Echoes In Grey was produced as part of a 24 hour film challenge. The South East 24Hour Film Challenge was a collaboration between Waterford Film Centre and South East Women in Film and took place on the weekend of July 19th and 20th 2025. The beautiful script for the film was written by Martina Collender who normally works with scripts for stage. The music was composed and performed by Dawn Kenny.
The filming started at 12noon on the Saturday and everything including the editing, music compostion and colour grading was completed and the film submitted by 12 noon on The Sunday. The judging, and the screening of the films took place that Sunday evening. The film received awards in the following categories:
- Best Cinematography: Echoes in Grey
- Best Production Design: Echoes in Grey
- Best Sound: Echoes in Grey
- Best Production: Echoes in Grey
- Best Grade and VFX: Echoes in Grey
- Best Director: Echoes in Grey
The film was made by the kind permission of Annestown House. This is a wonderful location in Annestown Village overlooking the Copper Coast. We had a variety of rooms and grounds available to us.
Press Release by Emma Walsh
Local Team Wins Big in 24-Hour Film Challenge
Make a Film in 24 Hours? No Problem!
At midday on Saturday, 19 th July, a group of fearless creatives, led by Producer & Director of
Photography, John Foley, and Director, Deirdre Collender, met in Annestown House in Co.
Waterford. Their mission: To make a 5-minute film in 24 hours.
This was the challenge laid down by Waterford Film Centre in their 24-Hour Film Challenge
to encourage teams of creatives in Waterford to work together, develop their skills, and gain
experience in the film industry. There were numerous awards at stake, including a whopping
€1,000 for the winning film.
As part of the challenge, each team had to make a film in Waterford, incorporating a
Waterford landmark. And as if making a film in 24 hours wasn’t challenging enough, each
team was given a prop one hour before starting, along with a complex line of dialogue, both
of which had to be incorporated into the film!
Up for the Challenge!
The group spent the day in the atmospheric Annestown House on the Copper Coast filming
a beautiful script, Echoes in Grey, by Waterford writer Martina Collender. Based on the
theme of coping with grief, the story followed Neve (played with great sensitivity by Lisa
Dunne) as she came to terms with the death of her artist mother Elizabeth (played by her
real-life mother Gina McGrath). Supported by her father Andy (played by accomplished
Stradbally actor Pat Power), Neve turns to art herself to help process her grief.
On the day, the team filmed a total of 11 scenes in 4 & ½ hours, including one last-minute
addition to the schedule – a scene incorporating the line of dialogue and prop (a gun) that
had been received just an hour before kick off! A bit of brainstorming over one last coffee
before filming began and the idea for a flashback nightmare scene was agreed – a creative
way to incorporate a gun and a line of dialogue that involved a fire in an unidentified location
up the road, a telly that had gone on the blink and someone sewing tiny trousers on Socks
on Tuesday in a film dealing sensitively with grief.
With a great atmosphere on set, everyone worked tirelessly to ensure that every detail was
taken care of. Nothing was too much trouble and everyone really enjoyed the experience.
And the Award Goes To…
On Sunday evening, Waterford Film Centre held a screening of all the films submitted in the
challenge. All the film teams gathered in St. Patrick’s Gateway at 6 pm for the “premieres” of
their films.
Team “Echoes in Grey” was absolutely thrilled to take home a total of SIX awards! Best
Director, Best Production, Best Cinematography, Best Grade & VFX, Best Sound, and Best
Production Design! Commenting afterwards, John said, “What a team! Each and every team
member threw themselves into the project and worked seamlessly together to bring my
vision for Martina’s wonderful script to life. I’m delighted everyone’s work and talent has
been recognised in so many important categories. Congratulations to all the teams and
award winners involved and thanks to Waterford Film Centre for all they do to grow and
support the filmmakers of Waterford city and county.”
For now, John and the rest of the team are taking a well-earned break… but watch this
space as I’m sure this multi-award winning team will be making the news again in the future!
Cast: Lisa Dunne (Neve), Gina McGrath (Elizabeth), Pat Power (Andy), Millie Piper (Child),
Emma Walsh (narrator)
Crew: John Foley (Producer / Director of Photography), Deirdre Collender (Director),
Martina Collender (Screenwriter), Dawn Kenny (Musician/Composer), Lorraine Hogan
(Assistant Cinematographer & Editor), Aidan Grant (Sound), Emma Walsh (Assistant
Producer), Tony Whelan (Logistics), and Owen Murphy (Assistant)