Gráinne McGuinness, co-founder and creative director of Belfast-based Paper Owl Films, talks about the company’s plans for its new studio and why Northern Ireland is an attractive hub for coproductions.
Gráinne McGuinness
Paper Owl opened a new studio in Belfast earlier this year. Tell us about the decision and strategy behind this.
One of the driving forces for opening the new studio was to expand our coproduction capabilities. In Northern Ireland we have a fantastic offering for potential partners in terms of talent and funding support from Northern Ireland Screen, as well as access to the UK tax breaks and the island of Ireland funding. We have always done our own post-production, but the studio means we can now open our doors to other companies who can use our facilities across voice recording and sound as well as vision. Our studio space, which is located for easy access, also gives us a positive, collaborative environment where we work together, be creative together and have fun together making the shows that we love.
What are the benefits for international producers of working with a Northern Irish partner?
Financially Northern Ireland is a special place. We have access to funding across the island of Ireland and the UK. As a partner – whether that’s as a coproducer or helping with post – we can bring a lot to the finance plan. We can access development funding, production funding, training funding and tax incentives, so working with a Northern Irish partner can be a real benefit whatever the stage of the project.
What are the company’s strategy and growth plans?
Strong production is central to quality creative execution – we are constantly working on that, finding new and better ways to develop and improve and meet the challenges of an ever-changing international market. The training and development of all of our team is core to our business as we grow, both for new talent as well as those who have been with us for many years. We are lucky to have access to training support from our local screen agency and having the new studio space has enabled us to put in place training strategies across the whole team. Developing our core established talent is vital, as is effectively training fresh talent coming into our pipelines.
Nikhil and Jay is a coproduction with King Banana and Cake
Securing funding is a constant challenge for the animation and children’s content sectors. How important is local screen agency support to the industry and how has Paper Owl benefited from it?
Local screen agency support with Northern Ireland Screen is brilliant on so many levels – we are forever grateful to them. The advice and mentorship they have given to Paper Owl over the years has been invaluable. The funding that supports development, production and training is fantastic, but on top of that they have real vision and a passion to grow our industry. They help with marketing and reputation building and are real connectors – it’s a huge attraction for coproducers collaborating with Northern Ireland companies.
Tell us about Paper Owl’s content strategy and the type of programming the company strives to bring to young viewers?
Representation on screen matters. Stories matter. Having a laugh matters. We believe in stand-out content for children that makes them laugh and raises their happiness levels. Our mission is to create content that allows and enables all children to see themselves on screen. It is vital that we strive to create quality shows that stand out in such a crowded marketplace. We want children to engage and feel connected to our shows and our goal is always to deliver the best we can for our audience.
Pablo: Next Level is currently in production
What projects are on Paper Owl’s current and upcoming slate?
We are currently in production on 40×11’ of Pablo: Next Level, which we are coproducing with Cake in association with Crayola for BBC Children’s and RTÉjr.
We have just announced the greenlight for the second series instalment of our Celtic-inspired adventure anime series Lí Ban, which is commissioned by Cúla4/TG4 in Ireland and S4C in the Welsh language. This is season two of a five season story universe. It is being made with funding support from Coimisiún na Meán, as well as Northern Ireland Screen’s Screen Fund and Irish Language Broadcast Fund, and is being distributed internationally by Aardman.
Nikhil and Jay, our coproduction with King Banana and Cake, has recently launched on CBeebies with great audiences and has been nominated for a number of awards which is fantastic news.
We are heading to Annecy with a robust development slate including our new series The Sprite House, which is a 52×7’ mixed 2D/3D animated show for two-to five-year-olds.
Celtic-inspired adventure anime series Lí Ban is back for a second series
What are the biggest challenges and opportunities you identify in the kids’ business at the moment?
We are all aware of the challenges facing our industry due to the commissioning and financing downturn, but it is now more important than ever that we get quality content in front of children. We need support for making quality children’s programming and we need help to protect and support curated content across all platforms where children are consuming their media. ‘Calm seas don’t make skilful sailors’ – the industry will mobilise and change will happen. Right now we have an opportunity to learn and create a new way forward; children need to access quality content wherever they are, that is safe to access and curated for their benefit.
What are Paper Owl’s creative and business ambitions for the foreseeable future?
We want to continue to build our slate of IP that we, at Paper Owl, are all so passionate about; IP that is meaningful and impactful and raises the happiness of children and sees them represented on screen. We want to collaborate and coproduce more and we want to continue to learn and explore as a business in the ever-changing marketplace. We are a boutique, family-fun business and we never want to lose that sensibility as we grow our creative and commercial ambitions.
