UK & Ireland Commercial Production Exchange Panel at Kinsale 2026

A huge thank you to everyone who joined us in Kinsale for our UK & Ireland Commercial Production Exchange Panel.

As the Sharks celebrates the creative industries across both markets, it was important to bring UK and Irish voices together to share insights, opportunities and the current challenges facing each market.

We heard from Paul Holmes, Hannah Lambert, Ivona Poljak, P.O.B, Morgan Whitlock and Tash Bedford, chaired by APA’s Steve Davies and Charlotte Fraser.

A key discussion was the difference in pitching between the two markets – with blind pitching common in the UK, while in Ireland directors often pitch in person to the agency, helping to build relationships and create a more collaborative creative process. We also explored the APA’s Diversity Impact initiative and practical approaches to DE&I, sharing resources available in the UK that could be implemented across the Irish industry, from hiring and casting briefs to codes of conduct and action plans.

A particular highlight was hearing from Morgan Whitlock of The Sweetshop about how they approach diversifying their production and crew teams and build inclusion into their production process to ensure they are hitting their quotas across productions.

Thanks to everyone who came along and contributed to the conversation. 🇮🇪🇬🇧