A WEST Cork-based couple, who run their own TV production company, are the brains behind RTÉ’s new Sunday evening show, Marty’s Big Picture Show.
Nodlag Houlihan from Bandon and Matt Leigh from Dublin run Zucca Films from their home in Clonakilty, and along with producer Yvonne Kinsella (That’s A Wrap TV), came up with the idea for the show.
In this six-part series, Marty Morrissey and historian Liz Gillis uncover the work of Ireland’s photographers. Focusing on a different archive in each episode, they travel the country, delving into Ireland’s rich photographic heritage and uncovering the stories behind the pictures.
Speaking to The Southern Star, Nodlag said they got the idea for this series having previously made a documentary with Yvonne about the Francis Street photographer John Walsh.
‘His family had inherited about four decades worth of photograph negatives from him and we got his grand-daughter to track down some of the people in the photographs and give them back their photos,’ said Nodlag.
‘We realised, then, that there were these archives all over the country, where people similar to her had inherited photos from the local photographer and they might have thousands of negatives of all sorts of different local events, from holy communions to weddings.’
Nodlag said there is a good mix of photos from local photographers, as well as from those who may have worked in newspapers.
‘The common thread throughout the series is to find people who haven’t seen the photo before and surprise them with it.’
The series sees Marty and Liz travel across the country to look at different archives and meet up with the people who were photographed.
Nodlag and Matt are currently working on a documentary about the lack of regulation on dating apps which will be presented by journalist Aoife Moore. Fools For Love? will air on RTÉ this autumn. Their other work includes ‘Broken Song’ and ‘The Francis Street Photographer.’
‘Marty’s Big Picture Show’ airs on RTÉ1 each Sunday at 7.30pm
