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Sinéad McDevitt is a Dublin-born director with an award-winning background in graphic design and art direction. Her distinctive visual storytelling style is designed to spark authentic human connection, infusing all of her film and commercial work. She has directed commercials for Rebel and AV Jennings (Australia); written and directed award-winning short films that have toured the film festival circuit. including 'Ballsy' and dance/visual effects music video 'The Ocean'; and created new long-form documentary TV series 'The Love Experiment' having won second place at the MIPFormats 2019 competition in Cannes. The format has since been optioned and licensed to multiple territories, with the first production currently filming in Belgium (July/Aug 2020), to be followed by South Africa.
The new series is based on Sinéad's 2015 short documentary 'How to Fall in Love with a Stranger', putting Dr Arthur Aron's famous ‘36 questions’ psychology experiment from the '90s to the test. The hypothesis: authentic empathy or even love can be built between two complete strangers within 45 minutes flat (no matter their differences or backgrounds) by sharing their answers to 36 specific questions. Back in the '90s, Dr Aron's participants rated their stranger "as close as the average relationship in their lives" by the time the 45 mins was up. One couple got married 6 months later. The Love Experiment takes this incredible experience in genuine connection global.
Hosting live onstage at the Sydney Opera House for TEDxSydney two years in a row, Sinéad McDevitt also acted as the organisation’s ‘Fast Ideas’ Curator (a 30-second onstage pitching competition). In 2016, she created a short film program for TEDxSydney, which then went on to be screened around the world as ‘best in class’ for global TEDx film programs. TED in the US then commissioned her to create its first-ever original short film program for the annual week-long TED event in Vancouver in 2018. She was honoured to work with filmmakers at Mother in London, SpecialGuest in NYC as well as Shane Griffin in LA and Duncan Cowles in the UK.
In addition to ongoing short-form work, Sinéad is currently developing her first feature screenplay – a musical dramedy called Edie – whose original treatment placed in the top five for the ABC’s 'Girls' series in 2018. In 2017/18, Sinéad was also awarded placement at Oscar-nominated company FINCH as part of the inaugural ‘Gender Matters’ initiative by Screen Australia and the ADG (Australian Director’s Guild).