A Belfast-born director and writer has said that winning a Hollywood film award on the birthday of his late father is a moment that will 'stay with him forever'. Gavin Irvine grew up in Saintfield before taking his creative talents around the world.
Originally a musician, Gavin fell into the world of film after his band broke up and found it the perfect medium to explore his creativity and now has won over 30 major awards at national and international film festivals. In April this year, he received word from the Hollywood Independent Film Festival that he had won Best Short Film.
He told Belfast Live that his beloved home town is never too far away in his work and that Northern Ireland will always inspire his creative process.
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Gavin said: "I started off playing in the school orchestra at Annadale Grammar - I played the bass drum. Basically, my initial thoughts were that this was a great way to skip classes! But I came to really enjoy being part of the orchestra.
"When putting a film screenplay together, I think of myself as being the composer and conductor of an orchestra. How each movement/scene drives the story forward and how it will take the audience through an emotional rollercoaster.
"I ended up playing the bars and hotels in and around Belfast. We also played gigs in Newcastle, Downpatrick, Saintfield and Ballynahinch. It was a lot of fun. I loved living in Belfast - I loved the vibe and the city's energy, and I still do, but I was always encouraged by my parents to 'spread my wings' so to speak and when I got accepted into Portsmouth Uni to study Fine Art, off I went.
"I fell into film-making when my last band broke up - I found that this medium allowed me to combine my art and music. Within a year of being a filmmaker, and to my surprise, I was winning awards - I took to film-making like a duck to water. I was also very lucky to be mentored by two very famous filmmakers, Ken Russell and Peter Greenaway."
Taking to his new passion like a duck to water, two of Gavin's greatest film successes fell on one day - a date that held a special sentimental meaning to the filmmaker.
"On April 24 this year, something quite extraordinary happened. I was in Hastings for the Hastings Rocks Film Festival and my satirical short film, Daddy's Note, won Best Comedy.
"A few hours later, I received an email from the Hollywood Independent Film Festival telling me that I'd just won the Best Short Film award - It was unbelievable! And then I remembered, April 24 was my father's birthday - Walter Irvine - he has been deceased for 26 years now.
"I was very fond of my father and I miss him a lot. He had an infectious laugh and lit up a room when he walked in. It felt like from somewhere he was looking after me. I'm not a religious man, but winning two awards on your father's birthday was something special - something really special!
"Like all the planets aligning at once. I couldn't stop smiling. It's a special memory for me and will stay with me forever," he explained.
He added: "It is slightly surreal, to be honest, but it just shows you how well Irish/British humour travels. There is a great tradition of comedy artists from this side of the Atlantic that have succeeded on the West Coast, and it's an honour to now be part of that tradition."
Daddy's Note is a satirical critique of modern-day British morality exploring the main themes of the loss of innocence within the youth of our society, the British class system, and the hypocrisy that seems to be the norm within politics.
Gavin continued: "For me, Daddy's Note embodies the punk ethos. It was shot on the hoof - guerrilla-style and it had no budget. It has an underlying political message that's held together with safety pins! The film came about after I saw a young boy around seven years old with his father at the newspaper stall in Sainsbury's, Camden. The Tory party leadership contest was in full swing - which Boris eventually won.
"The headline that all the papers carried that day was that Michael Gove had admitted taking cocaine. The young boy was absorbing these headlines and my thought process and the question going around in my head was basically; how had this type of headline become so normalised and at what age are our children losing their innocence with sex, drugs and violence."
Gavin says that despite being now based in London, his "voice is Belfast through and through" and that the humour that we are known for in Northern Ireland has never left him.
"I'm seeped in it - I love it! I embrace it! We say it how it is in Belfast and the ribbing I take from my mates when I'm back home is fierce - it's the way it is and I wouldn't want it any other way. Still, I'm pretty good at dishing it out myself," he said.
"Behind every one of my characters in my films there'll be a reference to someone I know from NI - it may be downright obvious or perhaps much more subtle, but be assured, it's there."
He is now in the process of creating his first feature film 'Little Dipper or Bust!' where he has cast Portrush actor Andrew Porter in one of the leading roles.
"I think the whole country could do with a laugh at the moment, and that's what I would like to do - try and make not only the UK laugh but the world. Laughter is the cure to all ails."
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