Michael Carolan is an Irish writer-director working across film and television, with recent broadcast work for RTÉ and Virgin Media and a slate of feature and television projects currently in development.

Michael’s work blends grounded realism with elevated genre, using emotionally driven stories to explore themes of identity, secrecy and social expectation.

His recent television drama, Collision, aired on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player as part of RTÉ Storyland, produced by Western Front Studios in association with Screen Ireland. The project earned Michael a nomination for Best Series Pilot at the 2026 Cannes Lions Young Director Awards.

His short drama Night Driver, developed and funded by Virgin Media Television and Screen Ireland, premiered at the Dublin International Film Festival before being broadcast on Virgin Media One and subsequently acquired by Disney+, where it is now streaming across Europe. The film won Best Short Film at the London Shark Awards and received a nomination for Best Direction.

Michael is currently developing The Night Impulse, a feature film through the Genre Incubator with BMAN Entertainment, Forty Foot Pictures and Bankside Films. Alongside this, he is developing original television projects and will write and direct a feature film with Western Front Studios, slated for production in 2027. He was also selected for Screen Ireland’s Directing for High-End Episodic Drama programme with Diarmuid Goggins and recently shadow-directed on Channel 5 drama The Heights.

He previously worked as a video journalist and documentary producer with the Irish Independent, experience that continues to inform the realism and observational edge of his work. He is a graduate of the National Film School at IADT (BA Film & Television Production, MA Screenwriting) and is a member of the Writers Guild of Ireland and the Screen Directors Guild of Ireland.