Made his first short film at 18 about his maternal grandfather Mendel Walzman's upbringing in Poland.
Started a longtime collaboration with Element Pictures cofounder Ed Guiney when they were both students at Trinity College in Dublin.
With no formal training, he went on to direct 3 Joes, whichwon awards at the Cork Film Festival and the Oberhausen Short Film Festival in Germany.
Accepted the chance to study for a PhD in philosophy at Stanford University in California, but in less than a year's time realized the move was a mistake and returned to Ireland to pursue filmmaking.
Directed a popular series of commercials for Carlsberg.
Met his wife Monika, a film-studies academic, when in 2005 she sought him out after seeing his first feature film Adam & Paul at the Warsaw Film Festival.
Received the CICAE Art and Essai Cinema Prize at the Cannes Film Festival for his second feature film Garage.
Persuaded Room author (and fellow Dubliner) Emma Donoghue to let him adapt her best-selling novel for the big screen by writing her a 10-page letter about his passion for the book.