An Irish teenager says he hopes his short film about the coronavirus pandemic reaches an international audience.
16-year-old Michael Keane from Cobh wrote, directed and starred in COVID Éire, and released the short on YouTube last month.
However, he's now looking to other streaming platforms in a bid to reach more people - with the film set for an Amazon Prime release next month.
Speaking on Moncrieff, Michael explained: “COVID Eire is based on a young Irish person… he’s had the coronavirus.
"He’s taking a train ride, reflecting on everything that happened… how his life mentally and physically unravelled, and how he lost everything for a while.
“It’s kind of a reflection on how I felt, but it’s also a collection of stories and moments from the whole pandemic I gathered from other people."
Michael - who is half Spanish - also spoke to family members and friends from Spain to learn about the experiences of the virus.
With the research done and the shots planned, Michael recorded the whole thing himself with a camera and a tripod on a train journey from Cobh to Cork and back.
In terms of sound, Michael told Sean: “The film is actually a voice-over. You can hear the train noises, but the actual dialogue is a voice-over recording… I layered it over, and it came out nicely.
"I went up to Cork and back. That's it - I jumped on the train, I came back, and I had it shot."
With the film complete, Michael has decided to look to Amazon Prime as a way to help his film reach an international audience.
He explained: “I wanted people to see how Ireland went through the situation and how young people did. I found out Amazon was a great way to do that, because they have a short film category.
“I did it through a distribution company. It’s for independent filmmakers like myself… I gave them everything I had, and they were able to help me get it on the platform."
The film's now expected to be released on the streaming platform in July.
Michael - who is due to start fifth year in September - is now considering filmmaking as a career once he's finished school.
He observed: “I really enjoy filmmaking - I think I could make a job out of it. It doesn’t feel like work - I really love it.
"Even when I’m doing videos for business owners and stuff, it doesn’t feel like I’m working.”
