Writer | Producer | Director
JIM SHERIDAN
Jim's films have been nominated for
16 Academy Awards, 14 Golden Globes,
3 WGA's, 8 BAFTA's, 3 Berlinale, and 8 IFTA Awards
IFTA LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
FILMOGRAPHY
Year Title
1989 My Left Foot
1990 The Field
1992 Into the West
1993 In the Name of the Father
1995 Three Moons
1996 Some Mother’s Son
1997 The Boxer
1999 Agnes Browne
2002 In America
2005 Get Rich or Die Tryin’
2009 Brothers
2011 Dream House
2016 The Secret Scripture
2017 11th Hour
2018 Shelter Me
2021 Murder at the Cottage
2023 Peter O'Toole, Along the Sky Road to Aqaba
2023 North Star
2025 Re-Creation
2025 Lockerbie
2025 Lions of the Sea
2026 Standing Bear
2026 Dusty
2026 Hiba
JIM'S CAREER HIGHLIGHTS SHOWREEL
BEHIND THE SCENES IMAGES FROM JIM'S CAREER
JIM SHERIDAN'S CAREER HIGHLIGHTS SHOWREEL
LATEST NEWS & PROJECTS FROM JIM
Paris-Based Goodfellas Snags Worldwide Sales Rights to Galapagos Adventure Doc ‘Lions of the Sea’
Vincent Maraval’s Goodfellas has seized the worldwide sales rights to Galapagos adventure doc “Lions of the Sea,” which wrapped principal photography in mid-January.
“Sea” is the latest from Italian-Ecuadorian explorer-filmmaker Luis Felipe Fernández-Salvador y Campodonico, best known by his nom de cinéma, Jamaicanoproblem, and whose film “A Son of Man” was Ecuador’s official selection for the 2019 Academy Awards.
Described by the filmmaker as “a fictional account grounded in science,” “Lions of the Sea” is set in the Galapagos Islands where a young sea lion struggles to fend for himself in the face of food scarcity and after losing his mother while fleeing from illegal fishermen. Determined, he sets out to find a new sanctuary. “I hope to call attention to the problems that beset the islands, not only from climate change but from over-fishing on the perimeters of the archipelago and other factors that have led to the decline of the sea lion population on some islands by roughly 60%,” says Fernández-Salvador, who has visited the UNESCO World Heritage site all throughout his life, calling it his “personal paradise.”
Along with lead producer Adam Leipzig, former president of National Geographic Documentary Films, and co-producer Mido De Santi, Fernández-Salvador led a team of world-class talent that includes editor Hervé Schneid who won a César for “Amélie,” and a couple of Academy Award-winners: executive producer Guillermo Navarro, the Oscar-winning DP of “Pan’s Labyrinth,” and sound designer Nicolas Becker (“Sound of Metal”), who will also compose the music soundtrack with Quentine Sirjacq (“Black Flies”).
They also assembled some of the best underwater cinematographers in the biz, including Jeff B. Hester, Dan Beecham, Jenny Baumert and Santiago Cabral. Digital imaging technician Jota Salazar and advance unit cameraman Joshua Vela completed the technical crew that were armed with the latest in gear, including drones, underwater sea scooters and tow cams.
“With this dream team of filmmakers, we are creating a tentpole adventure documentary filled with wonder and amazing animal characters,” says Leipzig, who led National Geographic’s Sundance acquisition of hit documentary “March of the Penguins.”
“The film will inspire audiences through emotional, entertaining connections with Galapagos sea lions and other creatures, and move people worldwide to care and caretake our environment,” he adds. “The stunning images we captured have far surpassed our script, with unexpected scenes that have enhanced the original story,” notes Fernández-Salvador.
The production plans for an Oscar or Grammy winner for the narration.
“Whoever is going to join us on this, I hope will fall in love with it as much as we have, as it’s not just a job or an opportunity, it’s a worthy cause, a mission,” says De Santi, who says that in the three weeks he was on location, he witnessed the highly experienced crew adroitly handle the logistical and creative challenges that came their way.
Towards the end of the two-month shoot, violence erupted in Ecuador as a gang leader’s prison escape triggered a series of attacks that peaked with gunmen disrupting a television show live on air. Its newly elected president, Daniel Noboa, immediately announced a state of emergency, which included an 11 p.m. curfew.
“Fortunately, it happened towards the end as travel was disrupted and it would have complicated the shoot,” says De Santi. “The delays were mostly in filming the animals; sometimes we’d go for weeks without getting a single shot,” says Fernández-Salvador.
His U.K.-based Paracas Independent Films leads the multi-country production that includes Amaxona Studios (Canada), Keaf Production (Ecuador), Cinema Libre (France), Sunyata Films (Belgium) and Mescalito Films (Italy).
Post production, led by Oscar-nominated producer Chadi Abo (“The Cave”), begins this month.
Meanwhile, Fernández-Salvador is prepping his next film, “Bananaland,” which he hopes to shoot across Ecuador in 2025. A recently introduced tax credit incentive of 37% for local and foreign location shoots will likely be in place before then.
An Taibhse (The Ghost)
The first ever Irish language horror feature film to premier at Galway Film Fleadh.
An Taibhse (The Ghost), the first Irish language horror film ever made. Executive Produced by the visionary director Jim Sheridan, six-time Oscar nominee, this groundbreaking cinematic horror brings forth a bone-chilling tale set in the haunting backdrop of Ireland's notorious famine era.
Transporting you back to the year 1852, amidst the bleakness of a desolate Ireland. The story follows Éamon and his daughter Máire, who are employed as caretakers for an isolated Georgian Mansion during the harsh winter months. Little do they know that this seemingly peaceful assignment will unleash a nightmare of supernatural proportions.
As the bitter cold winds howl through the desolate landscape, a malevolent force begins to stir within the mansion's walls. Dark secrets of the past awaken. With every creaking floorboard and flickering candle, the suspense intensifies, and the characters' sanity hangs by a thread.
Prepare to be captivated by the stunning cinematography, expertly crafted set designs, and an exceptional cast that brings the characters to life with raw emotion and palpable fear. With every twist and turn, An Taibhse weaves together elements of folklore, history, and the supernatural, taking you on a terrifying journey that will leave you questioning the very fabric of reality.
Colm Meaney, Aidan Gillen Join Jim Sheridan’s True Crime Drama ‘Re-creation’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Colm Meaney and Aidan Gillen have joined Vicky Krieps in the cast of six-time Oscar nominee Jim Sheridan‘s upcoming true crime drama “Re-creation.”
Meaney has appeared in dozens of high-profile films and series over the past forty-plus years but is best known as Star Trek’s Chief Miles O’Brien in “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” and “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” Gillen boasts a similarly impressive resume, with his most memorable turns coming in HBO’s “Game of Thrones” and “The Wire.”
Sheridan said of the newly-announced castings,
“I am delighted to have two icons of Irish cinema join the cast.”
“Re-creation” co-writer and co-director David Merriman added, “Colm and Aidan both have starred in some of my favorite films and shows. As artists, they both elevate any project, and we are so grateful to have them onboard.”
“Re-creation” is produced by Tina O’Reilly of
Hell’s Kitchen in Ireland and Fabrizio Maltese of Luxembourg’s Joli Rideau Media with backing from Screen Ireland, Film Fund Luxembourg, Eurimages and the Doha Film Institute. Sheridan is the executive producer. Documentary segments are being shot in Ireland, France, and the U.S., while the fictional sequences will be filmed on a sound stage in Luxembourg.
Latido Films is handling international sales and shopping the film to interested distributors at this year’s Marché du Film. “Re-creation” will be ready for distribution by Q3 of this year.
DUSTY THE MOVIE, A JIM SHERIDAN FILM.
Soul Singing Sensation, Magnificent 60s Icon & Trailblazer Social Activist.
Dusty Springfield – her music and extraordinary life, is finally getting its first motion picture outing with support from Screen Ireland, inspired by the star’s largely unknown Irish heritage.
Six times Oscar nominee Jim Sheridan has been signed up to direct the untold and moving story of Dusty Springfield, the 1960’s soul-singer and aims to bring her life and music to a new generation. The iconic singing sensation, born Mary O’Brien from Irish immigrant stock in London, came out as gay in 1972, was kicked out of South Africa in 1965 for refusing to sing in front of a segregated audience, and fought for dozens of other causes while embracing the ‘Swinging 60s’ and struggling with her own demons.
The acclaimed star who spent most of her adult life in the UK and the US, died in 1999 and had her ashes cast off the dramatic Cliffs of Moher, on the West Coast of Ireland.
Titled ‘Dusty’, the film tracks the journey taken by the young Mary O’Brien – from her shy and timid persona with a hauntingly unique singing voice - into her triumphant alter ego, Dusty Springfield. Secretly gay, Mary, lived her life trapped in agonising silence before overcoming her convent school, Irish Catholic background, to transform herself into a daring alter ego - Dusty Springfield. Her silky, and sensual voice went on to define the sound of the sixties, with songs such as ‘I Only Want to Be with You’….’Son Of A Preacher Man’….’You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me’.
Jim Sheridan tracks the highlights and low-lights of her life and interweaves her fight for sexual equality and social justice with the loves and struggles of her own existence - from her love affair with Motown music - to her first meaningful relationship with a black female backing singer in New York.
Sheridan is excited about getting inside the remarkable transition from the shy, shamed Mary O’Brien, into the dazzling gay icon that Dusty became.
He said: ‘Suffering for her challenges, fighting other people’s causes, she endured mental agony before finally reconciling herself and her sexuality in harmony with her music and her audience. In the end, Dusty reconnects with the real Mary O’Brien and is happy to do so and that is the essence of the story we are keen to capture’.
It is familiar territory for Sheridan who directed the 2005 cult favourite ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin’ (Paramount) with ‘Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson based loosely on his 2002 album of the same name.
‘I am tremendously excited to be part of the project and to take on the challenge of telling the story and revelling in the music of an extraordinary woman and singing sensation. She wore every cause on her sleeves and fought against racism, promoted gender equality and gay pride at great cost to her personal and professional life. Her life and her music are built for a biopic of this type and her Irish background and life among the Irish diaspora of London really appeals to me and it is a world that I know very well. She was a remarkable woman, decades ahead of her time’.
Sheridan is sharing the writing credit with young British writer, Sameera Steward who had been working on an adaptation of the acclaimed biography of the star by Karen Bartlett; Dusty Springfield ‘An Intimate Portrait of a Music Legend’ for UK producers, Bob Blagden and Tony Virgo (Little by Little). The Irish production company Dare Films Ireland, which worked with Sheridan on a recent Sky Documentaries project ‘Murder at the Cottage’, are the lead producers and have been supported with early development funding from Screen Ireland.
The film is expected to go into full production in early 2025. Sheridan is currently in discussions with a number of actors for the coveted role of Dusty. ‘It is a remarkable opportunity and an unforgettable role. Naturally, we are keen to get the right actor to play this exciting and complex part’ Sheridan said.
JIM SHERIDAN AND ANDREW TROY TO CO-DIRECT LONG ANTICIPATED “STANDING BEAR” FILM
Film highlights Ponca Chief Standing Bear’s legacy
Filmmakers Jim Sheridan and Andrew Troy have inked a deal to co-direct, write, and produce the long anticipated historical drama feature film I Am a Man: The True Story of Chief Standing Bear. With formal Resolutions of Support from the Ponca Tribe, the film will depict the Ponca’s “trail of tears” march that led to the 1879 landmark trial of Standing Bear vs. the United States of America. This mostly unknown legal case helped all Native Americans to be considered “human beings” also setting legal precedent for many future civil rights matters within the U.S. courts.
Sheridan is an Irish playwright and director whose films including My Left Foot, In the Name of the Father and In America have achieved popular and critical acclaim throughout the world. His films have garnered sixteen Oscar nominations and have won two Academy Awards as well as numerous prestigious international awards. Troy is a Hollywood based producer and director who has spent the past decade developing the project also gaining the support of U.S. & State Officials and Native Americans alike who are enthusiastic about the telling of Standing Bear’s legacy. Troy (Salinger), who recently directed the upcoming independent feature Midnight in the Orange Grove which he co-wrote with American Psycho writer Guinevere Turner is also a recent AMPAS Nicholl’s semi- finalist.
“Standing Bear has been completely left out of our school text books. Traveling the country, I learned that even Native people are unfamiliar with his name and the impact he had on their lives. Chief Standing Bear’s story needs to be told.”, added Andrew Troy.
Notably, with Troy in attendance in 2019, leaders of the U.S. Congress hosted a bi-partisan unveiling ceremony of a new Chief Standing Bear Statue placed in the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. thus making Standing Bear the first-ever Native person to be inducted into Statuary Hall. More recently, the Nebraska Legislature passed a bill providing a one-time five-million-dollar grant to the production. The film is also a recipient of production incentives from the Cherokee Nation Film Office, the CNFO being the first Native American film office to open in U.S. history. Screen Ireland has also provided development incentives.
“I’m delighted to be working with Andrew on this wonderful project.”, added Jim Sheridan
The film will be jointly produced by Troy’s banner Troy Entertainment and Sheridan’s Ireland based Hell’s Kitchen Limited along with producers Luca Matrundola (Tell It Like A Woman, Waiting for the Barbarians, Muti) and longtime Anonymous Content executive Paul Green (The Revenant, Passion of the Christ, The Fifth Estate). Executive Producers are Warren Anzalone, Bart Daly and former Nebraska Senators Colby Coash and Burke Harr. Casting Director is Rene Haynes who recently cast Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, the hit Amazon series The English, and Prey the Native American themed prequel to the Predator franchise.
Peter O'Toole, Along the Sky Road To Aqaba
Coming Soon feature documentary about legendary actor Peter O’Toole who brought a touch of danger to his art and a stroke of madness to his life yet inspired a generation of movie makers.
Reflecting O’Toole's theatrical legacy, this film is structured into four acts each introduced by a quote about O’Toole that encapsulates his life during a specific period.
Each act expands into a holistic narrative addressing questions such as his self-belief, his alcoholism, his relationships with women, his belief in socialism and his selective embrace of Irishness.
While O’Toole's words (gleaned from hundreds of hours of archival interviews) act as a narrator of his own journey, Jim Sheridan further explores the story through interviews with O’Toole’s family, artists, actors and directors that knew him well.
Streaming Now On
Streaming Now On
Michael Hogan, The Telegraph
Some of Britain's greatest actors gather to celebrate O'Toole – known for films including Lawrence Of Arabia – in this nuanced documentary.
This was an absorbing profile of one of our greatest actors and an archetypal hellraiser.
“Director Jim Sheridan’s documentary painted a fond but nuanced portrait of a flawed genius.."
Addie Morfoot, Variety
The revered Irish director, known for narrative films including “My Left Foot” and “In the Name of the Father,” interviewed colleagues and family about the “Lawrence of Arabia” star for “Peter O’Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba.”
They range from Kenneth Branagh, Brian Cox, Anthony Hopkins, Derek Jacobi and Stephen Fry to ex-wife Siân Phillips and daughter Kate O’Toole. Each interview helps shed light on the actor’s complicated yet brilliant life and career.
Noel Murray, Los Angeles Times
“Along the Sky Road to Aqaba” similarly mixes clips with in-depth interviews in profiling O’Toole.
Sheridan leans heavily on comments from the wave of U.K. actors who arrived right after Harris and O’Toole — including Anthony Hopkins, Brian Cox, Derek Jacobi and Brian Blessed. “Along the Sky Road to Aqaba” also features rare and thrilling footage from O’Toole’s stage work, where much of his reputation was made.
Jim Sheridan will write & direct biopic North Star with original songs from U2
Jim will direct his long time passion project North Star in 2023 alongside Executive Producers, Tim Bogart & Jessica Martins of Hero Artists following their success with Spinning Gold. The film will be produced by James Flynn's Metropolitan Films.
Jim's biopic drama is set in 1960s Dublin,Ireland, North Star is the coming-of-age story of 17-year-old Sheamie Sheridan who lives with his rough-around-the-edges father and younger brother Frankie. A journey into the heart and soul of a family, Sheamie finds his world turned upside down when a teenage orphan moves in to live with them, revealing the deeper and more complicated problems Sheamie has with his dad; secrets that now threaten to tear the family apart. In the tradition of Jim Sheridan’s deeply emotional exploration of family from his work on “My Left Foot” to “In The Name Of The Father”, “The Boxer”, and “In America”, Sheridan takes us right into the heart that beats at the center of us all.
U2’s front man Bono and lead guitarist The Edge are in discussions to compose the music for the film, including the title song “North Star.” Bono & Jim have previously collaborated on award-winning music for many films, including the theme song of the film In America and the song ‘Winter’ in the film Brothers.
Sky & Peacock Behind Miniseries About Notorious Lockerbie Disaster; Oscar-Nominated Jim And Kirsten Sheridan To Write
Sky and Peacock are behind a drama based on the notorious 1988 Lockerbie disaster from Academy Award-nominated writers Jim Sheridan and Kirsten Sheridan, Deadline can reveal.
Airing next year, Lockerbie will be based on the search for justice by Dr Jim Swire and his wife Jane who lost their daughter Flora in the air disaster, which killed all 259 passengers and crew on board when it exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, 38 minutes after take off. A further 11 residents lost their lives when the plane came down.
Swire led a campaign for truth and justice and went on a journey that included meeting Libya’s Colonel Gaddafi and successive British Prime Ministers before Libyan national Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was convicted 13 years later. He was released on compassionate grounds in 2009. The series is based on Swire and Peter Biddulph’s book about thee disaster.
The five-parter comes from UCP, Sky Studios and Universal International Studios’ Carnival Films, and represents a big-budget bet for Sky and Comcast-owned NBC streamer Peacock. Sky has tended to co-produce limited series such as Chernobyl with HBO and this show will air on Peacock solely in the U.S., with NBCUniversal Global Distribution handling international sales.
“The Pan Am Flight 103 disaster was one of the world’s deadliest terror attacks that continues to have widespread implications for the meaning of justice in the U.S., Scotland and Libya,” said Jim Sheridan and Kirsten Sheridan. “Over 30 years on, this series takes an intimate and very personal look at the aftermath.”
The Sheridans were both Academy Award-nominated for 2002 Paddy Considine-starring feature In America and Jim Sheridan has also picked up nods for Daniel Day Lewis double In The Name of the Father and My Left Foot.
The pair are writing all episodes of Lockerbie, with Naomi Sheridan guest-writing one. Nigel Marchant and Gareth Neame are Executive Producers for Carnival, with Samantha Hoyle Executive Producing for Sky Studios. Oskar Slingerland also serves as Executive Producer. The series was commissioned by Gabriel Silver, Director of Commissioning for Drama at Sky Studios and Zai Bennett, Managing Director of Content at Sky UK.
Murder at the Cottage
Two days before Christmas in 1996, Sophie Toscan du Plantier was brutally murdered at her holiday cottage in Schull, West Cork. The murder rocked the quiet Irish town and 24 years later, the case remains a mystery. This series sees six-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker, Jim Sheridan, piece together original evidence, never-before-seen footage, and interviews with those closest to the case to try to make sense of what really happened.
All episodes streaming now on
Now streaming in North America on
Mike Hale, The New York Times
"But guilt is not the central question in “Murder at the Cottage,” which fills the requirements of the true-crime documentary without being captive to the format. It is, in the descriptive sense, a work of art, written and directed by the gifted Irish filmmaker Jim Sheridan."
John Anderson, The Wall Street Journal
"Mr. Sheridan displays not just a thirst for abstract truth, and a journalistic doggedness. He expresses a profound regret that someone who was a guest in his country should have been so brutally slain.
Also, like the detective in the classic noir “Laura,” he might be slightly in love with the victim, whom he knows only through her picture."
Rachel Cooke, The New Statesman
"Sky’s Murder at the Cottage is an extraordinary piece of true crime”
“it’s quite extraordinary: if he gives us both mystery and tragedy, this is also televisual psycho-geography”
“Having seen the whole thing, it’s hard to believe Sheridan’s series could be bettered.”
