Four years of working in a hostel in Ireland has provided Karen Murphy all the inspiration needed to recognize a comedy series unfolding before her eyes, from grown men behaving like children at a stag to travelling guitar players looking to wow a crowd with their gift of music and poetry. Karen felt compelled to write about it.
I sat down with Karen for an exclusive on her latest webisode series, Hard Knocks Hostel. She wrote, directed and acted in it. Laura Murphy plays the other lead role. Filmed entirely on Inishmore, off the coast of Galway, Ireland, it was produced by Aaron Woods.
The location posed some challenges. The crew and equipment/supplies all had to be transported over by ferry. The owner of the hostel allowed Karen the rare privilege of using it for the duration of filming, free of charge. It was an opportunity that couldn’t be passed up.
Everyone involved in the production were so generous of their time, especially two actors living outside of Ireland, one from London, the other living in New Zealand.
Filming six episodes in four days was draining and straining. Most nights Karen fell asleep at 12 only to awake at 5:00 am for another 14 – 16 hour day. They kept the stress levels down by cooking and feeding, as well as some good Irish whisky to take off the edge.
Everybody brought their best and remained positive throughout. A positive crew can work miracles.
