Northern Ireland cameraman reveals ‘gripping’ insight into working on set of Ridley Scott’s Gladiator 2

A Northern Ireland cameraman got the chance of a lifetime when he was hired to work on Ridley Scott’s new movie Gladiator 2.

Donavan Gallagher, originally from Cookstown, travelled to Morocco and Malta last year to work as a grip with the camera crew on the major production starring Denzel Washington and Paul Mescal, which is due to be out in November.

Now he is sharing his skills with the next generation through Into Film’s ScreenWorks programme, supported by Northern Ireland Screen.

“Working on Gladiator 2 was a once in a lifetime experience,” he said. "It was a pretty crazy experience all round. Working in the extreme heat of Morocco and Malta in the summer was one thing, and then the scope of the movie and how it was being shot.

"It was my first time on a Ridley Scott film, and he likes to shoot with up to eight cameras at a time, when typically a film would use two or three max. So it was busy, and every day we were doing some massive shots with hundreds of extras and stunts.

“I was the ‘A Camera Dolly Grip’, meaning I was with the A camera team, and in charge of positioning and moving it for every shot. A lot of the time this would mean controlling a 75 foot technocrane, and performing shots in conjunction with the camera operator and a fellow grip. Every day was different and would pose its own challenges. But that’s what made it amazing and one of a kind in terms of film jobs.

“There were quite a few big names in the movie, Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington and Pedro Pascal. They all seemed great but it was one of those jobs where everyone was under quite a bit of pressure most of the time, so there weren’t many chances for chit chat on set!

"However the scope and spectacle of this film was truly awe-inspiring and it’s something I will never forget.”

Following a degree in Media Studies at Ulster University in Coleraine, Donovan took a job in a video rental shop in Cookstown and then in a bar in Belfast City Airport while looking for other opportunities.

He explained: “I was so lucky as just then a trainee scheme with Northern Ireland Screen came up and there were a number of departments offering placements on Game of Thrones in 2014. I’d never heard of a grip before but I researched it and decided that’s what I really wanted to do.”

Over the past 10 years, he has honed his skills and has worked on The Northman, Overlord, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledor, Line of Duty, Succession and Blue Lights. And recently, he was setting up equipment on a boat between Rathlin and Ballycastle for Greg Davies’ sitcom The Cleaner.

Donovan continued: “There’s a fantastic camaraderie among the people who work in the screen industry in Northern Ireland and we all help each other. In fact, it was through a colleague that I was asked to work on Gladiator 2.”

Last week, Donavan shared his skills and passion for film production with the next generation of movie crew through Into Film’s ScreenWorks programme, which is funded by Northern Ireland Screen. This free career experience workshop series gives young people aged 14-19 unparalleled access to industry professionals across all five screen sectors - film, television, animation, gaming and visual effects.

Sean Boyle, ScreenWorks lead, explained: “The key to our programmes is getting access for the young people to industry experts like Donavan with his wealth of experience and love of the industry. It’s important to us to highlight all the jobs within the screen industries and the grip department is often overlooked as a career option.”

Donovan added: “It’s very important for the young people to learn about working closely with others and building a network who like working with you.”

Taking opportunities offered through ScreenWorks could be the first step in a young person’s journey into the industry. This year there have been 31 different work experience sessions for young people through ScreenWorks and there are still many coming up, including topics such as story development, virtual production, music composition for screen and costumes creating.

There are also two summer projects – a week-long Game Jam creating an original video game and location management and sustainability.

ScreenWorks is run by educational film charity Into Film with workshops running in a variety of locations.