It’s been a roller coaster of a week. Firstly it wasn’t to be at the National Stadium for Northern Ireland last Monday as they lost 2 nil versus Germany. Once again it was a great honour to be the pitch side announcer and the atmosphere was simply incredible. The team showed great courage, spirit and took the game to the Germans but unfortunately came up short. It was a much closer match than the score line suggests. On reflection it shows how far the team have come when the fans leave disappointed having expected to get a result against a team of such stature.
I hosted the launch of the Cinemagic festival this week. The charity gives young people an avenue into film and has done so in Northern Ireland for the past 30 years. Nowadays it’s not just Belfast where their work can be seen but as far away as the showbiz capital of the world Los Angeles. The festival in Northern Ireland is worth checking out with masterclasses and movie premiers. At the launch I chatted to many young people who have benefitted from the charity in terms of experience, confidence building and gaining contacts helping them make a move into the world of film production. I also caught up in conversation with Cinemagic alumni Michael Lennox who I first met around 10 years ago when he cut one of my first showreels. Since then he has been nominated for an Oscar, won a Bafta and is editor on the award winning ‘Derry Girls’. All the information for this years festival in Belfast can be found here – https://cinemagic.org.uk/festivals/belfast/
On Friday I was in London for this years Bauer Media Awards where the radio show was shortlisted for Breakfast Show of the year. The event took place at Alexandra Palace and was attended by thousands of staff from across the Bauer radio network and Bauer publications. Unfortunately we didn’t win but is was great to be nominated alongside some of our colleagues on nationwide breakfast shows such as Kiss, Magic and Absolute Radio. Tom Walker opened the show and he was brilliant live.
After the awards I made a dash to the airport (just about making the flight) and flew to the south of Spain to catch up with some old school mates for a golfing weekend. It amazes me how time flies, the last time we were all away together was a post school trip to Magaluf in 1998. We golfed at Santa Clara which was a decent course made better by hiring buggies and having a few beers on the way round. I also posted my best score of the season, which was pleasing.
I flew home late on Sunday night, made it into work for 6am did the show and then headed for Ulster University where as a graduate I was asked to speak to the new first year students embarking on their journey through the UU Business School. I really enjoyed sharing some of my story to date and reflect on my time at the University.
Thanks for reading this week.
Pete
#PS33
