After garnering a wealth of experience in London and further afield, Samantha Plaisted and Julie Murnaghan returned to Ireland and quickly realised there was an untapped source of talent on home soil. We chat to them about how they’re representing homegrown animation and illustration on the international circuit.

You launched last September, generally, how has it gone so far?

Julie: It’s relatively early days still but we’re very proud of the talent we have on board so far. We want to ensure we have a nice balance of animation and illustration styles on the roster, so have taken the time to explore and cherry pick from the vast array of talent here. We’re also in the process of expanding our website to showcase the work in greater detail.

So obviously you feel an online element is important?

Sam: Well it’s the shop window, so it’s important the website design reflects the quality and diversity of the work.

Julie: We’re acutely aware the standard we’re expecting to compete at internationally is extremely high, so it’s vital we display the work with confidence.

What was the initial reason Whirligig was set up?

Julie: It was born out of Windmill Lane Pictures. Dave Quinn, who is the MD, had the idea. He saw no-one else was representing Irish talent for international commercial sales and decided the time was right.

So do you solely represent Irish talent?

Julie: At the moment, yes. But the intention is to broaden the roster to include international talent, the only criteria being it is has to be the right fit.

Yeah I noticed that, all of the very contrasting styles.

Sam: Yeah we’ve been very particular with curating the work on the roster and deliberately kept it quite small, selecting talent for their individual approach, with each artist/studio having their own unique style. We consciously avoided overlap.

Can you tell me a little bit about each of the studios under the Whirligig umbrella?

Sam: Well we have Cartoon Saloon, who’s name speak for themselves.

Based in Kilkenny, their film ‘Song of the Sea’ has achieved international acclaim, as well as an Oscar nomination, their second. It’s an outstandingly beautiful and touching film.

They’re currently in production on a new animated feature film adapted from the successful novel ‘The Breadwinner‘. They recently won awards for their TV series Puffin Rock, which is adorable. Their studio style and set-up would be ideal for high profile commercial campaigns.

Julie: We also have Brown Bag Films, who are world renowned for children’s TV series work.

Again they have the benefit of years of experience in the business as well as an established state-of-the-art operation across studios in Dublin, Manchester and LA, that could facilitate any scale of commercial campaign.

Sam: We then have the smaller studios like Eat the Danger, who Julie uncovered. Their work shows a curious blend of dark, dead-pan humour, combined with unexpectedly vibrant colour palettes. They consist of three guys who went to IADT together, who do mainly promos and short films.

Julie: Paper Panther, are based out of a tiny studio on Dorset Street. Another trio, passionately committed to their craft, you wouldn’t believe the agonising detail that goes into making their work behind the scene, it’s astonishing.

Sam: Nine Acre Films, are two animators who have worked at Aardman Animation on many familiar classic animations, such as Shaun the Sheep.

Now established animation directors in their own right, are in development on their first feature, amongst other projects too many to mention. They’re masters of comedy, writing (and in person). You could throw any script at them and they’d make it hilarious.

Julie: Then finally, we have Wiggleywoo.

Sam: Gilly! He’s such a character. He’s a one man band. He’s hugely industrious and has developed an instantly recognisable style of his own. He does what he does brilliantly and doesn’t deviate from that! Which is why we’re representing him, because you have to respect that.

For the right clients, it works extremely well.

And then the illustrators?

Julie: Acknowledging the complimentary crossover of talent between illustration and animation, we recently decided to extend our roster to include illustrators.

Each individual we have signed has a finely tuned original style and once again we are supremely proud of all who have come on board. We are excited to have the opportunity to show how their work can be adapted from the still image to moving image, specifically appealing for quick turnaround online content, it’s the natural progression for this medium.

So how do you see the landscape of animation and illustration in Ireland over the next few years?

Sam: I think the industry will expand considerably over the next 5-10 years. The success of the work produced by Cartoon Saloon and Brown Bag alone has created a momentum of change and expansion in the industry, and that’s only going to increase.

Ireland is bursting at the seams with talent but if we want to encourage that talent to stay, and ensure the supply of highly skilled local resources needed to grow the industry, there needs to be substantially greater investment in the training programmes and facilities available.

Also it would also be great if the tax incentives could be matched somewhere near Belgium and Canada. They have a 45 per cent tax break, ours is 32, which obviously makes a big difference.

Julie: Not suggesting it’s not good to explore working abroad, both Sam and I lived in London for 10 years, working at Passion Pictures, arguably one of the world’s top three animation production companies. Without this experience we wouldn’t have developed the expertise we have returned to Dublin with.

The ideal scenario is for those who chose to go away leave knowing there is a growing industry to return to, and they bring back the benefits of their experience. But now more than ever there’s no shortage of reasons to come back!

To see the full roster of animators and illustrators Whirligig represent, check out their website.

Photo by Cian McKenna