Award-winning writer, actor, producer, director and co-founder of production company Merman, Sharon Horgan, talks about the comedy and the comedians that have inspired her, the DIY approach she took at the start of her career, and the challenge of tackling something new.
If you haven’t seen Catastrophe, the award-winning show co-created with comedian Rob Delaney, then you have maybe seen Pulling.
If not Pulling, then likely the Sarah-Jessica Parker starring Divorce. Or possibly Motherland. Or the recent Apple TV hit series Bad Sisters. I could go on; Frayed, Shining Vale, This Way Up, Women on the Verge… Sharon Horgan has either starred in, written, produced or, often, taken on all of those roles to become one of the most prominent and successful people working in the entertainment industry today.
She is also one of the founders of Merman, the production company which produced many of the aforementioned shows and which is also behind commercials for brands including McDonald’s, Santander, Kellogg’s and Vodafone, and home to directors such as Anton Corbijn, Declan Lowney, MJ Delaney and Vaughan Arnell.
As part of this year’s YDA Week, Horgan took time to talk about, among other things, the TV shows that inspired her to get into the business, the “hardworking and creative people” who she has admired along the way, and why tenacity is so important if you want to succeed.
Interview by Danny Edwards shots
Stay tuned for more from YDA week all this week
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