Turnip + Duck appoints head of content Doherty, development exec Canavan-Hayes

Inclusive 2D animation Maddie + Triggs

Irish animation studio Turnip + Duck has expanded its team with the appointment of Rob Doherty as head of content and Laura Canavan-Hayes as development executive.

Doherty will work on a consultancy basis with Turnip + Duck’s team of creators to expand the company’s network of broadcast and coproduction partners, bringing its development slate to market on a bigger scale.

He will also seek new coproduction opportunities where Turnip + Duck can bring its experience in showrunning and production to third-party projects.

Doherty’s credits include Angry Birds: Summer Madness and Mama K’s Team 4 for Netflix, and Space Chickens in Space for Disney.

With a background in scripting, development and finance, Canavan-Hayes, meanwhile, will be responsible for driving and growing the company’s slate of originals and further developing its existing network of writing room talent.

Turnip + Duck, which is behind series including Critters TV and Atom Town, will be taking its latest series Maddie + Triggs (39×7’) to Cartoon Forum this month and MipJunior in October, where it will be seeking coproduction and distribution partners.

The 2D animated series is aimed at five- to seven-year-olds and follows the adventures of a girl with a vision impairment and her canine best friend.

The show has been developed with support from Ireland’s sight-loss charity the NCBI, Irish pubcaster RTÉjr and Screen Ireland. It aims to provide an inclusive show for both sighted and vision-impaired kids.