Tag Archives: Mattress Mick

mattressmick

From left: Mattress Mick, Mattress fella, And filmmaker Paul kelly

In an attempt to save his struggling mattress business during the recession, sixty-something Michael Flynn teams up with aspiring film maker Paul Kelly to reinvent himself as the eccentric online persona ‘Mattress Mick’. Through Paul’s zany videos and creative use of social media Mattress Mick quickly becomes an unlikely local celebrity. However as the business and Mick’s profile begins to grow, their friendship comes under increasing pressure.

The pitch for documentary ‘Mattress Men’

Niall de Buitlear writes`

 Iam contacting you from El Zorrero Films about an upcoming feature length documentary telling the story of Mattress Mick.

Mattress Men and will premier at the HotDocs festival in Toronto in early May before it hits the Irish cinemas this  Autumn. Mattress Men is directed by Colm Quinn and is supported by Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board

The film will screen at HotDocs – the Hot Docs Festival is North America’s largest documentary festival – as part of the “Future Cult Classics” programme.

El Zorrero Pictures

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Mattress Mick

Humans of Dublin is an ongoing project by photographer Peter Varga comprising portraits and short quotes about anything from passers by on Dublin streets

Pete recently photographed Dublin bedding baron Mattress Mick who proved his humaneness with the following:

“When I was in my late teens I met a girl, and she became very, very special to me. She was my first love. We were together for quite a while, but I guess we were just too young… We met too early. She wanted to do other things, so she decided to go different ways. We kept in touch on and off for a long time, but after that, I hadn’t seen her for years.”

“I knew she got married, I knew she had children. Some of her friends kept in touch with me, so I always knew what was going on. She was always very special to me, and never really left my thoughts. A few years later somebody told me she developed cancer.”

“I actually met her about two years before she died. Her friends organised a reunion but I didn’t think it’d be the last time I saw her. One Sunday afternoon, out of the blue, a friend of hers called me and said, ‘Hi Michael, I have someone here that wants to talk to you.’ She said, ‘Hi, it’s me, Kathy. I just would like to say goodbye. I know I’m going to die soon, and I wanted to let you know you were very special in my life too.'”

“Every time I think about that phone call I get very sad. It was the nicest phone call I have ever received in my whole life. It meant so much to me. That someone who knew they were terminally ill and hadn’t a lot of time could actually think about me, and tell me that… I guess it is true, it’s never too late to tell somebody how you feel. She died that week, but she’ll always be in that very special place in my heart.”

Mattress Mick (Humans of Dublin)

Meanwhile…

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Mattress Mick and Mrs Mick, happily married for over 30 years.

Until she read the above

Mmf.

Pic: VIP magazine

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Richie Kavanagh and Mattress Mick.

They’re planning to create a music video together (via a crowd funding campaign)

Finally.

It’s being touted as the “craziest music video the Irish music industry will have ever seen.”

Paul Kelly, from Shoot Audition, writes:

This is a recording from Newstalk 106-108fm’s [Sean] Moncrieff show with Emmet Ryan. Emmet chats about our new project – Mattress Mick and Richie Kavanagh’s new music video.

Shoot Audition (Facebook)

Join the queue.

Stephen Fry (currently filming a Jane Austen period drama in Dublin) joins the flock.

Gwan the Mick.

Previously: Mattress Mick on Broadsheet

UPDATE:

mattress-mick-interview-roisin-kiberd-797-body-image-1415119372-size_1000

“Mattress Mick sees himself at the forefront of the recovery of Ireland’s Celtic Tiger–mauled economy. “Mattress Mick is here to help the Irish people get a good night’s sleep,” he tells me, speaking of Mattress Mick as a character, not in first person (his real name is Michael Flynn). “Irish-made mattresses are the best-made in the world, and I wanted to get across the message that if you sleep well at night you can come back fighting every morning. We can get Ireland back on its feet.” His own best advertisement, Mick has turned himself into a living, walking meme on a shoestring marketing budget.”

The Mattress King of Dublin (Vice)

Previously: The Man Behind The Man Behind Mattress Mick

Pic: Vice