Gary Hoctor is a long-term board member of Birr 20|20 Vision and currently heads their Festivals Collective Pillar.
Gary is best known in Birr for his commitment to the visual arts having led the OFFline Film Festival, a five-day annual festival in October, from 2010 to 2024. Gary he is also the Director of the OFFline Animation Residency, a unique, award-winning, residency for animation artists in Ireland, which was established in 2017. This residency is based in Birr, where participants spend six months living and working. However, aside from film, Gary has also been instrumental across the Arts scene in Birr, most recently through leading the migration to a Birr Festivals Collective on behalf of Birr 20|20 Vision.
Professionally Gary is an award-winning producer and founder/owner of Hello Camera. He has worked on numerous documentary and fiction films, both feature and short, with his work having been screened at numerous film festivals globally including Raindance and Melbourne International. His commitment to film started early from his local film club in Birr, from which Gary progressed to a Master of Arts in Film Studies from University College Dublin. Gary’s professional experience is dominated by work with local community groups, as evidenced by his commitment to Birr’s Festivals. He is co-founder and curator of Irish Film Berlin. Gary was also a founding member of local film commission FilmOffaly and a former Board Member of the national organisation for film clubs, Access Cinema.
