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‘Hold the Line’ an engaging tale by a Limerick-born actress is off to a great start

‘Hold the Line’ is a filmed directed by Laura O’Shea and it is a great start for Laura transforming from an actress to a director. The film was officially selected by the DISFMF 2018.

‘Hold the Line’ an engaging tale by a Limerick-born actress is off to a great start

by ilovelimerick Correspondent Baoyan Zhang

‘Hold the Line’ is an engaging tale by a Limerick-born actress when it is off to a great start. The 12-minute long film could be regarded as director/actress, Laura O’ Shea’s best work, this year. 


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This was the first time Ms. O’Shea managed three poignant roles that of an actor, director and story writer. She co-directed it by herself and Karen Killee.

‘Hold the Line’ tells a story of a young woman, Emily working at a call centre, coming across different people and different stories every day. One such day stands out in Emily’s life, it unfolds to be a difficult than the usual day with a number of ‘customer care queries’ and is on the brink when she picks up a call from a lady named Patsy.

 

The script idea was influenced by Laura’s own life: “I wrote the script based on my real life experience. I worked at a call centre in Limerick for a year when I was 23 so that I could save money and pay for Acting School in Dublin. During that year, I came across people from all walks of life. Some good, some not so good. Every day brought something different. While it was a tough environment at times, people never failed to surprise me.”

The phone call that inspired Laura in her short film was from the lovely lady that shared everything about her life with. The lady was an average person but she has brought delight to the young Laura.

hold the line

‘Hold the Line’ the short film directed by Limerick-born actress Laura O’Shea tells a story of a young woman, Emily working at a call centre, coming across different people and different stories every day.

“That lovely lady has been talking about everything happened to her on the phone for ages and we got to know each other through the phone calls,” recalls Laura, “It is actually a character that anyone can relate to.”

It was Laura’s first attempt in scripting and producing a film after 4 years into her acting career. Laura said that she enjoyed being a film producer, which was different from acting.

“As an actress, you might not get the part that you want or you like to play for yourself. So it is better for me to pick up a pen and a paper to make my own project. When acting in front of the audience, I would get a little bit nervous, but I get involved easier when I am in my own work.” said Laura.

However, what Laura enjoyed the most was to sit down with the editor and watch the playback again and again since making a film telling a completed story in 15 minutes might be more difficult than telling a story in an hour.

Also, only one character lining up the whole story seems more challenging for Laura, “It was just me acting on the camera. Actually, the monodrama is hard to keep people’s attraction. The audience would easily lose interest if there is nothing catch their mind. In this film, there is a 6-minute long phone call which means that I will have to go in the right direction to get my audience out of the bore.

The film was shot in May and fully finished in July this year. Laura is excited for what she has done with Karen and the crew. It is a film that people would relate their life to and resonate. “The best thing about producing films is to make laugh or make people cry. You need to hit the emotion from one to the other and then you can hit the sweetbox.” Laura said.


 Laura’s first directed film, ‘Hold the Line’ has become the winner of Elevation Indie Film Awards in Ireland and it was selected by a number of film festivals and awards, including DISFMF 2018.

For more information on Laura O’Shea, go here

For more stories on Limerick filmmakers, go here

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