#Gerry O Brien

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'Irish actors claim they have been treated like the poor relations in the film industry for decades despite big government tax breaks for major studios.

LA-based actor Alan Smyth revealed that Colin Farrell, Ruth Negga and Cillian Murphy have signed a petition for fair and equal pay for native performers and crew.

Over 2,500 people have added their signatures online.

It says the Irish diaspora in the US and worldwide strongly support the efforts of Irish Actors Equity, which is in talks with several government ministers to secure a guarantee “that Irish performers will not be subject to lesser terms and conditions regarding their intellectual property rights than international performers in similar roles”.

“This, unfortunately, has been the case for many years,” it states.

The petition is still open as Irish Equity plans to hold a solidarity rally with the striking SAG-AFTRA union and the Writers Guild of America today.

Smyth, who is from Dundalk, has first-hand experience of the set-up on both sides of the Atlantic. He has reaped the benefits of the American system where actors traditionally got residual cheques whenever their performances are aired.

The threat now, he says, is that the so-called “streamer” networks are imposing drastic cuts to the value of the residuals.

Hence, the strikes.

“It’s a lot worse in Ireland,” said the actor, who has starred in a number of big TV dramas, including CSI: NY and Criminal Minds.

“The system in Ireland is that the Irish cast and crew for the most part, unless it’s Colin or Cillian, are put on buyout contracts so don’t get residual payments.

“The awful thing about it is the Irish Government gives tax breaks to film and TV productions. Within the productions, the Irish cast and crew are paid far less than anyone brought over from England or the US. It’s 100pc discriminatory.

“Colin, Cillian and Ruth Negga have got behind the petition. They know how hard it is until you get to a point where you’re doing really, really well. I can really see how hurtful it is in Ireland.”

Actor Gerry O’Brien lodged a cheque for $800 (€735) yesterday for his role as an Irish man in Pirates of the Caribbean years ago. The payment covers just a quarter of the year.

He got a US contract for the job, rather than the typical Irish buyout one.

In contrast, he has earned just €54 in residuals in the last 20 years here. That was for an RTÉ TV series.

O’Brien said Equity wants a contract for Irish actors like that on offer to their British counterparts. The coveted UK contract sets out minimum pay rates, residual arrangements and other terms and conditions.

Irish production companies offer the buyout contracts on behalf of the major international studios when they are in town, he says.

A Dublin-based actor (27) did not want to be named for fear he would be “blacklisted” when going for jobs.

He has been following the Hollywood strike very closely.

“It shines a light on just how unfair the industry is,” he said.

“Those at the top are earning incredible amounts of money and profit. In a large part, it is due to those at the bottom scraping a living.

“I graduated from drama school in 2017. Last year, I made the most money I ever made working as an actor and that was €14,000. Obviously that is not sustainable.

“If you work on an Irish film, you get paid for the day of work and never see another penny. I routinely sign off my rights for €600 or €700 a day.

“I’m delighted that Cillian Murphy and Colm Meaney are coming out in support of small fry actors like myself.”

Actor Owen Roe has won many theatre awards during his career and his film appearances including Breakfast on Pluto, Intermission, Wide Open Spaces and Michael Collins.

He said actors here are “not prepared to go on strike” but it is an opportunity to inform younger ones of their rights.

“It’s far more competitive as well . There is AI and all those things. The whole buyout situation is not good for us.”

He was glad to see Cillian Murphy and other stars walk out of the Oppenheimer premiere in support of their US union.

“They don’t have to financially, I’d imagine,” he said. “It gives confidence to people who feel they are being exploited.

“I think it will be interesting to see what happens in America. If the whole thing of buyouts and residuals gets sorted. The attitude that we’re cheaper is offensive,” he said.'

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CANTLON: (1/15) UCONN KNOCKED OFF BY BU

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT -  Boston University’s Jay O’Brien cashed in the game-winner just eight seconds into the overtime session. Off the opening draw, O’Brien carried the puck uncontested all way to the net and beat Darion Hanson with his fifth of the season to give the Terriers the extra point in a 2-1 win. Boston University is undefeated over their last seven games (6-0-1). The Terriers own a record of 10-6-3 overall, 6-5-3 HEA. “Fans got their money’s worth. It was a great game between two good hockey teams. Back and forth, good chances for both sides. I thought both goalies played excellent games. It’s a shame in overtime the puck went under Carter’s stick,” UConn Head Coach Mike Cavanaugh said afterward. The resulting eight seconds were not in UCONN’s (9-9-0 overall, 6-5-0 HEA) favor from the opening draw. “John Spetz bailed out because he thought Carter (Turnbull) was gonna pass the puck to him and backed off (that created the space and opening for O’Brien).” OFFENSIVE OUTPUT IS A PROBLEM Some games’ anemic regulation offensive output is problematic, not that it has been raised to a five-bell alarm fire status. “It’s a concern that we haven’t scored a lot in the last few games, but we did have chances tonight. We gotta start bearing down on chances. It was a good shot by O’Brien that beat Hanson far side. Overall, I was pretty happy with the effort,” Cavanaugh said of the game-winner. UCONN had some chances in the last few minutes of regulation, but Drew Commesso showed why he is Olympic bound. He stopped Carter Turnbull with 4:12 remaining while Vladislav Firstov had several chances stopped. “He’s a good goalie, been around college hockey for some time.” BU WAS ON THE ATTACK BU hit four posts in the game as they sought to bust the game wide open from the usual UCONN-BU nail biters. UCONN stayed even with the Terriers throughout the contest. “Against AIC, we lost battles in the third period and didn’t deserve to win. That wasn’t the case (here). We went toe-to-toe with them; it just didn’t go our way (tonight). We played well enough to win,” remarked Cavanaugh. UCONN finally solved the Commesso riddle (25 saves) with precisely seven minutes to go in the game. BRADLEY SCORES Chase Bradley was the goal scorer as Jachym Kondelik took full advantage of his height, extending his stick full length on a forecheck, lifting the stick, and creating a turnover. Bradley, who had just fallen, popped right back up and put in his third of the season past Commesso. “We forced the turnover as Nick Capone found Jachym. The effort of (goal scorer) Chase Bradley was incredible. He was knocked down when he shot, but he was able to quickly get himself back up. Jachym was able to get him to make a turnover and Chase buried it.” HANSON STRONG BETWEEN THE PIPES Hanson (26 saves) also turned in an Olympic-like performance. The grad transfer stretched out with his right leg on one play, making a last-second save on the goal line on Kade Webber’s scoring chance with 3:36 remaining in the second period. The save left Webber muttering to himself. “It was crazy. I was right on the sight line. I was sure that puck was going in. For him to get his pad on that was an incredible effort,” Cavanaugh said. Jay O’ Brien then took a perfect stretch pass from senior Dominick Fensore from the BU end of the ice and cruised in at top speed. Hanson shut the five-hole door and kept UCONN down by just one goal with 15 seconds left before heading into the second intermission. WHAT A SAVE “That save was huge for us better to be down 1-0 than 2-0. I liked the way we played five-on-five. It feel like a loss because it’s a skills competition (in overtime). I told the players to remember in the playoffs it’s five-on-five, but give full credit to BU. They played well.” BU played a solid road game at XL, making UCONN’s life quite difficult in the first period. They held the Huskies to two shots on goal in the first ten minutes and shut them down on the first power play. The game’s first goal came from Matt Brown, who snatched the puck away from Ryan Wheeler in a one-on-one puck battle in the right-wing circle. He lifted a backhander at 17:10 and put it beautifully over Hanson’s glove and bar down in the process.  NOTES BU has junior Jamie Armstrong from Avon Old Farms. He is the son of Arizona Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong. Former UCONN Husky Karl El-Mir signs a PTO With the Ontario (CA) Reign (AHL), the top farm team of the LA Kings. LINES Firstov-Kondelik-O’Neil Gatcomb-Evans-Turnbull Teleguine-Schandor-Tverberg Bradley-Schlaine-Capone Wheeler-Rees Berger-Spets Kinal-Gorley Flynn UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT HOME Read the full article

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From the Dark

A couple on a trip through the Irish countryside find themselves hunted by a creature who only attacks at night.

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Irish Times Sentences Kevin Cullen to . . . One Correction

Irish Times Sentences Kevin Cullen to . . . One Correction

Back in April when the whole Kevin Cullen rumpus began, the headscratching staff wondered if the Irish Times would scrutinize its Cullen column that ran in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings, a piece that featured unverified details different from the unverified details in Cullen’s Boston Globe column at the time.

We consequently sent this email to both the Times editor and the paper’s news…

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CANTLON: WOLF PACK OFF SEASON - VOLUME 12

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - The life of a hockey executive never ends... Oh sure it slows down, but all the coaches and management in professional hockey are all working to construct and hopefully improve their rosters for the 2019-20 season. PLAYERS AND COACHING MOVEMENT The New York Rangers inked their first-round (Second overall) draft pick, Kaapo Kakko, to the standard max Entry-Level Contract of three years at $925K-NHL/$70K-AHL. Last Wednesday, the Rangers signed two more players destined for Hartford. Philippe Di Guiseppe played with four teams last year, two of them in the NHL (Carolina, Nashville) and two of them in the AHL (Charlotte, Milwaukee). He was signed to a one-year/one-way $700K contract. He was originally drafted by Carolina in 2012 in the second round, 38th overall. Ryan Dmowski (Old Lyme/Gunnery Prep) was given a one-year, AHL deal. He played ten games and earned a goal and four points at the end of last season with the Wolf Pack after completing his four-year collegiate career at UMASS-Lowell (HE). While playing in college, he registered 67 points in 132 games with the River Hawks. The Detroit Red Wings have released the details of the annual Traverse City Prospects Tournament. The tourney will be held September 6th -10th. The Rangers will play in the Ted Lindsay Division with the prospects for Columbus, Dallas, and Minnesota. The Gordie Howe Division will feature Chicago, St. Louis, Toronto, and host Detroit. The round-robin tournament will be the first look at team prospects playing in actual game action. Ex-Pack/Ranger, Artem Anisimov, was traded on Tuesday to Ottawa for forward, Zack Smith. Former CT Whale / Ranger, Michael Del Zotto signs with one of his three teams from last season, the Anaheim Ducks. His deal is for one-year very cap friendly $750K one Sway deal. He ended last season the Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues but played no games in the Finals. Ryan Donato, the son of ex-Pack and Sound Tiger, Ted Donato, signs a two-year, one-way deal paying him $1.9 million per year with Minnesota. Ex-Pack, Michael Joly, signed a one-year AHL deal with the Colorado Eagles. Ex-Pack goalie, Charles Williams signs with Indy (ECHL). One-time New Haven Nighthawk, Willie O’Ree, will likely add his last major award of the last few years as he is expected to receive a Congressional Gold Medal in honor of his being the first black player in NHL history. O’Ree, a long-time San Diego resident was born in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Former CT Whale VP of Marketing, Bob Ohrablo, remains as team President of the Jacksonville IceMen (ECHL) who were sold to a new management team last week. Hartford Whaler legend, Ron Francis, was hired to be the first GM for the brand spanky new Seattle NHL franchise. He was interviewed by his one-time teammate, and now former Seattle Hockey Advisor, Dave Tippett, who took the head coaching job in Edmonton. Francis drafted a large portion of the AHL Calder Cup championship Charlotte Checkers squad and constructed the Carolina Hurricanes team that went to the NHL Eastern Conference Final. He was unceremoniously demoted and eventually relieved of his duties in Carolina which ended Francis' long association with the franchise. The first thing he will do is hire a small pro scouting staff to observe the NHL and AHL over the next two years to prepare for the expansion draft. Expect former Hartford Whalers teammate, Sean Burke, to be among that select group. Burke is presently a scout for Montreal and works for Team Canada where the duo designed the Canadian Spengler Cup championship team last December. Read the Seattle Times piece HERE The Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins continue their strong off-season reloading campaign. They signed Myles Powell, who had a strong rookie year in Rochester, to an AHL contract. Goalie, Cam Johnson, switches teams. He leaves Binghamton to Milwaukee on an AHL contract. Forward, Chris Connor departs Lehigh Valley to Binghamton. Ryan Obuchowski (Yale University), who played for Kelly Cup finalist Toledo (ECHL), signs with SV Ritten/Renon (Italy-AlpsHL) for next season. Six more AHL’ers sign Euro deals in their native countries. The latest pair is Mitch Callahan of Bakersfield who goes to Augsburger (Germany-DEL) and Chase Balisy leaves Belleville for EHC Straubing (Germany-DEL). Adam Musil, the nephew of former Whaler and New York Ranger, Robert (Bobby) Holik, exits San Antonio to sign with HK Dukla Jihlava (Czech Republic-CEL). Juho Lammikko departs Springfield and signs back home with Karpat Oulu (Finland-FEL). Colton Hargrove from Texas signs with HC Bolzano (Italy-EBEL) while Brady Brassart of Syracuse inks a deal with Stavanger (Norway-NEL). 59 AHL players have signed overseas. 25 of the 31 AHL teams have lost at least one player so far to a European signing. Ex-Sound Tiger, John Persson, leaves Mora IK (Sweden-SHL) for SaiPa (Finland-FEL). The Bridgeport Sound Tigers have signed seven players for next season. The signings start with veteran forward and powerplay net-front pest, Steve Bernier, and defenseman Mike Cornell, in his third AHL season, and John Stevens Jr., who's coming off an injury-riddled sophomore campaign, is the son of ex-Whaler, John Stevens Sr. Nick Schillkey from the Calder Cup champion Charlotte Checkers, Nic Pierog (Canterbury Prep) from now-defunct Manchester Monarchs (ECHL), goalie Ryan MacKinnon, and Kyle MacLean from Oshawa (OHL), who just completed his junior career with 110 points in 227 games and is the son of former NHL’er John MacLean, are the rest of the signings. Former UCONN Husky, Maxim Letunov, had his AHL contract with the San Jose Barracuda extended by one-year by the San Jose Sharks. Ex-Sound Tiger, Cole Markison, goes from Texas to Charlotte. Joining him on the reigning Calder Cup champion is Hunter Shinkarul from Laval. Tariq Hammond leaves Binghamton for Hershey. Michael Kapla, who split last season between Iowa and Binghamton, signs with the Toronto Marlies. Goalie Hunter Miska leaves the Tucson Roadrunners and signs with the Colorado Eagles for next year Ex-Sound Tiger, Lukas Sutter, is hired as an amateur scout by Columbus. Nine more college players sign North American pro deals. They include Luke Shiplo of Quinnipiac University and Michael Ederer of St Lawrence University from the ECACHL. Both of them sign with Wichita (ECHL). A player with another great hockey name, Tanner Jago, goes from Bentley University (AHA) to sign with the Texas Stars. Vincent Desharnais of Providence College (HE) signs with Bakersfield. Eric Israel of Robert Morris University (AHA) goes to Fort Wayne Komets (ECHL) while Brett Boeing of UMASS-Amherst (HE), hooks up with Toledo (ECHL) and Dakota Joshua of Ohio State (Big 10) was traded by Toronto to St. Louis. The Blues signed him to a two-year, two-way deal and will likely start next year in San Antonio. Austin Plevy of Northeastern (HE) and Scott Davidson of Quinnipiac University (ECACHL) both sign with Adirondack (ECHL). Three have signed In Europe. Dylan Malmquist of Notre Dame (Big 10) signs with Nottingham (England-EIHL). Jeremiah Luedtke goes from University Alaska-Anchorage (WCHA) to Krefelder EV 1981 (Germany Division-3), and Jalen Schulz of University Nebraska-Omaha (NCHC) to EV Fussen (Germany Division-3). 185 Division I players have signed North American pro deals. 49 go to Europe while 233 players overall have signed deals. Paul Selleck of Cowichan Valley (BCHL) commits to Trinity College (NESCAC). Jared DeMichiel (Harwinton) gets a promotion to associate head coach with UMASS-Amherst (HE). Another school takes the first steps toward becoming an NCAA Division I varsity hockey team from a club program in Penn after 42 years of being a club program. Read it HERE. Luke Curadi (Cheshire/ND-WH/Hartford Jr. Wolf Pack) was named the USHL Director of Player Development. He had been the Eastern USA Scout for the USHL Green Bay Gamblers the last three years. IN MEMORIAM The Wolf Pack family lost another of its original pieces and a man who served pro hockey in Hartford for 45 years as the Chief of Off-Ice Officials, Robert (Bob) Henry Guarente, 77, lost a second battle with throat cancer. Only Frank Camera of Bridgeport (who started in New Haven) has served longer in an off-ice role in Connecticut minor-league hockey history. Guarente started in 1975 with the New England Whalers for the first four years, then all 21 years of the Hartford Whalers and all 22 seasons with the Wolf Pack before stepped aside in February because he could no longer speak. Sadly, he is the third off-ice official to pass in the past 18 months and fourth in the 22-year history of the franchise. He would always greet me in a poor impression of an Irish accent, “What’s up with the leprechaun today?” After the pre-game meal and before we left one of us, he had a tell an off-color joke, One of his favorite oft-repeated jokes was this one; Mary and Tom O’ Brien were walking in the town center and run into Father O’Malley. Father O’Malley chats with them and inquires why they have no children. Mrs. O’Brien replied, “We’ve tried and tried Father with no success.” Father O’Malley says, “I’m going to the Vatican next week and I will light a candle for you.” Five years go by and he runs into Mrs. O’Brien and she has four kids in tow and she is pregnant with number five. Father O’Malley with a big smile says, “Oh, I’m so happy for you. Your prayers were answered, but where is Tom?” Mrs. O’Brien replied, “He’s at the Vatican Father trying to blow out that candle you lit!” It would always bring a smile to his face and he would let loose with his trademark cackle laugh. There should be a new AHL Award created with his name. It should be started for the best off-ice crew in the AHL every year. He will be greatly missed at the XL Center come September, a dedicated loyal husband, friend, soldier and Off-Ice Director. RIP you have earned your wings. Read the full article

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Is The Irish Times Reviewing Kevin Cullen's Reporting For It?

Is The Irish Times Reviewing Kevin Cullen’s Reporting For It?

The rumpus over Boston Globe columnist Kevin Cullen’s Boston Marathon bombings coverage has gone trans-Atlantic, as this Irish Times piece illustrates. ‘Boston Globe’ columnist Kevin Cullen put on administrative leave Journalist’s coverage of Boston Marathon bombings to be examined after complaint Well-known columnist Kevin Cullen has been put on administrative leave by the Boston Globe, the…