{"id":466507,"date":"2026-05-03T14:26:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T14:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/466507\/"},"modified":"2026-05-03T14:26:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T14:26:11","slug":"director-i-want-all-my-films-in-west-cork-theres-a-vibe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/466507\/","title":{"rendered":"Director: ‘I want all my films in West Cork… there\u2019s a vibe’"},"content":{"rendered":"

After two successful Cork-shot horror films, Bantry film-maker Damian McCarthy is back with his latest feature, Hokum.\n <\/p>\n

Shot in West Cork, the film stars Severance actor Adam Scott as an American writer who travels to Ireland on a personal pilgrimage, only to find himself at the centre of a mysterious disappearance in a haunted hotel.<\/p>\n

McCarthy says the idea for the story came to him during post-production on his last film, Oddity, while he was staying in a hotel.<\/p>\n

\u201cI spent a lot of time in a hotel room during post-production. I was writing the script [for Hokum], and I thought, \u2018What\u2019s the manager\u2019s story? What\u2019s going on with the owner or the bellboy?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought, who would all those characters be as our protagonist landed at the hotel?\u201d<\/p>\n

Scott\u2019s character is not particularly likable, but as the film unfolds, the audience learns why he is so prickly.<\/p>\n

It is not an easy role to play, but Scott injects humanity with ease -so, was McCarthy, a long-time fan of Scott, always intending to cast him?<\/p>\n

He says no, but he was very glad he agreed to sign on.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would never write with an actor in mind because you would be disappointed if you didn\u2019t get them,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe character isn\u2019t likeable, but he had to be engaging for an audience. It had to be somebody who could play unlikable without being detestable.<\/p>\n

\n \u201cComedians can usually get away with saying things that have an edge. I\u2019d always been a fan of Adam. You get lucky sometimes with film-making. He had seen my previous film, Oddity, and was curious about what I was doing next.\n <\/p>\n

\u201cThe script (for Hokum) found its way to him, and he really liked it; he liked the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

McCarthy explains why the character is tricky for an actor to portray.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the first act, he is almost pushing the audience away, and the audience looks forward to this guy getting his comeuppance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe second act is about learning why he is the way he is, and the audience begins engaging with him.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor an actor, it\u2019s interesting to approach a character who can be a little cruel, but someone the audience begins to understand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Did having a Hollywood actor on board change the stakes for McCarthy, or was it simply another day on set?<\/p>\n

\"DamianDamian McCarthy, Director of Hokum<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a big thing. Even the Irish cast, like David Wilmot and Peter Coonan – people that I\u2019d be a big fan of and always wanted to work with… but you put it aside and work with them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only thing was that we were filming when season two of Severance came out. I was dying to see it, but I couldn\u2019t. It would have been too odd to watch it every night and work with Adam the next day. He found that quite funny.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Hokum was filmed throughout West Cork and at Skibbereen\u2019s West Cork Studios, and McCarthy says it was a brilliant opportunity to film at the studio.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u00c9da\u00edn O\u2019Donnell and Stephen Park, the founders of the studios, both have years of experience in filmmaking. I had worked with them on Oddity, but this was my first time working in West Cork Studios.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor my previous films, I built small sets at Bantry House because I\u2019m friends with the family, and they were very supportive. This time, because the set was such a large build, we needed a proper space – and that\u2019s exactly what West Cork Studios is designed for.\u201d<\/p>\n

McCarthy says filming was a great experience for all involved and he hopes to continue working in West Cork.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a good vibe; when the cast or crew had time off, they\u2019d go off and explore West Cork, come back from whatever little adventure they\u2019d been on, and come back relaxed. I hope to make all of my films there, for as long as I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most film-makers tend to look outside Ireland when they have success, but McCarthy\u2019s love for Cork is strong, and he says Hokum was an opportunity to showcase what the county has to offer, ensuring that he can keep working at home.<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved growing up in Cork, and I love living here, and I want to stay here and keep doing it.<\/p>\n

\u201c Hokum was a big test. Could I get an international star to come all the way down to the south-west, to see us in action, make use of the locations, and experience the welcome and hospitality that Cork offers?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe same with the producers, they came from the UAE, New York, and Hollywood, and they loved it.<\/p>\n

\"AdamAdam Scott in Hokum. Damian McCarthy is a long-time fan of the star<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole Cork experience did what I wanted it to do. It sent everybody back overseas, going, \u2018Cork is a really nice place, it has great people, and the crews here are amazing – let\u2019s do more of that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

McCarthy is a film-maker on a mission, already looking ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know the next two films that I want to make, and they\u2019ll hopefully get bigger and bigger, because every film I\u2019ve made has taken a little bit of a jump.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo that would be the plan: get everybody back together and keep doing it in Cork.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for Hokum, he is enjoying that his work appeals to diehard horror film fans and cinemagoers who tend to be wary of scary films.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe nicest thing about this, and Oddity, is when people who wouldn\u2019t be the biggest horror fans enjoy it. They tell me that they enjoyed that there were more than just scares, that the character\u2019s journey was interesting, and that they enjoyed the twists and turns.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the other hand, because I\u2019m such a big horror fan, a jaded horror fan will say to me that this caught them off guard and scared them, and that feels great too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Hokum opened in cinemas on May 1, Cert: 15a.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After two successful Cork-shot horror films, Bantry film-maker Damian McCarthy is back with his latest feature, Hokum. Shot…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":466508,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[263],"tags":[33310,33309,33308,3262,18,117,19,17,327,33307],"class_list":["post-466507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-cork-entertainment","tag-cork-film","tag-cork-music","tag-downtown","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-movies","tag-stevie-g"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116511112458982355","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=466507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/466508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}