David Collins’ Samson Films, the only Irish production company with a film in the Cannes 2026 lineup, the Critics’ Week feature documentary Tin Castle, is a producer of the old school, choosing his projects based on what he describes as gut instinct rather than stark business data.
When French producer Cosme Bongrain of Goodseed Productions and French-Irish director Alexander Murphy approached Collins about producing a film documenting a family living in Ireland in a rundown trailer and showed him some early sequences, he was on board immediately.
“Right away I said, ‘Yep, we’re doing it’,” Collins recalls. “ I didn’t even think about how we financed it, or who’d want to be involved, or what’s the market [for it]. Quite frankly, I don’t give a fuck. I really don’t, where the market is concerned.
“I’m an independent producer, Obviously, you have to be sort of conscious of [the market], but it’s not in my DNA. Samson Films has always worked like that.”
Collins’ credits include John Carney’s $150,000 Once which went on to gross $21m worldwide.
Samson initially self-financed Tin Castle, with Screen Ireland and the CNC later coming on board over the three years of production. Films Boutique is selling the film.
Samson’s slate includes Turkish-Canadian filmmaker Sibel Güvenç’s deforestation drama Loya, an Ireland-Canada-Croatia-Turkey co-production, now in the edit; a new feature by Baltimore filmmakers Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor, in prep; and Irish filmmaker Freddie Leyden’s feature debut, in development.
In 2025, the company wrapped on two Dublin world premieres, The Three Urns and Irish-Polish co-production, Gorky Resort; David Turpin’s feature debut Ancestors, sold by Mister Smith Entertainment and part of the Cannes Great8 showcase; and One Sweet Hour, a drama about an aging Elvis impersonator.
Collins started Samson Films in 1984, with a current team size of seven. Tin Castle is the first film the company has had in official selection at Cannes.
The secret to building a long-standing career as an independent producer? “Momentum is crucial,” said Collins. “You don’t want to be waiting a year to get a decision on an idea. Small amounts of money paid out quickly are really helpful, whereas larger amounts of money, which are paid out after hundreds of pages of application forms are useless sometimes. People have moved on.”
No comments yet