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Monster movie takes horror out of
recession
27.01.11
by Linda McGrory
A MONSTER movie is taking the horror out of the
recession for one Inishowen community. Hotels, bars
and restaurants in the Moville area have been
enjoying a vital boost in January trade since the
100-strong cast and crew of comedy-horror 'Grabbers'
rolled into town.
The spoof stars Richard Coyle (Coupling), Ruth
Bradley (The Clinic), Russell Tovey (Being Human)
and Bronagh Gallagher (The Commitments). It tells
the story of giant squid-like creatures who attack
the inhabitants of an Irish seaside village until
someone discovers the monsters don't like the
flavour of drunk people.
It is described as 'Tremors' meets 'Waking Ned' and
the UK rights have been bought by Sony. |
Dominic McDermott runs
a mobile coffee barista and sales have soared since
shooting on the Irish Film Board-backed movie began
nearly a month ago.
He follows the film crew around on location in his
coffee bar-on-wheels and has seen sales of his
lattes, cappuccinos, mochas and espressos jump
almost ten-fold.
"I would normally sell around €20 to €30 worth of
coffee a day but my sales have jumped to between
€150 and €250 a day thanks to the film crew. It's a
brilliant boost at this time of year and during the
recession," said Dominic. The Carlton Redcastle
Hotel is the movie's production base and management
has enjoyed block-booking of rooms for the past
month.
General manager, Ian Wynne, said most of the cast
and crew stayed at the hotel with many |
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Dominic McDermott who has been busy
with his mobile coffee barista on the set of
comedy-horror 'Grabbers' in Moville and other parts
of the peninsula including Five Fingers Strand. |
rooms also booked out
for editing suites and accounts offices.
"Over 75% of the hotel was taken with the 'Grabbers'
film crew for the majority of January. It is
excellent to have that business in, especially after
the snow in December which hit the area hugely and
tourism especially.
"It means that for January, now, we can recoup what
we lost in December and also secure staff moving
forward as the business continues to grow." |
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The 'Grabbers' film crew on location
at the Five Fingers Strand. Photo: Jonathan Hession. |
Coastal Inishowen is
fast-becoming a film location hot-spot and
Manchester-born Dominic knows the benefits that a
sprinkling of movie dust can bring.
The father-of-four started his mobile barista, Caffe
Banba, with wife Andrea nearly three years ago. They
got lucky in their first month, when Hollywood stars
Aidan Quinn and Connie Neilson arrived in the
locality to shoot the heart-warming feature film 'A
Shine of Rainbows' in May 2008.
"When I first went to the set of 'A Shine of
Rainbows' the locations manager thought I wouldn't
make much money because they had their own catering
service. But word got around that my coffee was good
and they all started to come to me instead," he
beamed. On the final shoot, Quinn booked him for the
whole day and treated all the cast and crew to free
coffee.
Dominic, whose usual pitch is Ireland's most
northerly point, Banba's Crown, Malin Head, as well
as local beaches, visits the 'Grabbers' set
five-days a week. He and other local businesses will
now be hoping for future movie magic when the latest
crew move on to Belfast at the end of this week. |
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