Simon Fitzmaurice was an award-winning writer and film director. His memoir, It’s Not Yet Dark, was a #1 bestseller in his home country of Ireland. His films won prizes at film festivals all over the world, including Best Short Film at the Cork Film Festival and the Belfast Film Festival (twice), the Grand Jury Prize at Opalcine, the Jimmy Stewart Memorial Award at the Heartland Film Festival, and the Jury Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. His short film The Sound of People was an official selection at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Shortly after that film’s premiere, Simon was diagnosed with ALS. When completely paralyzed, Fitzmaurice wrote the script for My Name Is Emily through the movement of his eyes, using state of the art iris recognition software. This is also how he communicated with cast and crew while directing the film’s six-week shoot.
