“People do still ask me what I’m going to do when I grow up.” laughs John, despite the fact that he’s been very successfully working as a writer, producer and director for more than 25 years.

“The truth is that I’m currently in my first ‘proper’ job.”

He’s referring to his role with Belfast City Council, as Creative Lead for Belfast 2024 which is a year-long programme of arts and culture, all through the lens of art which he has been leading and developing.

It was at Queen’s University where John developed his love for the arts – even taking his second year out and spending it working for a theatre company in Belfast – and after graduation he was accepted to study at the Jacques Lecoq theatre school in Paris.

“I was fascinated. The theatre they were making wasn’t the sort of theatre I was used to seeing. My experience there changed my life.”

John spent two years studying and developing at the school, where is daughter is also currently a pupil. With a son in film school in Brussels and a wife who makes documentary films, the creative arts are very much the family business for this branch of the McIlduff family.

“This school is all about creation. You train and learn about performance but you learn how to make art, work with people, take an idea you have and make it into something concrete. After two years there I felt that I could make anything. And in a way I have.”

“Studying at Jacques Lecoq validated the want that I had – bear in mind this was early 1990s and there weren’t a lot of options for those who wanted to be artists or performers in Northern Ireland. Even now, being an artist here or in Ireland or the UK isn’t seen as being as important or as appreciated as it is in Europe.

“It gave me confidence to start making things.”

After theatre school John and some friends moved to Dublin, living on nothing and using every penny they had to create and do what they loved, but the support for the arts in Europe drew him back to Paris.

“In France there is a system called the Intermittent du Spectacle which is designed for artists and performers who alternate between period of employment and unemployment. Provided they work for a set number of days they are provided with a government subsidised salary for the periods in between projects.

“The Intermittant du Spectacle enables you to work and really focus on producing your art. It gives you the agency to create your own projects. It’s just one of the ways that the government supports the arts there.”

John was doing a lot of work in film and writing for French television when he set up his production company Dumbworld in 2008/09, with business partner and composer Brian Irvine. The company is based in Belfast and today produces an increasingly broad range of work including street operas involving projection and video games.

“As a creator what is most interesting to me is when we bring people together to make contemporary work that appeals to a broad audience. So for example, even if we make an opera, people don’t realise they’re watching an opera.”

As a producer, John has to put together the business deals to raise the finance to enable him to produce what he wants but it’s the quiet time that he spends writing that he most enjoys and describes it ‘locking’ himself away and ‘taking a breath’.

Although, there’s not much time for breathing right now. Alongside the writing and producing for Dumbworld projects, John is also consumed by his role as Creative Director for Belfast 2024, a role he took because it was based in Belfast, which is still very much home, despite decades of living abroad.

“I have been able to bring my experience across a big range of works including technology, theatre, contemporary dance and my experience as a producer and director.

“Had the job been somewhere else I don’t think I would have been interested, but I wanted to come back here and create something in a place that was very much home.

“There are many reasons why Northern Ireland’s cultural proposition hasn’t been able to grow and so to be part of this initiative and take some of my learning from working across Europe was an exciting opportunity.“

There are about 25 projects as part of Belfast 2024 and they’ll run April to November this year but John explains that the first quarter of 2024 will see a call out to the city of Belfast.

“So many of the projects are about participation and engagement – you don’t just buy the ticket and see the show – so we want to give people the chance to participate in the making.”

We’ll be looking forward to seeing Belfast 2024 come to life this year and proud that one of our own will play such an important role in making it happen.

If you’d like to get involved or just want more information on Belfast 2024, please visit
https://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/belfast2024/home