Two years since announcing its first original short film in development following an in-house call for concepts, Irish animation prodco Lighthouse Studios’ Póg mo Pigeon made its World Premiere at the 36th Galway Film Fleadh as part of the festival’s Animated Shorts Program on Sunday, July 14 at 12 p.m. Póg mo Pigeon (a play on the Irish phrase, “póg mo thon,” meaning “kiss my a–”) is “entirely home-grown, and tells a decidedly Irish story,” the studio shares. Set in West Cork in the 1970s, the 2D piece tells the story of Mikey, a young boy who escapes the watchful eyes of Mamm ..read more

Congratulations to Alt Animation, their animation partners Studio Meala, and the whole ‘To Break A Circle’ team on their win of the James Horgan Award for Best Animation Short at the 36th Galway Film Fleadh. The film tells the story of the destruction of an ancient stone circle in an isolated Irish town. Dealing with themes of environmental conservation and youthful isolation, it is a timely film that demonstrates the power of stories to shape the relationships communities have with their environment. The ambitious hand-drawn film was produced as part of Northern Ireland Screen’s Creative Ani ..read more

About the Funding Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland through Cultural & Creative Industries Skillnet are providing €100,000 in funding that will be used to provide work opportunities on productions for those from diverse and under-represented communities and those where access to the industry would historically be limited. The Pathways funding scheme particularly welcomes applications from producers for proposals that support overcoming barriers for under-represented participants/individuals wishing to transition from other sectors and those who wish to return to the screen sector after a per ..read more

Animation Ireland is delighted to welcome Stiúidio Fia as a member of Animation Ireland. CEO Paul McDonnell has over 20 years of stop motion experience. Stiúideo Fia not only creates films but also serves as the top training centre in the country for various areas, like special effects, prop making, sculpting, moulding & casting, model making, and puppet fabrication. Stiúideo Fia’s mission is to empower creatives to stay in Ireland and contribute significantly to the development of a sustainable industry in stop motion animation, film and creative practices in Ireland. Their goal is to e ..read more

Annual animation pitchfest Cartoon Forum has announced its 2024 lineup of projects, with a total of 75 series/specials making the cut this year from 107 submissions. Kids & family content represents roughly three-quarters of the selection—nearly 63% of projects fall into the children’s category (which includes tweens and bridge audiences), followed by adult/teen content (23%), preschool (7%) and family (7%). And the total combined budget of all projects, which collectively represent 394 hours of content, is US$381 million (EUR€350.77 million). Nearly half of this year’s projects hail from ..read more

Ready just in time for the premier, stand alone, Animation Ireland Meitheal this Saturday, Animation Ireland has launched a brand new showreel for 2024! This showreel was crafted by the talented team at Gorilla Post Production. Cut to the beat of ‘Girl from Space’ by Moxie from their album The Dawn of Motion, the showreel features the following shows and films from our talented member studios: Algorithm, and maps and plans, Alt Animation, Boulder Media, Brown Bag Films, Cardel, Cartoon Saloon, Distillery Films, Enter Yes, elk.Studios, Flickerpix, Giant Animation, Igloo Animations, Ink an ..read more

A Day of Networking, Learning & Collaboration for Ireland’s Animation Industry Saturday May 25, 10.00am – 5.30pm Galway Bay Hotel, Galway, Ireland Register now for free at animationirelandmeitheal.ie Credit: Andrew Downes. Left to Right: Moe Honan, CEO Moetion Films & Chair of Animation Ireland Gary Timpson, MD Kavaleer Productions Lindsey Adams, Founder Daily Madness Productions Philippe Allesandri, Founder What’s Next Media & Chair of Animation Europe “We are delighted to announce the Animation Ireland Meitheal 2024 programme, our annual event which gathers together Ireland ..read more

The Writers’ Guild of Ireland are delighted to announce that the submission window for this year’s Zebbie Awards opens this Friday 3rd May, for scripts written by Irish writers, or writers living on the island of Ireland. If you have a script (ideally, one you’re happy with!) that was produced and first screened, staged, broadcast in Ireland (or was generally available to an Irish audience) in 2023 we’d love you to submit it for consideration. There are seven categories in the Zebbie Awards, recognising the best scripts across feature film, tv drama, continuing drama, theatre, short film, ani ..read more

The call for projects for the Young Horizons Industry forum is open until 19 April. We are waiting for submissions of full-length films and series projects for young audiences, at various stages of development and production. For the first time, we also invite creators to submit their completed films to the Young Horizons International Film Festival. The goal of the forum is simple: to help creators connect with potential partners. By bringing together projects and industry players, we are creating a space where you can exchange ideas and form partnerships. 20 projects, live-action, animated ..read more

Picture: Alan Place Today, March 26, Fresh Film announced a number of exciting new film industry partnerships for Ireland’s Young Filmmaker of the Year Awards (IYFTYs). Screen Producers Ireland, Animation Ireland, and Bow Street Academy join the Fresh Film community as prestigious awards partners, enhancing opportunities in filmmaking for young cinematic talent across Ireland and beyond. As the 28th edition of the Fresh International Film Festival approaches, running from April 15th to 21st at Omniplex Limerick, anticipation builds for the prestigious&nb ..read more