1995

How many people do you employ full time?

7 fulltime, 5 - 10 freelancers at any given time.

What areas of animation do you specialise in?

TV commercials, Flash animation (eLearning, banner ads, etc) and large format tv series development and productions. We have a partnership in Beirut where we do commercials for the Middle Eastern market and have recently established sales agents in London and Athens.

Do you do any 3D work?

Yes, using 3DStudio max V4. This is used in conjunction with Inkworks on Animo for seamless 2D/3D integration.

Do you do use Flash? what do you think of the program?

We have 4 X Flash V5 licences and find the programme excellent. Its brilliant for smaller low budget jobs or very simple animation but for commercials, it really doesn't compare to 'Animo' which is the recognised industry standard 2D software. Flash is designed as a tool for web designers but is increasingly being used by animators and hopefully further versions of Flash will have more features and effects.

What recent projects have you been involved in?

'Give Up Yer Aul Sins' is an award winning short we just completed which won numerous awards and is scheduled for a screening on Christmas day on RTE1. Our short film 'Racism' has been picked up by Buena Vista for a nationwide theatrical release. This is a 2 minute "Infomercial" which appears to be selling a hot new topic "Guaranteed Irish Racism!

Does computer technology play an important role in your work?

Absolutely, computers are expensive pencils in animation and we integrate the two seamlessly. We use Wacom tablets to draw into the computer in Flash. We also do traditional hand drawn animation but this is scanned, painted and composited in Animo.

How has technology changed the animation process ?

When we started off, we produced a series for RTE - Peig. This was hand drawn, hand painted onto acetate and shot under a rostrum camera, telecinied and edited. How we worked in this manner is inconceivable now. Our studio is completely digital with two drawings desks remaining (down from 10).

Do you also produce personal animation projects?

To pay bills, we produce a lot of contract work for international clients on large format tv series which we dont advertise or put on our showreel. We also do commercials. So to keep us sane, we produce short films or short format tv series. Films like The Last Elk, Give Up Yer Aul Sins and Racism are great fun to work on and are what people know us best by but short films rarely make money. We will always aim to produce a short film or a highly creative project every year which will be developed and created in house.

How important a role does character design play in animation?

We specialise in "Character" animation. We dont aim for the Animated logos or spinning text end of the market and play to our strengths and almost 70% of our output involves character development, character design, character animation which requires real Acting. An Animator is basically an Actor with a pencil.

Are there advantages in using animation in advertising over other media?

Animation is substantially less expensive than live action. The lead characters dont talk back or give cheek and we can work on rainy days!

What animation companies do you respect internationally?

Studios such as Aardman had a great Ethos for years, producing indulgent and hilarious short films which made them little money but built up a team of great animators and production personel, this was all done while producing profitable commercials and tv specials. However, they have expanded to such a point, employing hundreds of staff now, that its probably very hard to maintain that ethos and that much staff is something that we would have no interest in achieving. There are more fun ways to make money without becoming a full time babysitter.

Is animation in Ireland recognised internationally? Are irish animators competing with international companies?

Ireland has had a great history and arguabally some of the best trained people in the business are Irish. There is hardly a studio in the world that an Irish born and trained animator doesn't work. Irish animators HAVE to compete internationally. However, when we go to the international market place looking for finance, the first question asked is how much has your national broadcaster committed to, the answer is almost always "nothing". Because of our state broadcasters disregard for the industry, it forces us to look internationally for clients and co-producers and exports have always been 30-40% of our turnover.

The industry in Ireland has declined over the last 10 years, do you feel the days of large studios will ever return?

No, the days of large studios where hundreds of people come in animate, drink tea, collect their wages, their pension are numbered. The market has changed completely, broadcasters never 100% fund projects any more, budgets are falling and Asia produces probably 100% of saturday morning output. Europeans cant compete with Asian rates and while Asia is full of studios employing hundreds of people, they are all doing US or European work.

What are your plans for the future?

We will continue to develop and produce tv series for the international market but with a greater emphasis on large format tv work(13 X 26 min). In the new year, we hope to start production on Give Up Yer Aul Sins 26 min special in February and we have received another tv commission from Channel 5 (UJ) for a 52 X 2 min pre school series. We also hope to continue to produce lots of commercials and new media contracts.

Contact Details:

Cathal Gaffney
Brown Bag Films,
28 North Lotts,
Dublin

Phone: 8721608
Fax: 8723834
Email: cathal@brownbagfilms.com
Web: www.brownbagfilms.com and www.flasharama.com

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