Irish screenwriter does well in Intl. competition

I don't normally reprint press releases, but since it's about a writer...

Writer/Director Shane McCabe’s feature script Probable Cause, has been placed 3rd at the 24th Annual Write Movies International Writing Competition 2010. Selected from over a thousand internationally submitted scripts, Probable Cause is a whodunit thriller set off the Florida Keys. The festival organisers will now pitch the winning scripts to all the major studios, as well as many of the top production companies.

McCabe said, "I'm tremendously excited at being placed at such a prestigious competition as Write Movies International [it] validates a lot of hard work and shows that Irish screenwriters can find a voice in the international market place."

McCabe describes the feature as Rashomon meets The Usual Suspects, a high stakes crime/thriller in which the audience is given a revolving perspective of just who is the guilty party.

This success comes hot on the heels of McCabe’s feature, The Base, scooping top prize at the Back in the Box Screenwriting Competition 2009. The Base will go into production next year with Shane attached to direct. Previous to that his Latin-themed script, Next of Kin, received the “LSC Honourable Mention Award” at the 3rd Annual Latino Screenplay Competition 2008 and is currently being considered by Echo Lake Productions in the US, having attracted the attention of top Colombian actress Sofia Vergara.

A die-hard movie fan, Shane is passionate about Irish film and the Irish film industry. “I believe it is not necessary to have huge budget movies to have box office success, but compelling stories, stories which resonate with international audiences. As an industry we need to become more than just facilitators for US made films to create and sustain lasting jobs. I believe that we can crew, shoot and produce universally-themed films here in Ireland. To that end I have written a number of features, set in other parts of the world but which could be shot here.”


Shane was born in Dublin and graduated with a joint honours degree in economics and business studies from Trinity Collage Dublin. After working for several years in Germany, Shane returned home to study acting, enrolling in the Gaiety School of Acting, and has been involved as a writer/director in the industry for a number of years.

Working on Veronica Guerin inspired Shane to go on to write, direct and produce, and he has to date written six features and numerous shorts. In 2007 Shane wrote, produced and directed, Lucky Escape, a four-minute film, shot on location, using an all-Irish cast and crew in Rathfarnham, Dublin, but set in an upmarket New York City restaurant.

The film has screened at numerous festivals, including Academy Award® accredited festivals, Rhode Island 2007, LA Shorts Fest 2007, Palm Springs 2008, Cleveland 2009 and was picked up for distribution by Premium Films in France who sold it into all of Latin America and the Caribbean via the Latin American Discovery Channel. Shane has since signed a worldwide distribution deal with Network Ireland Television, who have sold it to NBC Universal, (Italy), HBO, (Central and Eastern Europe), top comedy website Atom.com and recently to UK Broadcaster Channel 4.

Shane is currently developing a number of projects including a television series, and an interactive web series in addition to writing his next feature.