Board and governance

Board of Directors

Trish Long
Chairperson
Trish Long is a 30-year veteran of the Walt Disney Company and for the last 17 years was Vice President & General Manager of Walt Disney Company, Ireland. Since 1994 she held a wide variety of roles within The Walt Disney Company including as a member of the TWDC Senior Leadership team in EMEA and on the board of directors of The Disney Store. For 15 years the role also encompassed International Publicity tours and festivals in US, Asia, and Europe. Trish’s responsibilities combined core responsibility for Walt Disney Motion Pictures Studios in Ireland, where she oversaw all aspects of the distribution and marketing campaigns in the country for the theatrical slate including Walt Disney Animation Studios; Disney live action; Pixar; Marvel & Lucas Films plus Twentieth Century Films and Searchlight Pictures.  The role also included direct contributions at European and International level on campaigns and release strategies; acquisitions and productions. Trish expanded her role from solely Disney Studios to various Disney lines of business and identified new business opportunities which grew the Walt Disney Company brand and business in Ireland. This included the opening of the Disney Store; Irish tours of theatrical and music concerts; and oversaw the highly successful launch of Disney’s streaming service Disney+.  She is trained in Strategic Foresight and became an Advanced Practitioner of the Disney Strategic Foresight International team.  Prior to joining Disney in 1994, Ms Long was the first Marketing Director of the Irish Film Centre. Before moving to Dublin in 1992 she held the position of Publicity and Marketing Director at the Belltable Arts Centre in Limerick and was both Deputy and Acting CEO at various times. She began her career as a newsreader, presenter, and producer in Big L radio station in Limerick. She also trained as a counsellor and ran the Midwest Rape Crisis Centre (then Limerick RCC) in its first four years. She has a long history of activism in the areas of gender equality; diversity; access and inclusion.  Long has a 1st class honours Masters in Cultural and Communication Studies from Dublin City University. She also holds Diplomas in Social Studies from UCC Ireland; Arts Marketing from the Theatrical Marketing Association, UK and holds a Diploma in Coaching and mentoring from the Dublin Business School as well as Law and Social Media from the Law Society. . Her audio essays (In My Mothers Heaven and In My Fathers Hell) have been broadcast on RTE’s Sunday Miscellany radio show & she has been published in the Sunday Miscellany anthology of the Best of Irish writing. She is a founding member of the Dublin Jazz Gals.  Past and present memberships include the National Union of Journalists; founding member of Cinema Days Ireland; Advisory Committee of (IFTA), board member of the Irish Film Institute (IFI); Ardmore Studios and Troy Film Studios. She is a founding member of the Irish Industry Trust. She served 11 years on the Governing Authority of the University of Limerick (UL) where she Chaired of the Access, Equality c& Student Affairs committee, In 2023, Celluloid Junkie again named her as one of the ’Top Women in Global Distribution’. Trish Long is Chair of Medicinema Ireland; is a board member of the University Concert Hall and in September 2022 she became Chair of the Dublin International Film Festival.
Elaine Gill
Deputy Chairperson
Elaine has been acting as an advisor to Irish film industry for over 25 years, specialising currently in providing tax advice for all productions filming in Ireland from small indigenous documentary productions, co-production feature films and large scale returning US television series. As a qualified accountant and chartered tax advisor with ten years specialist film sector banking experience she brings a broad range of skills to productions on the ground in Ireland.
Lenny Abrahamson
Lenny Abrahamson is the director of the critically-acclaimed ROOM, starring Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Some of Lenny’s other work includes: GARAGE, ADAM AND PAUL, WHAT RICHARD DID, THE LITTLE STRANGER and FRANK. Recently, Lenny directed Sally Rooney’s Conversations with Friends, a 12 x 30-minute series for BBC and Hulu starring Alison Oliver and Joe Alwyn. He also directed NORMAL PEOPLE, a 12-episodes series for BBC, Hulu and RTE, adapted by and based on Sally Rooney’s Man Booker long-listed novel of the same name was released in 2020 – for which Lenny was nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series at the Emmy’s.
Ruth Hunter
Ruth Hunter is a partner and head of the Entertainment Law Group at Matheson. She focuses on the area of film and television production including the negotiation and drafting of financing agreements, distribution agreements, equity and tax-based financing arrangements (including Section 481 tax credit financing), talent agreements (including film rights agreements), writers agreements, actors, directors, designers and composers agreements. She also provides advice in relation to errors and omissions, insurance and music copyright clearance as well as theatre and public performance contracts, music contracts and general intellectual property issues including trademarks. Ruth also works with banks in relation to financing arrangements for film and television. Ruth works with Screen Producers Ireland (the film producers’ representative organisation in Ireland) and is a member of the Audiovisual Federation and the Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC).
Ronan Murphy
Ronan Murphy is currently COO of leading Irish ticket agency, Tickets.ie. Ronan oversees all elements of the company's agency business from strategy to ticket delivery. Ronan is recently returned from the USA, where he established and managed the US operations for Irish SME, Stimare. He previously served as Head of Ticketing in the GAA for six years and has worked in the finance industry for several years.
Paula Woods
An alumna of Trinity College, Dublin, Paula Woods’ career in film publicity spans two decades. Since 2008, she has run her boutique consultancy out of LA and is currently working on global campaigns for Widows on behalf of Steve McQueen, If Beale Street Could Talk for Barry Jenkins and Adam McKay’s Vice, starring Christian Bale. Paula has handled many award-winning campaigns including Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Barry Jenkins’s Moonlight, Adam McKay’s The Big Short, Sarah Gavron’s Suffragette, Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained and Inglourious Basterds as well as all Tim Burton’s titles and Netflix series The OA on behalf of Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij. Previously, Paula did a stint at Miramax and then The Weinstein Company where, as Senior Vice President, she headed the international publicity department for two years.
Neasa Hardiman
Neasa is a BAFTA-winning Director and Writer for film and television drama. Born in Dublin, she began her career at the National College of Art and Design Ireland. In 2017, Neasa was awarded a BAFTA for the gritty murder drama Happy Valley (BBC / Netflix), before directing the finale of noir superhero drama Jessica Jones (Marvel / Netflix). Her earlier works include the two-hour story finale for BAFTA-nominated homicide thriller Scott & Bailey and acclaimed BBC six-part drama In The Club. Her feature début Sea Fever screened to critical acclaim on the opening night of the Toronto International Film Festival 2019 and Virgin Media DIFF in 2020.
Laurence Mackin
Laurence Mackin is a content strategist and journalist. He is content lead at The Dock, Accenture’s global R&D and flagship innovation center, and also leads content for the global team at Accenture’s Innovation Network. Previous to this he was Arts Editor at The Irish Times and has more than 15 years’ experience in national media as an editor, writer, critic and columnist in Ireland and internationally. Along with Dublin International Film Festival, he is also a member of the board of First Music Contact, the national organisation for resourcing musicians and the independent music sector in Ireland.
Ola Majekodunmi
Ola Majekodunmi was born in Lagos, Nigeria and raised in Dublin, Ireland. She is a presenter, writer, producer, Gaeilgeoir, former co-founder of Beyond Representation and Board of Directors member on Foras na Gaeilge, Dublin International Film Festival and a member of the National Talent Academy’s Steering Committee.
Neal Davies
Neal is a 30-year veteran of the advertising and marketing industry with experience as a client, as an advertising agency lead and as an industry figure on both sides of the Atlantic. He began his career on the client side with Kodak in the UK — back when people used to put film in cameras—and he has since held leadership roles in London and New York at Simons Palmer, Chiat Day, McCann, TBWA Worldwide, Naked Communications (of which he was founding partner in the US), and as CEO of Effie Worldwide. Along the way he won the UK TV Commercial of the Year (for PlayStation – also in the Clios Hall of Fame), a Grand Effie (for Hilton Hotels) and an Emmy (for a pro-bono client in New York). In September 2017 — after 18 years in the USA — he and his family returned to Europe to make their home in Ireland, and he took on the role of CEO at BBDO Dublin. He joined as an IAPI board member in 2021.
Sian Redmond
Sian has led the Marketing Partnerships team at Live Nation Ireland for the last 10 years, and is responsible for the sponsorship portfolios of Ireland’s largest live entertainment properties. Engaging over 3 million fans every year, Live Nation and MCD’s property portfolio extends across world-class venues such as 3Arena, Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, 3Olympia & Gaiety Theatre as well as Ireland’s biggest outdoor events, including: Longitude, Kaleidoscope, Electric Picnic & and several large scale Summer Concert Series at venues like Malahide Castle, Marlay Park, Trinity, Fairview Park and St. Anne’s Park. In her role, Sian has overseen the rebrand of The O2 to 3Arena, renewed multi-year naming rights agreements for 3Arena and the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, agreed multi-asset deals incorporating Live Nation’s full spectrum of venue and outdoor properties and has secured a steady pipeline of new brand partners for the business. Sian prides herself on her relationship management skills and personable approach to partnership – Sian strives to find the optimum solutions to brand problems and alongside her team, works hard to overdeliver on value for her partners.

Governance

The board of directors is committed to maintaining the highest standards of governance and has embarked on the journey of compliance with the Governance Code. The organisation complies with all regulatory requirements and operates in accordance with its governing document. Their dates of appointment can be viewed here.

We keep detailed books and records of accounts and maintain strict financial controls. The organisation is transparent in its audited financial statements and we are working with our auditor toward compliance with SORP (Statement of Recommended Practice) in our 2017 financial statements and beyond.

Organisation Structure

DIFF Festival CLG is an incorporated not-for-profit (company registration no: 365622), operating with charitable status (CHY 15821). The Charity Regulator Number is 20055592. The legal and financial responsibility for DIFF Festival CLG is vested in the board of directors, and the management is delegated to the Festival Director and the Managing Director.

DIFF Policies

Child Protection

Our Child Protection Policy can be found here.

Environmental Policy

Our Environmental Policy can be found here.

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Policy

Our EDI policy can be found here

Dublin International Film Festival adheres to the Arts Council Policy on fair and equitable remuneration of artists.

DIFF is part of the Cinema Digital Consortium, a digital capacity-building project, funded by an Arts Council Capacity Building Grant, for the five film organisations in receipt of Arts Council Strategic Funding:

Irish Film Institute

Galway Film Fleadh

Cork International Film Festival

Dublin International Film Festival

access Cinema

Find out more about the about the digital consortium and view the charter here