Animation Award Nominees: Ballyfermot College is notably recognised at awards
Ballyfermot college was notably represented among the 2023 Irish Animation Awards nominees, reports Avery Lin.
Many involved in shows nominated for the 2023 Irish Animation Awards announced on Wednesday, April 26 can claim roots to Ballyfermot College of Further Education (BCFE).
Founded as ‘Senior College’ in 1979, BCFE is the country’s second largest Further Education provider and has been offering animation courses through the Irish School of Animation (ISA) since the late 1980s.
Ranked number 18 among the top global 25 animation courses by Animation Career Review in May 2021, the animation school has turned out over 50 distinguished alumni according to the college website.
Among them, Tallaght-native Richard Baneham won a Special Visual Effects Academy Award by the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs) in April for his work on blockbuster ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’.
Oscar-nominated director Nora Twomey of Cartoon Saloons’ ‘My Father’s Dragon’, which leads with seven nominations, and producers Tomm Moore and Paul Young founded the animation studio while students at BCFE. Other contributors linked to the college include Helga Kristjana, Paul Ó Muiris, Aurelie Gauthier and Robert Bowler according to IMDb and LinkedIn.
Cartoon Saloon co-founded Lighthouse Studios, which produced BAFTA-winning ‘El Deafo’ (4 nominations) and Emmy-nominated ‘The Cuphead Show!’ (3 nominations). BCFE-linked crew on ‘El Deafo’ include Maureen Walshe, Anthony Walsh and Colm Dowling and on ‘The Cuphead Show!’, Patrick Geaney and Susan Pendred according to IMDb and LinkedIn.
Other BCFE alums are Andrew Kavanagh (Founder/CEO) and Gary Timpson (Owner/Managing Director) of Kavaleer Productions, which produced the multi-nominated series ‘Circle Square’, ‘Kiva Can Do!’, ‘Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese’ and ‘Alva’s World’ alongside the TV special ‘Adam Saves Christmas’.
BCFE-linked crew on one or more of the productions include Graham Corcoran, Maureen Walshe, Andrew Keane, Monica Mcevoy Kennedy, Aurlie Gauthier, Cat Williams, Patrick O’Callaghan, Kelley Lewis, Graham Corcoran, Mark Stokes, and Aoife Magee according to their LinkedIns.
Co-founders Cathal Gaffney and Darragh O’Connell of Brown Bag Films, which produced BAFTA-nominated ‘Ada Twist, Scientist’ and NAMIC-Vision-Award-nominated ‘Karma’s World’ (3 nominations each), also studied at BCFE alongside ‘Ada Twist’ directors Seamus O’Toole and Alan Moran.
Other alumni include Paul McGrath and Paul O’Flanagan, respective directors of ‘Lady Betty’ and ‘Memento Mori’ both nominated for ‘Best Animated Short Film’. Also through Boulder Media where he is creative director, O’Flanagan directed the dual-nominated series ‘Transformers BotBots’ and worked on the nominated interactive cartoon ‘Cat Burglar’.
BCFE-linked crew on at least one of the Boulder Media productions include Adeola Lawal, Cormac McCabe, Maria Aurora Rodriguez, Stefanie Reville, Mark Kilkelly, Jamie Carroll and Gillian Comerford, Boulder Media’s other creative director according to their LinkedIns.
In the game world, co-developers Lea Crowley and Aoife Doyle of Pink Kong Studios’ ‘Myth Masters’, nominated for ‘Best innovation in animation’, are BCFE graduates as well.
Boasting five nominations, BCFE-linked contributors to Daily Madness’ ‘Ray of Sunshine’ include art director Adam Kavanagh and animators Declan Davis and Monica Mcevoy Kennedy according to their LinkedIns.
This year marks the fifth awards ceremony recognising ‘outstanding creative talent’ in Ireland’s animation, VFX and gaming industries presented by Animation Ireland, the trade association for national animation studios.
For the first time since 2019, the full-day in-person event will take place on May 27 at The Galway Bay Hotel in Galway with industry panels and discussions planned ahead of the evening ceremony.
Testifying to the immense talent pool, a record 53 productions were nominated. The sector, which has recently undergone rapid growth, generates nearly €200m in annual revenue with a viewership extending to over 180 countries.
As Ronan McCabe, CEO of Animation Ireland puts it, “the future remains bright for Irish animation”.
