William Michael Joseph Whelan is an Irish composer and musician. He is best known for composing a piece for the interval of the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest. The result, "Riverdance", was a seven-minute piece of original music accompanying a new take on traditional Irish stepdance that became a full-length stage production and spawned a worldwide craze for Irish traditional music and dance. The corresponding soundtrack album earned him a Grammy. "Riverdance" was released as a single in 1994, credited to "Bill Whelan and Anúna featuring the RTÉ Concert Orchestra". It reached number one in Ireland for 18 weeks and number nine in the UK. The album of the same title reached number 31 in the album charts in 1995.
Pierce Brendan Brosnan OBE is an Irish actor and film producer. He was the fifth actor to play the fictional secret agent James Bond in the Bond film series, starring in four films from 1995 to 2002 and in multiple video games.
Riverdance is a theatrical show that consists mainly of traditional Irish music and dance. With a score composed by Bill Whelan, it originated as an interval act during the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, featuring Irish dancing champions Jean Butler, Michael Flatley and the vocal ensemble Anúna. Shortly afterwards, husband and wife production team John McColgan and Moya Doherty expanded it into a stage show, which opened in Dublin on 9 February 1995. As of 2023, the show continues to tour the world.
Pauline McLynn is an Irish character actress and author. She is best known for her roles as Mrs. Doyle in the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted, Libby Croker in the Channel 4 comedy drama Shameless, Tip Haddem in the BBC One comedy Jam & Jerusalem, and Yvonne Cotton in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.
The Tailor of Panama is a 2001 spy thriller film directed by John Boorman from a screenplay he co-wrote with John le Carré and Andrew Davies. Based on le Carré's 1996 novel of the same name, it stars Pierce Brosnan and Geoffrey Rush. Rush portrays the title character, a former convict turned tailor who is strong-armed by an amoral MI6 agent (Brosnan) into spying on the Panamanian government. Jamie Lee Curtis, Brendan Gleeson, Catherine McCormack, Leonor Varela and Harold Pinter co-star, along with Daniel Radcliffe in his film debut.
Quest for Camelot is a 1998 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Warner Bros. Feature Animation and directed by Frederik Du Chau and very loosely based on the 1976 novel The King's Damosel by Vera Chapman. It features the voices of Jessalyn Gilsig, Cary Elwes, Gary Oldman, Eric Idle, Don Rickles, Jaleel White, Jane Seymour, Pierce Brosnan, Gabriel Byrne, John Gielgud, Frank Welker, and Sarah Rayne. Andrea Corr, Bryan White, Celine Dion, and Steve Perry perform the singing voices for Gilsig, Elwes, Seymour, and Brosnan. The story follows Kayley (Gilsig), the adventurous daughter of a Knight of the Round Table killed by the power-hungry Lord Ruber (Oldman). When Ruber's renewed attempt to usurp Camelot from King Arthur (Brosnan) by stealing Excalibur goes awry, Kayley enlists the help of the blind recluse Garrett (Elwes) and a two-headed dragon, Devon and Cornwall, to help her retrieve the sword and save the kingdom.
Brendan Gleeson is an Irish actor and film director. He has received various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, two British Independent Film Awards and three IFTA Awards, along with nominations for an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards and five Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was listed at number 18 on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors. He is the father of actors Domhnall Gleeson and Brian Gleeson.
The Snapper is a 1993 Irish television film directed by Stephen Frears and starred Tina Kellegher, Colm Meaney and Brendan Gleeson. The film is based on the novel by Irish writer Roddy Doyle, about the Curley family and their domestic adventures. For his performance, Meaney was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.
Cinesite is an independent, multinational business which provides services to the media and entertainment industries. Its head office in London opened for business in 1994, initially offering services in visual effects for film and television, subsequently expanding to include animation.
The Secret of Kells is a 2009 animated fantasy drama film about the making of the Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript from the 9th century.
John Kavanagh is an Irish actor who has acted on the stage, in over twenty films including Cal (1984), Braveheart (1995) and Alexander (2004), and on television. Most recently, he is known for his portrayal of The Seer in the History Channel series Vikings. He has received a number of accolades, including a Drama Desk Award nomination in 1989 for his role in a revival of Juno and the Paycock.
Domhnall Gleeson is an Irish actor and screenwriter. He is the son of actor Brendan Gleeson, with whom he has appeared in a number of films and theatre projects. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Media Arts from Dublin Institute of Technology.
David Downes is a composer, pianist, producer, and music director who is known for both contemporary composition as well as work in the commercial field, particularly with Riverdance and as founder of Celtic Woman.
Aisling Clíodhnadh O'Sullivan, known professionally as Aisling Bea, is an Irish comedian, actress and screenwriter. She created, wrote and starred in the comedy series This Way Up on Channel 4. As a stand-up comedian, she won the So You Think You're Funny award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2012, being only the second woman to win the award in its then-25-year history. She also appears regularly on light entertainment comedy panel shows such as QI and 8 Out of 10 Cats.
Lilly Saini Singh is a Canadian YouTuber, television host, comedian, actress and writer. Singh began making YouTube videos in 2010. She originally appeared under the pseudonym Superwoman, her YouTube username until 2019. In 2016, she was included in Forbes list of world's highest paid YouTubers ranking third and earning a reported $7.5 million. By 2017, she was ranked tenth on the Forbes list of the world's highest-paid YouTube stars, earning a reported $10.5 million; as of February 2022 she has 14.7 million subscribers and over three billion video views. Forbes named her one of the 40 most powerful people in comedy in 2019. She has received an MTV Fandom Award, four Streamy Awards, two Teen Choice Awards and a People's Choice Award. In addition, Singh has received nominations for a Daytime Emmy Award and two Canadian Screen Awards.
Peter Rabbit is a 2018 comedy film based upon the character of the same name created by Beatrix Potter, co-produced by Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Olive Bridge Entertainment, Animal Logic, 2.0 Entertainment, and Screen Australia, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. It was directed by Will Gluck, who also produced the film with Zareh Nalbandian, from a screenplay and story written by Gluck and Rob Lieber. James Corden stars as the voice of the title character, with Rose Byrne, Domhnall Gleeson, Sam Neill, and Marianne Jean-Baptiste in live-action roles, as well as the voices of Daisy Ridley, Elizabeth Debicki, and Margot Robbie. The film's story focuses on Peter Rabbit as he deals with new problems when the late Mr. McGregor's great nephew arrives and discovers the trouble Peter's family can get into.
Aniventure is a British content creation and intellectual property company based in London and set up in 2013 to produce family-oriented feature animation.
Jermaine Fowler is an American actor, comedian, producer and writer. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Prince Lavelle in the 2021 romantic comedy film Coming 2 America and Franco Wicks on the CBS sitcom television series Superior Donuts.
