John Butler
John Butler directed and co-wrote THE STAG (2014), starring Andrew Scott. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, and for it, John won the DGA Director’s Finders Series. Upon its domestic release the film remained in the domestic box office Top 5 for 5 weeks and went on to sell in 16 countries worldwide. Before that, John directed IMMATURITY FOR CHARITY (2012) starring Brendan & Domhnall Gleeson. He directed and co-wrote the IFTA award winning sketch show YOUR BAD SELF (2011) for RTE. In the same year, his debut novel The Tenderloin was published by Picador, and was short-listed at the Irish Book Awards. Previously, John wrote and directed award-winning short films, documentaries and commercials. Other writing has appeared in The Irish Times, The Dublin Review, The San Francisco Chronicle.

Director's statement
“Writer-directors are often preoccupied with an idea or theme which recurs over and over in their work, and my obsession appears to be what exactly it means to be a man. My first film THE STAG (THE BACHELOR WEEKEND), asked what masculinity was, and HANDSOME DEVIL wonders what the benefit is of all strict binary definitions, such as male/female, gay/straight, strong/weak, young/old, teacher/pupil. My film is a comedy-drama about two young boys who begin to question the value of these definitions over the course of one tumultuous year at their boarding school, under the influence of two very different teachers. Though set in contemporary Ireland, the story has strong elements of autobiography – it was inspired by my own school days, and by the influence wrought upon me by an inspirational English teacher. If the lesson drummed into us in school is to be true to ourselves, then one must wonder why we have to be one thing or the other? Why do we have to choose at all - why can’t we be everything? Although the setting here is Irish; the intention is for the message to resonate universally through laughter, and the pain of recognition. As Ned narrates in the film, “everyone who’s ever been young – so that’s everyone ever – knows exactly what humiliation feels like”.