Podcasts

Meet The Irish Art Director Who Made The World Of Harry Potter Come To Life

 You're a wizard Alan! Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was first published back in 1997. Since then, the franchise is estimated to be worth over $25 billion. That's a lot of Galleons! There's no denying J.K Rowling is an absolute genius, being able to conjure up such an amazing fantasy series, but it also takes some serious skills to bring her words to life. Alan Gilmore is an Art Director from Ennis, Co Clare who helped design features like Hogwarts and the Quidditch Stadium for the movie adaptions. Being the architectural wizard he is, Alan cast a lumos spell on Today FM's Dermot and Dave to help shed some light on how this magical world was created. Gilmore tells us how a film set in Donegal sparked off his curiosity, "I was fascinated by this make-believe world of creating something that's not permanent. So I started to pursue that". Fast forward a few years later and he received a call from a contact that would change his life forever. Alan, I'm doing this film about wizards and castles Check out the chat in full by waving your wand at the play button on screen. see more