Ian Hamilton

Founder
Elk Studios
Ireland

Pitching: Moo & Roo Take the World
 
What is the biggest issue facing the animation industry?
Broadcasters’ budgets are strained at the moment because of revenue losses. This means they’re not commissioning as much, or if they are, the amount they can put towards each project is less. What was £1m [US$1.3m] from a broadcaster as a commission is now £750,000, so you’ve got to push a bit harder to find that extra cash. On our projects, we’re looking for more presales and making savings on the budget.

What is your company doing in response to this?
We’ve been lucky in that our three coproductions haven’t been scrapped, they’ve just been delayed. Broadcasters still need content, so it’s about maintaining those contacts, be it virtually with calls or going to virtual markets that are happening these days. We have to get used to doing things a little differently.

What impact could the Covid-19 pandemic have on the animation industry long-term?
Even if we got a vaccine tomorrow and Covid-19 disappeared by Christmas, so many people now have really got used to working from home. They’re spending less time and money on travelling and moving out of the cities. We have a really nice space in Dundalk with plenty of room for social distancing, so we’re not switching it for something smaller just yet. But we could if we wanted, because everybody’s been working so well at home that it hasn’t affected our productivity.

How are subscription video-on-demand services changing the animation industry?
For someone like us, we wouldn’t mind doing a global deal with a streamer. Having something up on Netflix or Disney+ and being able to say, ‘We did that’ is kind of like a badge of honour. It almost does as much for your company profile as owning the rights and getting some back-end would, as you never know which way these things go.

Tell us about the project you are pitching at Cartoon Forum.
Moo & Roo Take the World (52×11′) is about two brothers and the adventures they go on, and one just happens to be in a wheelchair. Moo is the confident one, with some ‘street smarts,’ while weakness in his legs means he uses a wheelchair. Roo is more tentative, but on adventures with his older brother, his curiosity often lands the pair in trouble.

It’s based on our two boys, one of whom uses a wheelchair. It’s very much not a show for wheelchair users, it’s a show for everybody. We’ve linked in with the Irish Wheelchair Association, so the writers will have roundtables with wheelchair users of various ages. But we will also give some of those people with an interest in writing the chance to write an episode with an experienced writer.