What do you do if you finally close the deal on your dream home only to find out that it’s haunted? Writer/director Gemma Creagh’s short film, Conveyance, is a blend of horror and comedy to work through the very real housing crisis that is impacting cities around the world. In Conveyance, a young couple (Chrissie Cronin & Patrick Martins) moves into a new home that is haunted by some sort of entity. With nowhere else to go, they must decide if their relationship is strong enough to live with a ghost.

Writer/director of Conveyance, Gemma Creagh, sits down with Beyond the Cinerama Dome to discuss the inspiration for her short, if she believes in ghosts, and the worst habits a roommate can have. This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

Beyond the Cinerama Dome: What was the inspiration for the short film?

Gemma Creagh: One of my husband's best friends bought this ridiculously gorgeous apartment. It's embarrassingly beautiful. It looks like it's something from a magazine. Like, the carpets are cream. I asked him if we could film there and he said yes, so the whole premise was written around the apartment. Then you kind of bring in things like the two characters, what're their lives, and what's the crux of this?

The inspiration was a little bit because we had access to this beautiful apartment. I would say he regretted it the second we stepped in (laughs). We got partial funding from the Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT), so we had a lot of equipment, brilliant lighting setups. Loads and loads of gear being brought in that nearly took up an entire room. It was so much stuff.

I'd say the second we started to arrive, bringing all props and people, I think it was 20 people on set at all times, traipsing around…I'd say he regretted it almost immediately. We'll have to pick a different location if we're going to film a feature.

Is there a plan now for a feature based on these characters?

There was always a plan. I don't want to spoil anything in case anyone wants to watch it, but the film is not that dark. The feature version would be considerably darker in premise. They move into a haunted house, they have nowhere else to go, they're a young couple who are struggling to communicate. In the end, the only way through is to figure out a way to work together, because they're very different people.

The feature would be much darker. The feature would probably tonally be a bit darker, but funny again. And something that has that level of intrigue and conflict would be about them living together, but being broken up and having to stay living together, which again, is another reality that is very, very common for people, especially in the midst of a housing crisis.

We have one particularly bad one in Dublin at the moment. It's nationwide, but it's particularly bad here. In terms of two people splitting up and finding accommodation separately, it's almost impossible. That would be what the premise of the feature is, but I'll wait until I get money.

The housing crisis obviously plays a huge role in the film. And like you said, it's such a problem in Dublin. It's a problem with big cities in the United States, too, and all around the world. Do you feel like the comedy and horror genres allow you to look at the housing crisis through a new light and in more of an impactful way than a straightforward drama would let you?

I think comedy is such an important way to process things. For horror, it's more about the catharsis of the haunting or of the scare. Like, is this problem being externalized? It might be psychological, something inside you, or an existential threat. It might be something true, or a metaphor. Whatever horror does, and when it does it really well, it's like the threat becomes externalized and very tangible.

I think I have one thing I've ever written that wasn't a comedy. I do tend to write things that are comedy, even if it's particularly dark. It might be that it deals with abuse or issues in terms of gender. I have a very dark play about a historical sexual assault allegation that wasn't believed, but it's a comedy. With horror and humor, you can address subjects in this very bleak, very cathartic way. I think Irish people, because it's part of our language and the way we process things due to intergenerational trauma. That’s such a prevalent part of how we communicate so that humor is there. Maybe historically we weren't able to say what we wanted to say directly, and as a result we had to come up with ways to have a conflict that’s different.

I think you'd find in countries that have been colonized, they might be a bit more sarcastic culturally. Humor plays such a role because you can tackle things that are much, much darker and it kind of tricks you because it's more entertaining and you're laughing, but then all of a sudden you're like, oh God, that was really challenging, but I'm at the other end of it.

I don't feel the level of drained that I feel if it's a movie with an egregious series of horrible things happening. After watching it, you're like, oh, that was a brilliant film, it was so well done, but I will never watch that again because it was very intense.

You’re a working critic also, which I find interesting. There was a time when a lot of filmmakers were also working critics, and I feel like that isn’t so common anymore. Can you talk a little about how these two interact with each other and how one has prepared you for the other?

Watching a lot of films is very handy if you try to make films. I think I was a filmmaker before I was a critic. I think this was really the first film that I got to direct properly, that had funding, that was more of a sustained narrative. I directed two things in the past, but they were sort of decent sketches. They placed in festivals, but they didn't really have to sustain a narrative.

Thing is, the role of the critic is sort of harder in that there was a real, true way into journalism and arts journalism in the past. Old-school print media really was a career. I do think models are shifting so intensely, and you can see it's gone from being about the work to also being about sales. If you don't bring in advertising revenue you might not get to present a show. It's all about sales. I know it probably was always about readership, and I do think that model is still finding some kind of stability, but I would say it's changing very quickly.

I would look at the likes of people creating very interesting videos and talking to people with online content. TikTok is probably much of the future going forward. What's really interesting is, as traditional media, it's very hard to get the rights to do video essays. Actually, if you're approaching it as a journalist to secure the rights to be able to pull things together and monetize that, it's really hard.

I don't know how those two things meet, but I do think they should. I mean, I also think Gen Z has a new way of consuming media. They'll find things that are niche and very interesting and be really passionate about them. I think there's something very interesting happening and I'm kind of sitting back and watching. I'm not paying my mortgage with film reviews. I do get paid to do them, but it's the same with writing and filmmaking. It's definitely not the thing that’s putting food on my table either.

Conveyance is very interesting, because in order to create all the haunting effects, it feels like there’s an overwhelming amount of pre-production to do. Can you talk a little about the logistics of creating a haunted house?

It's so exciting! As a writer, it's really exciting to imagine something in your mind and then further down the line, have actors read it out. There's nothing like it. But then to get to be on set and make all the decisions about the logistical things…you're like, oh my God, I haven't done anything like this before. How are we going to figure it out?

I was in a really, really privileged position to work with people who were talented, who gave us loads of time so I could go in, and as someone who was quite new to the field of directing, go, this is what I want. Then there are people who are really professionally brilliant, helping me figure it out.

Maeve McGrath, she's the producer, also plays our witch charlatan character. She's fabulous. She was an actor in Fair City, she programs one of the major film festivals here, so she’s experienced in all facets of production. She brings this air of professionalism. She mines everyone on set, she's so thoughtful. Her production company is Dromglen Productions and she runs it with Keith [Bogue]. They were producers on the short.

First of all, getting to get the application in with them was brilliant. Getting the funding across the line too. We were supported by IADT and First Frames, who were brilliant. They provided us with a script editor. I’m not new to writing, but you always miss things and there are always ways to make things better in terms of when you're writing the script. The level of notes we got from a completely professional script editor who works for our National Film School was invaluable. You'd pay a fortune for that here.

I think, at every single stage of the way, it’s essential to be supported by people who are brilliant. It’s like a first-time film, but l'm the newest person on that set. Everybody else had accomplished so much. Our director of photography, Jaro Waldek, had two features under her belt while doing the short. Brilliant features that premiered at the same festival we premiered. I don't know how she has the time. You can see the strength of the visuals, how she found all those lovely narrative shots. In terms of those night scenes, to get that depth of field, to find how things look well, visually, when it's all in one space like that. She did an amazing job, and it was really exciting to get to work with her, because I've known her for so long as a friend. To see her in action was brilliant.

I feel like Irish films right now are kind of exploding across the world. With Kneecap and The Quiet Girl and so many more. How does it feel to be a part of this new wave of Irish filmmaking?

Irish filmmaking and Irish horror! John Farrelly has his feature, An Taibhse (The Ghost), going on release this weekend in Ireland. Kate Dolan is doing amazing things. Damien McCarthy, Lee Cronin, Conor McMahon. There's a strong cohort of voices growing up at the moment that are really making waves. There's even a Blumhouse horror shooting in Ireland at the moment. There does seem to be something in the air. I think there's just a lot of scary history here, and maybe that makes for good films.

Do you believe in ghosts?

My logical side says I don't believe in ghosts. I never have believed in ghosts, but if you asked me that at 3:00 in the morning when I'm sitting alone in my front room and I hear a noise? So it's funny. The rational part of my brain does not believe it at all, but that lizard part that kicks into gear does get terrified by things in a way that is really uncomfortable. Or you're listening to spooky podcasts and you're like, oh my God, I am terrified. So both no and yes.

Lastly, what’s the worst habit a roommate can have? You’ve got a pretty bad one featured in the film.

Yeah, he's sort of an exaggeration of one that was true. Constant breaking of boundaries is a bad one. Especially if you don't have a lock on the door. If people are encroaching on your physical space, I think that can be a lot.

During lockdown, things were incredibly difficult for people because it's fine if you have lots of space, but the more you’re trapped with people you don't know, the worse it is. People are capable of some pretty strange things.

Yeah, I had a roommate whose boyfriend essentially moved in, and my least favorite thing about him was he would always make banana and mayonnaise sandwiches.

The weirdest red flag I have ever heard. Yuck! It's like sensory torture.

Follow me on BlueSky, Instagram, Letterboxd, & YouTube. Check out Movies with My Dad, a new podcast recorded on the car ride home from the movies.

Writer/Director Gemma Creagh Talks Haunting & Housing Crisis in “Conveyance”

Katie Bignell of Festival Formula Demystifies Festival Submission Process

CIFF 2025: Emily Sheskin Puts Together Pieces of “Livestreams with GrandmaPuzzles”