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Hi there!
You're very welcome to our Gofundme page! Thanks so much for visiting! :)
We are Val Troy & Orla Diamantino and we are co-writers on a brand new comedy TV series called
"Men Oh! Pause".
We will be applying for funding with Screen Ireland for their TV Development Fund. The deadline is March 30th 2026.
However, we want to shoot a scene from the pilot episode for the application to give Screen Ireland a flavour of how funny this series can really be!
It would be a simple one day shoot but we would like to pay our cast & crew. So, we have set up a ...
GOFUNDME!
If you'd like to contribute, we'd be delighted to take any offerings you may be able to afford, we will even take your old dildo's *!
We have fab actresses Amelia Crowley & Sharon Mannion who are going to play the parts of "Jules" and her bestie, "Anna" respectively.
*No, we won't really take your old dildo's. Maybe new ones? Anyway...
We will shoot the scene in mid to late February and we would love to have your support in doing so! Shooting this scene and feeding our cast and crew with minimal payment, is how we will use your much needed funds!!!
Social Media and Website pages:
#MenOhPauseTVshow
A little about the show...
Logline
Jules, a worn-out, peri-menopausal divorcee, longs to escape her jealous ex and meddling ex-mother-in-law. Inspired by her worldly daughter and frazzled best friend, she presses pause on dating men in favour of dating women. Can she change her life during the change of life?
Men Oh! Pause
A warm, witty six-part TV comedy-drama, Men Oh! Pause blends romance, farce, and the hilarity of midlife reinvention in a world full of unexpected possibilities.
The creation of this show is SO important to us because we have NEVER seen anything like it on Irish TV screens ever before! We think the depiction of real Irish women BY real Irish women on Irish TV is SO important. That true, honest representation of our reality, of how messy, complicated and wonderful we really are needs to have a light shone on it!
And we're here to do just that!!!
Get to know a Little about Val...
Val Troy, a former accountant, is a comedy writer and stand-up comedian, part of her one-woman strategy to convince people that accountants can have a sense of humour.
With longtime collaborator Orla Diamantino, they co-wrote their TV comedy/drama screenplay, Men Oh! Pause, which is in development with Mo O’Connell and 3 Hot Whiskeys Films.
Val and Orla are the Irish producers of Funny Women, the leading female comedy community. They host all-female standup comedy shows and co-host the annual Funny Women Awards in Ireland.
Val has appeared at comedy clubs in Dublin, at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, The Comedy Store in London, and at book festival events in Ireland.
Dublin-based Val's debut romcom novel is in progress, and she is represented by WGM Atlantic. She has appeared on Virgin Media TV’s Ireland AM, been featured in The Sunday Independent and published in the Irish Daily Mail.
Get to know Orla...
Orla Diamantino is a Irish-born writer and actor, based in Dublin with her
wife. A former professional squash player and coach, she spent twenty-two years in America, before returning to Ireland in 2015. Like so many, she began her writing career during Covid, where she had a four year stint in Prague, and has had various pieces published in Irish magazines and newspapers.
Orla has co-written two screenplays. The first, Men Oh! Pause, she co-
wrote with Val Troy. The script was longlisted in the 2023 Female Pilot Club competition and is currently being optioned by 3 Hot Whiskeys Productions in Dublin.
The second, Aoife Allen, was co-written with David Gilna, a well-
established Irish playwright who has written, produced, and directed in
many of his own plays.
Together, Orla and Val produce comedy shows for Funny Women, a UK-
based non-profit organisation that celebrates its twentieth year in operation this year. Their first two shows took place on a sold-out main stage at the iconic Whelan’s at Dublin in 2023 and 2024.
Orla’s memoir, I’m Not Bi-Polar, I’m Irish, is an inspirational story about
reinvention in the face of adversity. Her story details insights into her very colourful life: dealing with a strict Irish catholic upbringing and coming out in the early 90s when it was still illegal to be homosexual in Ireland.
A bipolar diagnosis at age thirty meant being heavily medicated, as well as having five trips to psychiatric wards over a twelve-year span. In 2014, with the help of her doctors, she stopped taking all medications and has been free of them for twelve years, applauding her inner circle of friends and family for their support – only medication she needs. Well, that and the occasional glass of prosecco. No need for anything else!
Orla began a career in acting in 2024, when she was cast as a supporting
role in a feature film based in Prague. Since then, she has completed her
studies at Bow Street Academy for screen acting. She was cast in three
short films in 2025, and has another set to film in February. She is also part of the Jury Experience, a theatre production by Fever UK, where she plays the Judge.
Orla is also a seasoned story-teller in Dublin and has performed
at the Viking Theatre, the Lark Theatre, the Civic Centre, and the Sugar
Club.
Orla writes and acts full time in Dublin, where she produces and broadcasts her own weekly radio show on Near FM.. Orla is a ‘glass always half full’ kind of woman; no matter how difficult a situation can be, she manages to inject a humorous twist.
Orla still competes at a high level in squash, and won a bronze medal at
the World Masters Squash Championships in August 2022.