DIRECTOR’S NOTES

I was doing backline at a charity gig in 1986 in Dublin Ireland when I first saw the band Interference play. There was a confidence there that you didn’t normally get with Irish bands, and the music could match that confidence. But it was the charismatic lead singer with the golden voice that completely captivated.

The 15 year old me thought Fergus O’Farrell hung onto the mic the way he did because he was a rock star. But after the gig when he got into his wheelchair I discovered he had muscular dystrophy and the mic had been holding him up. Over the next few years I was ever present at their gigs and mourned with a generation of musicians when they split up.

Years later when they reformed I was there again. Fergus’ condition had progressed. He could no longer play the guitar, and his piano playing was limited, but the voice was still as powerful as ever. I approached him about making a documentary, something that I saw as a niche film for music fans. But when I spent a weekend with him in his home in West Cork I knew that this was a film with so much more to tell.

I discovered over the years that he collected people like me. He needed people to function and we needed him to know what mattered.  I have spent twenty years telling stories as a Producer/ Director for RTE, Ireland's national broadcaster.  Whenever I could I traveled to film with Fergus.  In all my years of telling stories this is the best and most important one I will ever tell.

Now I’m asking you to become part of this campaign to bring this film to completion.

THE STORY

He was told he'd be dead by 20, but music gave him a talent for life. From the day the doctor coldly gave his diagnosis on Fergus’ life expectancy, his mother Maureen made it her mission to enable Fergus to live the life that any child of hers should deserve, and the rest of the family rowed in.

Breaking Out is the story of Irish singer, songwriter and musician Fergus O'Farrell. His music is the soundtrack to a film about a life sustained by friendship and love.

It’s about Meng Li, his nurse who became his wife and equal for over 20 years, letting him live a hedonistic life despite the dangers, because she believed a happy heart would help him live, and Glen Hansard, the fan who never forgot and wanted Fergus to taste some of the success he felt he was due. It's a story about a huge personality fighting a progressive condition with grace, humour ....and blinkers. This film became Fergus’ ultimate performance.

Muscular dystrophy, a muscle wasting disease, was Fergus’ earliest interference. First he lost the strength to stand at a microphone. Then his ability to play guitar and piano was taken away. More than once he gave up on the dream.

But then 'Once' came along.

Breaking Out tells the story of a man who found his release through music and his ever-changing band of musicians, Interference. That music is an emotional and inspiring soundtrack to our story. One of his  many enduring songs Gold became part of 'Once', the Oscar winning film and multi-Tony-award-winning musical.

Following Fergus on his first foreign tour to the Czech Republic, and to Radio City Music Hall, our film was there too this year when Glen Hansard and The Frames set up as his backing band in his house in West Cork to try and record while he still could. His ever-deteriorating condition was now attacking his greatest gift, his voice.

Less than 2 weeks after he finished recording with The Frames, Fergus died at his home in Schull. Over the course of the following 5 days, musicians traveled from all over the world to be there. His body was laid out in his house in an open Moses coffin covered with flowers. A perfect handlebar moustache adorned his face and a glass of whiskey with a straw lay beside him. People were encouraged to write messages and local artists dressed the room and attached two boots to the end of the coffin. And everyone gathered around Fergus’ body until the wee small hours and sang his songs in celebration of his life.

And Breaking Out filmed with him until the very end.

This campaign will launch in the Cork Opera House on the 2nd February, on the anniversary of his death, the first of two celebratory concerts to mark his passing.

Breaking Out is the story of a man with a talent for life. A life sustained by a musical voice that must be heard. 

HOW YOUR MONEY WILL BE SPENT

For over ten years I filmed with Fergus O'Farrell because I believed in Breaking Out's potential to tell a unique and powerful story. Apart from the time spent in those ten years I also took  the majority of the last two years and am full-time on Breaking Out until it is completed.That it is the level of commitment I bring to this project.   I have managed budgets for many productions over the years and pride myself on the fact that I have always brought them to completion with the highest production values. 

Your money will be put towards a number of essential elements that will help to complete this film and tell Fergus’ story the way it should be told. It will be put towards the framework of filming needed to flesh out our story including interviews with his contemporaries in the music business and famous fans.

Editing, postproduction sound and grading on a feature documentary filmed over this length of time needs time and money. This will be achieved to the highest standards with your help.

Animation is an essential ingredient. Fergus condition may have curtailed his movement but not his mind. His stories have a fairytale-like quality which need to be realised. Ferg and Li’s wonderful love story began in a hospital in Cyprus where she had only two words of English – Hello! And Pain?  He borrowed an English/Chinese dictionary and what followed was a love story that continued for over 22 years and the rest of his life.

Please share this campaign with friends and family through e-mail and social media using the indiegogo share tools. Breaking Out will be completed this year with your help and I’m proud to offer you these very personal rewards to say thank you for joining me on this journey.