Michael Feeney Callan

Please feel free to contact Michael Feeney Callan for any question or comment.

Anthony Hopkins
"Impressive work from one of Ireland's leading biographers," says the Sunday Business Post (Jan 8, 2006).

Luke Kelly
Michael’s film on the lengendary balladeer Luke Kelly, which outsold even U2,
was ranked number two in national DVD music sales for 2006.

December 2007 - Films
Michael Feeney Callan has joined the advisory board of Irish Film America, alongside Jim Sheridan, Paddy Breathnach, Mary McGuckian and others. The premier IFA event will be staged at the Clarity Theater in Los Angeles
in October 2008.

October 2007 - Films
Michael was awarded a multi-platinum disc for sales of his film, “Luke Kelly, the Performer” on October 4th in a ceremony that also honoured Dubliner Ronnie Drew for his fifty-year contribution to music.

Michael’s son Corey and daughter Paris at the Luke Kelly awards function at the Four Seasons Hotel, Dublin.

June 2007 - Books
Michael’s biography of Sean Connery, which has been in print for 25 years, was published again in Finnish by Art House, Helsinki, in June. It has already been translated into French, German, Portuguese, Polish, Hungarian, Romanian and simplified Chinese.

Autumn 2008 - Books
Michael’s long anticipated biography of Robert Redford, ten years in the making, has been completed and will be published by Alfred A. Knopf in the US this year.

Autumn 2008 - Film
Michael's film on The Dubliners called "Before the Before", which features
contibutions from luminaries like Irish President Mary McAleese, was delayed
by illnesses within the band, but will be completed this summer.

President McAleese in conversation with Michael Feeney Callan during the filming of "Before the Before: the Dubliners' Story". Copyright IML Ltd.

Shortly - Art
Michael’s exhibition, “Suburbia” will open at the Blue Leaf Gallery shortly.
See preview visual in section Art.


Luke Kelly - the performer Eight weeks at n°1 in the DVD sales charts Christmas 2005 - January 2006 (Source: IRMA - Irish Record Music Association) A return to directing after a decade working on, among other book projects, Robert Redford’s biography. “It was a wonderful fusion,” says Callan, “part biography, part musical. It covered so much of the ground I love, the stuff that inspires me. And Luke was an incredibly gifted man.” Donovan say him as a poet in the bardic tradition. Ralph McTell was "terrified" by the power of his voice. Mary Black saw him as a cornerstone of the Global Celtic revival. Luke Kelly, the legendary co-founder of the Dubliners, was many things to many people. But he is most cherished as a performer. Here, sourced from around the world and gathered together for the first time, is a collection of 19 inimitable live performances with commentary contributions from Luke's famous contemporaries, and the newer generation of artists who embrace his legacy.


	Perry Como's Irish Christmas (1994) Como’s last ever show (for PBS), which rounded off a 50-year career. Callan worked closely with Como on the script (Callan also co-produced) and learned of the singer’s obsessive devotion to his personal hero, Bing Crosby. “He wanted to talk supercool. He wanted to sound like Crosby.”

	Back to Enchantment (1994) A documentary about Don Bluth and Gary Goldman who established an animation production studios in Ireland to rival Disney. Written and directed by Callan, the project was commissioned by Bluth, and tied in with the release of the Warners’ animation movie Thumbelina.

	The Beach Boys Today A sensitive documentary written and directed by Callan that went on the road with The Beach Boys during their last days as a powerful touring band in the early nineties. Working with Carl Wilson (the voice of God Only Knows) was another career high, says Callan.

	Crimeline (1992) Callan directed the first drama reconstructions that were foundational to this true-life police investigation series, based on the UK’s ground-breaking Crimewatch.

	My Riviera (1991) Callan’s directorial debut, starring Joan Collins, Roger Moore, James Coburn, Charles Aznavour, Sylvia Kristel and Regine. The programme was six half-hours of light entertainment, in which the various artistes visited their favoured areas along the Cote d’Azur. Callan calls it “a love poem” to an area rich in art that he loves.