-          Special family fun day & screening for 500 people at Lough Key Forest Park

-          TX: September 2012, Sky 1 HD

Monday 30th July 2012 – The spotlight will be on Boyle, Co. Roscommon on Saturday 11th August when Sky 1 HD holds the premiere of Chris O’Dowd’s comedy MOONE BOY, attended by Chris and the cast of the series. Moone Boy was filmed on location in O’Dowd’s home town of Boyle and at Ardmore Studios in Co. Wicklow earlier this year and, to celebrate the role that Boyle plays in the show, Sky 1 HD will host a special family fun day for up to 500 locals at Lough Key Forest Park.

Attendees can look forward to games, entertainment and music, followed by the premiere screening of the first two episodes of Moone Boy. Tickets for this special event will be available free of charge and distributed in the local community.

Set in a small town in Ireland in 1989, Moone Boy follows the antics of the youngest member of the Moone family, 11 year old Martin Moone (David Rawle). Martin has a unique perspective on life aided by an imaginary friend, Sean Murphy, played by Chris O'Dowd. Martin's imagination comes into play both in his childish drawings, which come alive through animation, and in the ridiculous schemes he comes up with, against Sean's better judgement. With Sean's help, Martin negotiates life as the youngest in a chaotic, scatter-brained family helmed by Debra (Deirdre O’Kane) and Liam (Peter McDonald). Johnny Vegas, Steve Coogan, Simon Delaney, Maeve Higgins, Ruth McCabe, and Norma Sheahan also appear in the show.

Chris O’Dowd said: “It will the proudest moment of my working life to premiere Moone Boy in my home town of Boyle. Watching people watching themselves depicted on the big screen fills me with equal measures of joy and fear. I'll be wearing runners in case things get ugly. Up the West!"

Lucy Lumsden, Head of Comedy, Sky commented: “"What better place to launch Moone Boy than in Chris’ home town of Boyle. We’ve all fallen in love with this series and hope the audience will do too."

MOONE BOY is a joint venture between Baby Cow, Sprout Films, Hod Cod Productions and Grand Pictures. Commissioned by Sky’s Head of Comedy, Lucy Lumsden, the series is written by Chris O’Dowd (Bridesmaids, The IT Crowd) and Nick Vincent Murphy (Hideaways, The Running Mate), directed by Declan Lowney (Little Britain, Father Ted, Help, Happiness, Cold Feet) and produced by Ted Dowd (Gavin and Stacey, Nighty Night, Saxondale). Executive Producers are Henry Normal, Gina Carter, Paul Donovan and Chris O'Dowd. It was adapted from O’Dowd’s own comedy short for Sky 1 HD in the 2010 Little Crackers series.

Kilkenny-based ‘Cartoon Saloon’ (Skunk Fu, The Secret of Kells) designed and supplied the animated elements.

Moone Boy continues Sky's commitment to increase its investment in original British content by 50% over the next three years. By 2014, Sky expects to invest £600 million a year in British programmes across its portfolio of channels.  This commitment follows the success of home-grown comedies such as TROLLIED, SPY and STELLA, entertainment hits GOT TO DANCE and A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN, dramas such as STRIKE BACK and MAD DOGS, and factual shows including ROSS KEMP EXTREME WORLD, AN IDIOT ABROAD and the BAFTA-winning documentary FLYING MONSTERS 3D.

Notes to editor

For information contact:

Susan Collins                                                                                                       Rachel Tate

Publicity Manager, Sky 1 HD                                                                           Publicist, Sky 1 HD

T: 020 7032 4243                                                                                              T: 020 7032 6481

M: 07736 026074                                                                                              M: 07850 732717

E: susan.collins@bskyb.com                                                                          E: rachel.tate@bskyb.com

Lisa Mehigan / Naomi Pedlow

Edelman PR

T: 01 6789333

E: lisa.mehigan@edelman.com / Naomi.pedlow@edelman.com

Niamh McCarrick

Communications Manager, Sky Ireland

T: 01 6147621 / 086 3809191

E: niamh.mccarrick@bskyb.com

Notes to Editors:

Sky entertains and excites more than 10.4 million homes through the most comprehensive multichannel, multi-platform television service in the UK and Ireland. Sky continues to break new ground with its own portfolio of channels: Sky 1 combines its commitment to UK production with the best of the US; Sky Living pushes ahead with fresh and innovative entertainment formats; Sky Arts is the UK's only dedicated arts channel brand; Sky Atlantic is the home to HBO and other iconic drama and comedy, Sky Sports is still raising the bar in sports broadcasting; Sky News remains a pioneer in television news; and Sky Movies is leading the way in High Definition and on-demand.

Sky also works with dozens of other broadcasters on the satellite platform, as well as online and on mobile through the ground-breaking Sky Go service.  Sky has also led the UK into the age of high definition television, launched Europe's first 3DTV channel, Sky 3D, and offers customer even more flexibility and choice through Sky Anytime+, its internet-delivered video on demand service.   Since launching Sky Broadband and Sky Talk in 2006, the company has also been the UK's fastest-growing home communications provider.

Sky believes in making a wider contribution to the communities in which it operates, not least by increasing participation in, and access to, the arts, supporting grassroots sports, and taking positive action on the environment.

About Sky 1 HD:

Sky 1 HD is the most watched non-terrestrial channel in Sky homes, attracting more than 20m unique viewers every month and, according to the latest tracker results (October – December, 2011), was the third highest valued channel amongst all Sky subscribers behind only BBC1 and ITV1.

Sky 1 HD distinguishes itself from rival networks with original drama and comedy, talked about entertainment formats, distinctive factual programming and award-winning exclusive US drama.