
Photo: Rich Gilligan.
Photo: Rich Gilligan.
BIO
I’m a multi-award winning creative director and copywriter available for freelance projects in Ireland, the UK and Europe. Over the last 18 years, my work has been recognised and awarded at the Cannes Lions, D&AD, the One Show, the Clios, Eurobest, London International Awards, EPICAs, Kinsale Sharks, ICAD, the Effies, the Webbies, the Lovies and a few others. You can have a look at some examples as both a writer and a creative director from the work tab above.
I was Executive Creative Director of BBDO Dublin for four and a half years, winning more than 20 international awards and over 60 local awards in my time in charge, as well as agency of the year at the Kinsale Shark Awards twice in a row. I also served as the Deputy Chair of the EMEA BBDO Creative Council and represented the network in juries at Eurobest, the Dubai Lynx, Madstars, the One Show Next Creative Leaders and Jury Chairman at ICAD. I stepped down in June of 2024 to focus on some screenwriting opportunities following the release of my second feature film.
Prior to working in BBDO, I was Creative Director at Rothco | Accenture Interactive (now Droga5 Dublin), Creative Director of Rothco’s sister agency Guns or Knives; and before that again, a senior writer in Rothco. In my time with the Rothco Group I worked on brands including the National Lottery, Fáilte Ireland, Dairygold, Heineken, Meteor, Eir, AIB and mytaxi.
I started my career in BBDO Dublin working on Carlsberg, Aer Lingus, Guinness, EBS, and Today FM. I’ve also had a number of stints as a freelancer over the years, in agencies including Boys + Girls, Chemistry, McCann Manchester, Catapult, TBWA Ireland and Core Creative.
Outside of advertising I’ve written comedy for stage, television and film, with credits on RTÉ2, BBC3, Channel 4 as well as feature films for 2Entertain, Fastnet Films and Screen Ireland. My second feature film, Apocalypse Clown was released in cinemas in the UK and Ireland in September 2023, and on Netflix in October 2023. I am currently developing my third with Fastnet Films with the support of Screen Ireland.
I was a Founder & Partner of Good Cop Good Cop – a collective who use their spare time to make creative things for good cause. Our book ‘How Will Santa Find Us?’ raised over €80,000 for homelessness charity Focus Ireland and was featured on the Late Late Toy Show.
I was a part of the multi-award winning comedy group Dead Cat Bounce, with whom I was invited to all of the world’s major comedy festivals; including Montreal Just For Laughs, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Melbourne Comedy Festival and many others.
I was also briefly a member of Whitesnake… genuinely.
If you’d like to get in touch just drop me a message on the contact page.
Cheers.
Shane.
Jun 2019 – Jul 2022
Jul 2016 – Apr 2017
Aug 2014 – Jul 2016
Jul 2008 – Oct 2012
May 2006 – Jun 2008
Shane O’Brien
hello@shanetobrien.com
If you’d like to get in touch, you can contact me with the email above, or find me on LinkedIn through the link below.