avid cyclists. Both intensely disturbed by our cities laggardly pace in creating a usable cycling infrastructure. And by the casualties of drunk and wreckless drivers are poorly adapted roads, and lax driver safety enforcement create. We’d been bothered too by research evidencing what we as cyclists had gradually become aware of. An attitude amongst an enormous number of drivers that cyclists aren’t quite human. We wanted to emphasise the individuality of bike users. Cutting across every demographic of Dublin’s vibrant multicultural community. The organised cycling groups can at times convey the image of a helmeted, lycra clad, hyper fit faceless cyclist, unintentionally feeding into the idea of the cyclist as an obstruction, rather than a vulnerable person sharing the road with potentially lethal machines. We were lucky enough to obtain funding for the project from Dublin City Council’s Arts Office and the Velo City conference itself. We put the call out to the cycling community and found an incredible and varied bunch of Dubliners to take part. The films were finished just in time for the conference and screened at a one off event in a city centre arts space.
Covid has given me the time to return to the project, re-editing and grading each short, and adding music. Over the next few weeks I’ll be posting each of the seven final ‘micro documentaries’ to the website http://wellspuntales.com/
Here’s the first one, featuring the delightful Irish writer Lucille Redmond, introducing us to the Dodder Park in Dartry.
Gareth Stack - Blog 