Irish-Based Studio Teams Up With Mercury Filmworks

Kilkenny-based animation studio Cartoon Saloon has announced a partnership with Canadian animation studio Mercury Filmworks. The two will come together in a joint venture to create a new 2D-focused animation studio in Ireland called Lighthouse Studios.

The project is being supported by Ireland's Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through IDA Ireland and will create more than 140 jobs in the next three years. It is understood Lighthouse Studios will release further details regarding development and production projects, as well as a hiring initiative encompassing production management, designers, animators, effects artists, compositors, technical directors, 3D modelers, riggers, lighting and texture artists and IT administrators in the coming weeks.

Lighthouse Studios will provide children's and family animated content development and end-to-end production services – from script writing, design, storyboard, animation and compositing to post production services – to a global client base. Specialising in 2D animation with some CGI integration and utlising the latest technologies, the studio's production pipeline will mirror Mercury Filmworks' Canadian operation. Lighthouse Studios will operate autonomously with its own management team, reporting to a Board of Directors comprised of executives from both Mercury Filmworks and Cartoon Saloon.

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell O'Connor TD, said: "This is terrific news and I warmly welcome the additional 140 jobs which will be created in Kilkenny. I am always keen to pursue as wide a range of Foreign Investment projects as possible and this launch today shows that we have the creative talent to attract companies like Mercury Filmworks to Ireland. Ireland has a strong record in film making, including animation, and I have no doubt that this partnership between Mercury Filmworks and Cartoon Saloon will go from strength to strength."

Clint Eland, CEO, Mercury Filmworks, added: "We have enormous respect for Cartoon Saloon and could not be happier to announce this collaboration. They are one of today's most creative and well respected animation companies with goals, perspectives, and philosophies that complement our own. Conceived as a studio with its own unique identity, Lighthouse Studios is neither wholly Mercury Filmworks nor Cartoon Saloon, but rather the best parts of each, transplanted in the rich Irish soil and nurtured by its own talented team of artists into a studio with its own unique and distinct creative perspective."

Paul Young, CEO, Cartoon Saloon, commented: "All of us at Cartoon Saloon are delighted to be in partnership with Mercury, as we have long admired their work. And now, together, we plan to make Lighthouse Studios and Kilkenny a centre of excellence for animation. Ireland enjoys a number of advantages when it comes to animation. The industry is supported by a growing number of educational programs and draws talent from all over Europe due to the quality of projects being produced here. The Irish talent pool has been spilling over into other parts of Europe and North America for years and we look forward to welcoming a lot of that talent home."

Image: Anne-Marie Tierney-LeRoux, IDA Ireland; Clint Eland, Mercury Filmworks; Minister for Jobs Mary Mitchell O'Connor and Paul Young Cartoon Saloon.

(JP)