What is the biggest issue facing the animation industry?
There’s going to be a generation of kids facing a brand new world due to the pandemic. Going back into schools with different rules on touching and hygiene means there’s going to be an awful lot more social anxiety around. So what kind of content are those kids going to need, because their mindset will have shifted?
What is your company doing in response to this?
We’re working on a beautiful film called Sol, which is a coproduction between BBC Alba, S4C and TG4 and has received funding from the Young Audiences Content Fund. It will be produced in three languages,Welsh, Gaelic and Scottish Gaelic, and tells an imaginary story of a child trying to save the world following the death of his grandmother. It’s designed to help young people aged eight to 11 understand the nature of grief. We’ve also got Happy the Hoglet, a show all about social anxiety and the emotional rollercoaster of preschool, on our development slate.
Mr Dog
What impact could the Covid-19 pandemic have on the animation industry long-term?
We’re now all able to work at times and in ways that suit us individually. That’s great for creative people, because the nine-to-five in a studio doesn’t suit everybody. But then there are people who really value that studio experience and need to be around other people to bounce ideas off one another. I have concerns about training opportunities and fresh talent. Could people fall through the cracks because you’re not in the room with them? And do they miss all the learning that you do by osmosis by being in the middle of a great team? We need to create really rich training experiences and opportunities for new and younger talent to make relationships. That’s something that we need to address as an industry.
Also, I don’t know what the effect of this will be on broadcasters’ budgets in the long term, but we have to be prepared for stormy waters ahead.
How are subscription video-on-demand services changing the animation industry?
They are changing it a lot but I also see the huge need we have for public service broadcasting [PSB] content. We need to embrace opportunities whilst not forgetting the indigenous PSBs that have been serving audiences for all of this time. We need those too. I don’t want to live in a world without PSBs leading the charge in creating really positive, educational material for kids that’s emotionally relevant and meaningful.
Tell us about the project you are pitching at Cartoon Forum.
Mr Dog (52×11′) is based on a series of books by the broadcaster, writer and adventurer Ben Fogle. Ben has a lot of Mr Dog in him because he’s a traveller and an adventurer and likes to help all aspects of nature that might be in trouble. Underdog wonderdog Mr Dog may look like a scruffy, homeless mutt but his determined optimism always wins the day, in a Mr Magoo meets Bolt kind of way. It’s for four- to eight-year-olds and has RTÉ in Ireland on board. We’re looking for a distributor and a key broadcaster in another territory.
Creative director
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