Animation studio Brown Bag Films announced plans to grow its team to 255 by 2018 as it opened its new 30,000 square foot studio in Smithfield. the company currently employs over 180 staff in Dublin as well as in Manchester and Los Angeles.
Founded by Cathal Gaffney and Darragh O'Connell, Brown Bag Films is probably best known in Ireland for its Oscar-nominated feature ‘Give Up Yer Aul Sins’. It also produced four of the top ten pre-school TV shows in the U.S.
Brown Bag was bought by Toronto-based company 9 Story Media Group last year. The combined company now has a team of almost 500 staff, locations in four different countries, and a host of top awards to its name.
As part of the integration following the acquisition, Cathal Gaffney was appointed chief operating officer of 9 Story Media Group.
Speaking at today’s Dublin studio opening, Gaffney said: “With an eight-year history in Smithfield, we were keen to maintain our roots here. Our new studio sets an incredibly high standard and is the perfect home for our outstanding creative and technical talent.
In Association with
“This is a very exciting time to be working in the kids content business and we are currently recruiting for talent to work with us on exciting shows like Watership Down and Doc McStuffins.”
Commitment
Neil Court, executive chairman of 9 Story Media Group, added: “The Smithfield site is one of the most creatively driven and technically advanced studios in the world. The investment in the new space demonstrates our unwavering commitment to growing our production capabilities in Ireland.”
Taxpayers through IDA Ireland provided support for Brown Bags’ Smithfield development. According to CEO Martin Shanahan: “Ireland’s combination of creative and technical talent, and our love of storytelling and the visual arts, makes it the perfect location from which to grow and develop global content.”
Brown Bag Films was founded in 1996 by Gaffney and O’Connell when they were in their twenties. On the back of numerous animated series for children’s television, Brown Bag grew into a sizeable business, with turnover of €18.4m in 2013 and a net profit of €1.5m.
In August 2015, Brown Bag Films was purchased by Canadian peer 9 Story Media. The consideration wasn’t disclosed, with industry speculation centring on a figure of around €15m. “Sometimes you have to jump at an opportunity and 9 Story is a company that we admired creatively and professionally,” said Gaffney. “By joining forces, they now have 3D animation and we now have distribution.”
Advised by KPMG, various Isle of Man companies entered the Brown Bag ownership structure in January 2015 and the company is now unlimited.
Photo: L-R Cathal Gaffney, Neil Court of 9 Story Media Group, jobs minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor,Mary Buckley of IDA Ireland and designer Derek Horan. (Pic: Maxwells Photography)
