Shadow Silence

SS tells the story of Declan, a social worker, who helps kids get off the streets and start new lives for themselves. He becomes close friends with one in particular, Cathy, and their friendship blossoms. Until one day, she disappears and Declan wants to find out why. Everything leads him to one person, a cop, with a dark secret!

SS was based on the Irish stageplay 'THE CONSEQUENCE OF POLLY' by Kevin Johnson. The stageplay toured Ireland, winning many awards along the way. James' friend Paul knew the writer through his brother and after getting a copy of the stageplay, he gave it to James to have a read and when he finished it, he wanted to know when they were going to start filming it. James recalls, "It was a terrific piece, it all took place in the one location, which is always handy for an independent film and the dialogue and the characters were top notch.

The thing I loved about it most was the big twist at the end. You read it and go 'OH SHIT!' I loved it from the beginning and kept at Paul to try to get the rights to shoot it and eventually we did."

Unfortunately, the finished product was something that was far from the original script. James recalls, "(Director) Pamela (Scully) and screenwriter Fiona (McCabe) took a script, that was very dialogue-driven to begin with, and bogged it down with even more unnecessary dialogue. Of course I know that when you are trying to adapt a play into a film, there are certain elements that may not make it and new elements will be added but the finished film was just nothing like the play and I was determined to re-make the film down the road and keep as close to the source material as I possibly could."

Sadly a few years later, one of the lead actors from the film, Liam Rigney, died from a brain tumour. James continues, "SHADOW SILENCE, although based on the stageplay Paul and I fell in love with, veered off in a completely different direction and didn't quite capture the essence of the play. I told Paul once I moved to the States that I was going to remake it and he gave me the rights to do so. In 2000, I premiered NEMESIS at the historic Lakewood Theatre in Dallas and I dedicated the film to Liam."