Film Ireland Online

Steve Woods finds out that new technology oiled by good ideas keep the wheels of the animation industry turning over.

While other industries are recoiling under the strain of the current world economic downturn, Ireland Animation Inc. is giving the impression that it can sail through the storm reasonably safely. Is this true? If so, how come? More importantly, will Irish animation sustain itself in the future?

I first met John Rice of JAM Media in the foyer of the company building – the old Dublin Moravian Church in Kevin Street, an architectural gem. (Maybe not the obvious setting for a 21st century business given the interesting 18th century graves at the back.) He was checking out some voice-overs for their new tv series on a big plasma screen set against a wall of beautiful wooden panels. The series is a follow-on from the Frameworks short film Badly Drawn Roy, Alan Shannon’s wonderful mix of live action and animation about an animated boy growing up in Crumlin.

Right there is one of the reasons why John feels that they are going to be ok future-wise: ‘Roy’ is JAM Media’s own Intellectual Property. ‘IP gives a long-term value to your work,’ John says. JAM Media doesn’t do service work for outside production companies, it works on its own productions.

A bonus to non-service work is that you have complete rights to exploit your work. Strangely, no animation company in Ireland has gone the road of licensing merchandising – making cuddly toys and games. However, a number of companies, like JAM, do develop interactive software. ‘Software related shows really distinguish themselves, because children’s tv is the most cluttered demographic in television,’ says Rice.

The best example of interactive software that JAM has developed is around their series for really young kids, PicMe – the longest running show on Nick Junior UK. It features photos of real kids attached to animated bodies that run around in an animated world. On picme.com all 104 episodes are online, kids can upload their own photos and order their own DVD starring themselves. Or they can buy the software to burn their own discs. Or they can just play special PicMe games online.

The full article is printed in Film Ireland 128.