The 2019 Irish animation Awards, taking place on Saturday 23rd March, are set to once again highlight the brilliance and talent of the Irish animation sector. This year’s ceremony, which is hosted by animation trade association Animation Ireland, has seen a huge upsurge in the number of entries and four new award categories.
Among the nominations this year are the two Oscar nominated films from Cartoon Saloon, The Breadwinner and Late Afternoon, as well as nominations for stunning virtual reality animations such as Pink Kong Studios’ Aurora. Paper Panther’s The Bird and the Whale and Brown Bag Films’ Doc McStuffins Christmas Special picked up four nominations. However, Gingerbread Animation’s Space Chickens in Space is way out in front with seven nominations in total.
According to Animation Ireland’s Industry Chair Moe Honan, the awards this year highlight the continued growth and creativity in the sector; ‘’looking at the nominations you can really see the truly impressive amount of breath-taking work being produced in Ireland at the moment. Ireland’s position as one of the world’s best locations for animation is now firmly cemented.’’
Moe went on to say; ‘’this year we have four new awards and our very hard working judges have been extremely busy with the number of entries. There are 16 categories in total and one of our new awards is the Kids’ Choice Award, with the winner being chosen by primary school children across the country. Another new category is Best Newcomer, which shows the continuing increase in the amount of new studios being set up. The new award categories and the sheer volume of entries reflect the substantial growth in the sector over the past two years.’’
The biennial awards ceremony is sponsored by RTÉ, Screen Ireland, Animation Skillnet, Philip Lee, CelAction, Screen Skills Ireland, Brophy Gillespie and Gorilla Post.
Winners of each category will receive a statuette designed by animator, film maker and teacher Eimhin McNamara. The statuette resembles a Phenakistoscope which was an early animation device used to create an illusion of motion.
Animation Ireland is the trade association for Ireland’s animation studios, representing 25 member studios who employ more than 1,500 people nationwide. The sector has seen meteoric growth in recent years, with the sector now generating over €100 million for the economy annually as Irish animation projects are viewed in over 120 countries worldwide.
