Award-winning film shot in Ferbane premieres on Apple TV

An award-winning feature film which was shot in Ferbane and Birr is now available on Apple TV+ for the first time for Irish audiences to enjoy.

'Follow the Dead' is the first feature film from Dublin-based Wild Stag Productions and was four years in the making. The zombie apocalypse centres around four family members living in rural Ireland who hear through viral videos that Dublin has fallen as a result of the undead ravaging the city. Given the relevance of fake news today, they are left wondering whether or not the news is true.

Director and owner of Wild Stag Productions, Adam Cahill, said: “Apple was presented to us as an option that we should look at a little bit after we went down the Amazon route. I did say to my distributor that it's really important to me to get it on a platform where Irish people can watch it.”

Follow the Dead has won awards at festivals all over the world, including Best Picture at the Kerry International Film festival and has been streaming online on Amazon in the UK and USA since January of this year, as well as on Tubi, Google Play, YouTube Movies and Vudu.

Ferbane native and actor Tadhg Devery stars in the film, much of which was shot at his home in Glebe, Clonlyon outside Ferbane along with Ferbane town and Birr. Adam explained: I think previous generations would've dealt with trauma a lot better than we do and zombies represent trauma incarnate for me.” He added that he was never going to tell a story like this without making it a comedy which is where Tadhg came in.

Adam and Tadhg had already worked on a few short films together before 'Follow the Dead.' “I knew that he was well able to take on a comedic role. He's sort of the jewel in the crown because there are some incredible dramatic performances.”

Tadhg said that filming 'Follow the Dead' was an amazing experience. Commenting on the film being shot in his home, Tadhg, stated: “At the time I didn't realise what I was putting myself in for but it was just three weeks of mayhem but we got through it, like, we were living out of each other's pockets more or less.”

He added that it was like a “pressure cooker at times” but that they managed to make an award-winning film in the end. The Offaly man said that the film's success was “amazing.”

“I was lucky enough to pick up three awards so I was absolutely delighted. When you're making these things you don't know what's going to happen to them, how well they're going to do.”

He has won awards for his work on 'Follow the Dead' for Best Supporting Actor at the Dublin International Comedy Film Festival earlier this year, the Standout Performance award from the Achill Island Film Festival and the Spirit of the Festival Performance award from Spook Screen Film Festival in Cork. Tadhg also enjoys producing online comedy sketches and has grown a large following on social media, particularly on Facebook with over 70,000 followers on the platform.

Adam said that they wouldn't have been able to pull off a comedy “without having a really tremendously good comedic actor.”

“I needed a country location and Tadhg offered his house and so the vast majority of the film takes place in his house in Ferbane and it was an amazing location. He's got a lovely bungalow out there and it really sets the scene for everything.”

Adam continued: “Tadhg is just an incredibly skilled actor but he's so funny. Tadhg took lines that I wrote in the script and they were just meant to be discursive or expositional he made them funny as well. Anything that he touched turned to gold really.”

“I think if you ask most people who their favourite character is after they've watched the film, it tends to be the Chi who is of course played by Tadhg so I was delighted that he was interested in the role.”

Adam described Tadhg as a “very instinctive actor” who immediately got a feel for how he wanted to play the character after reading the script.

The Dublin-based director said that the locals really supported the film and gave them encouragement. Adam said that he is “really excited” for Irish audiences to watch the film for the first time. “I truly believe that because it's an Irish film, Irish audiences are going to resonate with it the most so I imagine we'll have our greatest success here.”

'Follow the Dead' has won 19 awards to date and Adam said that he is “very proud” of the success the film has achieved abroad. “I think for all of us, the one that's nearest and dearest to our heart has been winning at Kerry International Film Festival because that is our home audience and to receive that acknowledgement from home means so much more.”

Initial filming for the sequel to 'Follow the Dead' has already started with the first 18 pages of the script shot. The new sequel will primarily be shot in Dublin and Adam said that there's a possibility of a third film being made.

Adam is currently writing scripts for an Irish western and an Irish Christmas movie along with looking for funding for the sequel to 'Follow the Dead.'

“I work a day job as an English teacher and I would like for film production to become my bread and butter, you know, the thing that pays the bills so I would like to be able to, at the very least, sell a lot of scripts and then get funding to make a feature or a short every now and again. If I'm able to just kind of turn out quality work and a sufficient amount of work within a certain time frame, I'd be very happy with the company then.”

Wild Stag Productions is also rebranding at the moment to appeal to those in the social media space and Adam will be releasing a podcast with his friend Vincent Green which discuss Irish movies and how Irish culture has shaped our films. “We're going to be releasing a lot of short videos, reels, talking about our perspective on movies and our mission, vision and values,” said Adam.