Animated about kids' films

CATHAL GAFFNEY, BROWN BAG FILMS:CHILD'S BUSINESS can be complex work; just ask Cathal Gaffney. As the chief executive of animation business Brown Bag Films guides me around the company's state of the art studio, he ticks off the number of different functions that feed into any animation production – up to 30 by the way.

The frame by frame storyboard that will eventually morph into a 10-minute programme is almost an inch thick.

And that’s before you get to the critically important issue of contract negotiations with some of the world’s largest players in children’s entertainment.

It’s all a long way from where he and Darragh O’Connell started out. Kicked out of Ballyfermot College and at a loose end, the two young animators decided to see if they could make and sell a few short films.

“We had no business plan and no great ideas, and then we came up with an idea for an animation series on Peig Sayers and we thought we would chance our arms and send it into RTÉ,” says Gaffney, sitting in his small, glass-walled office.

“They commissioned us to do our first series and that was back in 1994.”

Seventeen years on, about the only thing that hasn’t changed at the company is the friendship of the two men and their 50/50 ownership of the business. “It’s quite extraordinary. We’re still together, still good friends and still want to make short films. We have the same vision of where we want to go and what we want to do.”

But around them, the industry has changed. What started off as an analogue business with hand-drawn animation and an incredibly labour-intensive process is now dominated by computers and technology. On his way around the office, Gaffney introduces me to Derek, the lone analogue animator left among the 60-strong staff.

Recently, Brown Bag has invested heavily in developing 3D capabilities that will be required by an eventual progression to feature film animation production. Gaffney says the company and the sector has evolved rapidly. “We’re effectively a different company almost every three to four years.”

It has certainly paid dividends. Just three months on air, the company's latest hit, Octonauts, co-produced with Chorion, is the top rated children's programme on CBeebies in Britain, Australia, as well as being among the top three in Latin America. And it has recently signed a contract with Disney Junior in the US for a new animation series, Doc McStuffins, the first commissioned by the new channel.

An Oscar nomination for Give Up Yer Aul Sinsback in 2002 first brought Brown Bag to wider public attention but it also proved a stark business lesson.

“Getting nominated for an Oscar is like winning the lottery with no money, it’s the most amazing thing that can happen to you.

“But unless you know what you want to do with your career, unless you have a business plan, it can almost work against you. Back in 2002, we were a smallish company so it was quite a challenge for us because we had all this recognition and interest and we did not have a strong business then to really exploit it.”

In the end, the experience opened some doors but brought little business.

By the time the company's second Oscar nomination arrived last year for Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty, Brown Bag was altogether more prepared.

“When Granny O’Grimm came along, we were organised and ready to go. We didn’t know we were going to get nominated but when we did, we had a machine and it was like ‘bang’, things happened.”

Strong interest from Hollywood studios in the company’s “slate” and the feature films it wanted to make persuaded Gaffney to fast-track plans for a Los Angeles office.

“One year on, there are a whole bunch of projects on our development slate,” Gaffney says. “It’s a big expense to us but what we are doing now in a recession is planting loads of acorns. Now is the best time to invest in the future of the business and I would sooner invest in my own business than in other people’s.”

Apart from the LA office, the company has expanded its business team and built an additional studio at its Smithfield base in Dublin.

Gaffney feels more could be done to encourage what he sees as one of the faster growing sectors of the economy.

“I think what we do in animation as a sector, we define the smart economy. We are using technology, it’s highly skilled labour, we’re export focused, we’re creating IP, building balance sheets. We all have strong employment relative to the size of our sector . . .”

But, in his view, that is not reflected in the support it receives from the State.

“I think ultimately, there’s a role within public services broadcasting to look after all aspects of the public and that includes children . . . while there is a really good children’s block on RTÉ, I don’t believe there’s enough animation being produced in Ireland and Irish children deserve quality home produced programmes as much as their parents do.

“Less than 1 per cent of RTÉ spending on independent production goes on animation. In the last Broadcasting Authority of Ireland [funding] round, not a single cent of around €7 million went to animation. And the terms of reference of the Irish Film Board mean it is there to support 35mm feature film rather than animation.

“I know politicians get a great time about going out on to film sets and getting photographs on set but ultimately Ireland is a difficult place to shoot live footage given the unions and our weather. Let’s look at what we’re good at. Animation has the potential to scale as an industry here.”

One way that could be done, he argues, is through the introduction of a tax credit on content R&D, along the same lines as existing technology R&D credits.

“I think it makes sense that we can say, for Irish companies spending significant sums creating IP, if this IP goes well, the state benefits, everybody benefits. As of now, we are paying so much in tax and if the R&D doesn’t go well, we are carrying 100 per cent of the risk.”

He also believes that, for all the deserved acclaim they have received, the focus of third-level colleges needs to be changed.

“They haven’t adapted to the change in the industry and they are all teaching the wrong software . . . They don’t produce enough graduates. Any time we are looking to fill a position, we are advertising in the UK or the US, as well as Europe.”

For all the challenges, Gaffney wouldn’t change where he is. The work, he insists, is not the problem – even last year, they had a two-year pipeline of TV work lined up. It is the growing pains of the organisation as it matures and scales up that provide more headaches.

“The truth is that, 17 years on, it still feels like a start-up. It feels like we have just got good at doing what we doing and we are just ready to make a run for it. There’s a lot of energy there still.

And it’s a passion for doing stuff for children. It is what I want to do. It’s not like I want eventually to make programmes for adults, I actually love kids and making programmes for kids.”

ON THE RECORD

Name: Cathal Gaffney.

Age: 40.

Position: Chief executive, Brown Bag Films.

Family: Married with two young children.

Interests: Photography and cycling

Something you might expect: Cathal enjoys nothing better than spending his downtime watching animation on TV.

Something that might surprise: The man leading Ireland's longest-established animation company was kicked out of Ballyfermot College – synonymous with much of the recent success of Irish animation – with his company co-founder, Darragh O'Callaghan.