Shauna Keogh - The journey to 'Inside the K'

You may remember being glued to last year’s documentary series ‘The Guards: Into the K’. Well, it is coming back for a brand new series! This time instead of exploring policing within the K district, we will be taken to the depths of the Y district: Balbriggan, Rush and Lusk.

The series was made by Emmy-nominated film maker and Ballyfermot College of Further Education graduate Shauna Keogh. Shauna’s enviable film-making career has already taken her from Dublin to London to the USA, and has seen her filming everything from alligator-catching in the swamps of Louisiana, to capturing Katie Price and Peter André’s blossoming romance at the height of noughties reality TV.

Originally from Dublin, a career in film-making was all Shauna had ever wanted, so much so that she didn’t even bother with a CAO form. Her first and only choice was a Post-Leaving Cert course in television production in Ballyfermot College of Further Education.

Shauna spent two years at the college, learning the essential skills for the job and building her experience. As well as making great friends, she also formed bonds with lifelong collaborators such as cameraman James O’Reilly, who she has worked with on numerous projects.

When Shauna finished the course in Ballyfermot, she wasted no time in moving to London searching for career opportunities and soon made her mark with a series following the lives of Katie Price and Peter André for almost three years. She recalls that it all happened very quickly - she organised a meeting with their agents, pitched the show and got the gig. The next day, she was using her savings to hire a camera, invest in equipment and start shooting!

Shauna moved on to developing documentaries for BBC, Channel 4 and ITV, covering topics such as life as a transgender child, stories about the police force and even teenage vampires. She found her niche and true passion in documentary-making.

As her career progressed, Shauna built a reputation for dealing with sensitive subjects and telling people’s stories with compassion. It was this reputation that led to her being asked to fly to North Carolina to direct a show about morbidly obese children. She jumped at the chance to direct the series ‘Too Fat for 15’, and earned herself an Emmy nomination in the process!

After moving to New York full time to make films for the Discovery and National Geographic channels, spending several years travelling the length and breadth of America, she decided it was time to come home.

But Shauna wasn’t coming home to rest – she set up her own production company, Empire Elite, where she started developing ideas and making shows for Virgin, TG4 and RTÉ. The company have been making critically acclaimed programmes ever since, covering everything from LGBT life in modern Ireland to the stories of missing persons, and now has the country gripped to the fascinating tales from Inside the K.

Inspired by Shauna’s whirlwind career in film-making? Imagine where a FET course could take you? Pop over to www.fetchcourses.ie to explore your options!

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Image credit: The Irish Mirror