Tipperary film maker set to take on daunting new challenge

A young Tipperary film maker is establishing a reputation in the industry as a result of his work capturing life events in his own community.

A short film called, The Shop That Was, set Michael Hughes on his way and he went on to set up his own film production company while still in college.

It was a very personal story for Michael to convey as his life growing up in Grange revolved around the shop across the road that was operated by his grandfather.

Immersing himself in personal and community stories saw Michael team up with Clíona Maher for the Clonmel Junction Festival and at the moment he is making a short film about the departure of the Franciscan Order from Clonmel after over 750 years in the town.

He is in the process of taking the next step in his burgeoning career by moving his base to Dublin to avail of more opportunities to take up work.

Michael will move his company Clingfilm Production to Dublin in the next few weeks while continuing to also work on projects that interest him in the Tipperary community.

He set up his own company specialising in video production, documentary film and commercial work in 2020 while in his final year of college.

Michael, a son of John and Paula Hughes, took on the The Shop That Was project as an assignment for his final year in college.

“There was a powerful response to it. The shop was such a huge part of my life growing up. It was very sad for my family as my grandfather who had ran the shop and post office for 28 years was unable to keep the business open,” said Michael.

After completing his Degree in Film and Television Production in Griffith College and setting up his company, Covid struck.

“I established Clingfilm in February 2020 and a month later Covid hit. Some timing,” said Michael.

He moved home to Grange and set up his studio in his grandfather’s storage room.

“I spent Covid starting to make commercials and practising the skills. I developed my shooting, editing, and worked on learning all about the camera, lighting and the technique involved,” said Michael.

He started to make commercial products for Tik Tok and that really took off for him.

Michael linked up with Clíona Maher in the Junction Festival and they formed a strong partnership.

Michael did a number of short films on Junction gigs including Crowe Black Chicken and the Benedictine String Quartet.

He is also doing commercial work for Clonmel Credit Union and has made a number of short films.

Among them was a film he produced for the P&A which was shown at their annual conference in Cavan.

“The film was about their organisation and their campaign to create a better working environment and pay and conditions,” said Michael.

“I feel blessed to be able to continue to do something I have a great passion for and to be able to make a living from it. It is always something I wanted to do, I am living the dream,” said Michael as he prepares to move to Dublin.

He wants to be best placed to avail of the huge amount of opportunities that are there in social media and commercial work .

“I think now is the right time to do it. There is huge demand for the type of work I am doing. Business people want to promote their mission and their values. It is a great industry to be in at the moment. Every business wants to get out a message. Every business is competing for people’s attention. They want that message accessible for every moment a person is awake,” said Michael.

Michael said the work he did from home during Covid in developing his skills and the experience he gained working on some local projects and commercial work set him up to make the move back to Dublin now.

“The timing is right. There is a huge demand out there so I am looking forward to the challenge,” he said.