‘Friends’ star brings Hollywood to Galway

The streets of Galway became the backdrop to a Hollywood film set last week as Aisha Tyler (‘Charlie’ from the hit sitcom Friends and the voice of ‘Lana’ in the animated indie hit Archer) chose Galway to shoot and direct her latest movie.

The short film, currently untitled, focuses on the lives of two people from opposite walks of life. It stars Emmet Hughes (The O’Briens), who also co wrote and produced the piece along with Aisha and his co- star Dean Rossiter.

The film includes many iconic landmarks of Galway both old and new, including Galway Cathedral, Shop Street and the G Hotel.

The production was crewed locally and assembled and shot by award winning film maker Kamil Krawczak. He was contacted and commissioned by Hughes to put together the local crew for this shoot.

“It was an ideal opportunity to showcase the incredible raw talent and cinematic capabilities Galway has to offer,” he said.

The movie footage, shot over three days using latest Red cinema cameras in Galway, is now heading back to LA with Aisha Tyler for editing and final post-production.

Film composer Dean Rossiter – who is working with the industry’s biggest names including Hans Zimmer (The Dark Knight Trilogy, Inception, Gladiator) and Mark Governor (The Hobbit) will also be responsible for the movie music score.

The crew are hoping for an early new year release ready for the prestigious film festival circuit.

The filmmakers expressed their thanks to the people of Galway and the management and staff at the G Hotel and the Hotel Meyrick for their warm hospitality and assistance.

Director Aisha Tyler is best known in Ireland for her acting role as Charlie Wheeler, who appeared in two seasons of the smash sitcom Friends, initially as the girlfriend of Joey and then of Ross.

She had several other acting roles, including Mother Earth in The Santa Clause, aired on several TV channels in the past week or so.

She is also a comedian and author, and on US TV currently, she is a co-host of The Talk chat show and the host of Whose Line is it Anyway.