Paul Kennedy studied theatre and media at the University of Ulster. In 2009 he wrote the post-apocalyptic, site-specific theatre piece Guidelines for a Long and Happy Life for Tinderbox Theatre Company and was nominated for the Stewart Parker New Writing Award. He is also an alumni of the Abbey Theatre’s New Playwright’s Program. Other plays include The Black North and Lanciatore, the Juggling Man! (both for Rawlife Theatre), and Into Temptation, a one-act play performed in the Peacock Theatre at the Abbey.
For screen, Paul has written and directed the short film Noob, and the feature film Made in Belfast for which he received the New Talent Award at IrishFilmNewYork. He also has optioned screenplays to companies in Ireland and America, and is currently developing several projects for film and television, including a crime procedural for Red Planet Productions. Paul produced a one-shot feature film in 2021 entitled Nightride which was released on Netflix and he is currently writing a film in conjunction with Northern Ireland Screen entitled The Quarry, set to be filmed in 2022.
Paul is also an actor and counts The Fall, Game of Thrones, The Frankenstein Chronicles, Line of Duty and Ripper Street among his credits. He most recently appeared on stage in Gerry Moynihan’s one-man show Continuity at the Finborough Theatre, in what the New York Times described as ‘a virtuoso performance’, and one for which he was nominated for an Off-West End Award.