After graduating from University College Dublin with a BA in History and English Literature, Cian completed an MA in Film Studies and a Certificate in Film Production (UCD/NYU). His career began as a bookseller in Ireland’s oldest bookstores – Hodges Figgis and Fred Hannah, between work at Dublin and Cork film festivals.
In 2001 he completed a European Masters in Audiovisual Management in Rome, before joining the UK Film Council and the founding team at Northern Ireland Screen as the European Commission’s MEDIA Programme Manager for Northern Ireland.
While there he contributed to the development and exhibition of film projects by Irish filmmakers, including programmes and presentations of their work at festivals and markets in Belfast and Galway and around the world – from the AFI in Washington DC to Thessaloniki, Cannes and Berlin Film Festivals. He is an Associate Producer of Mark Cousins’ film I Am Belfast.
With Albert Maysles, he founded the Maysles Brothers Documentary Competition at the Belfast Film Festival in 2005. He programmed documentaries for the Belfast Film Festival for ten years until 2015 and was the Artistic Director for the GAZE – Dublin International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival for three years from 2007 – 2009.
From 2008 to 2012, Cian led Northern Ireland’s involvement in the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Ceremonies and Festival. In addition to being a contributing producer to the ceremonies and torch relay, he commissioned 50 cultural projects and artworks across the north of Ireland with 80 partners, attracting over 850,000 visitors.
Since 2013 he has been a senior creative producer with The Space and a Creative Director at CAN: Cinema Arts Network, digitally connecting multi-arts and cinema venues across the UK until 2015.
Cian was part of the senior creative team that delivered Hull UK City of Culture 2017, attracting 5.3million visitors to over 2,000 cultural activities and creating a £300million impact on the city’s economy.
As an artistic advisor to the Director of 14-18 Now, the UK’s official art commissioning programme commemorating the centenary of World War 1 (2014 – 2018), he was part of the leadership team commissioning work by 420 artists from 40 countries that reached an audience of 35million people.
In 2020 he established Ulster Presents at Ulster University, delivering a a culture programme across the north of Ireland. Ulster Presents delivered a Northern Ireland-wide arts programme commemorating the 25th Anniversary of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement in 2023 including 30 local artists, 50 partners, 250 participants from over 13 countries.
He is formerly a board member of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland (2015 – 2020) and Belfast Film Festival (2003 – 2006) and was a co-founder and Chair (2013 – 2020) of Outburst Queer Arts Festival.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts and a Churchill Fellow and continues to advise on international cultural programmes while directing Ulster Presents programming for Ulster University.