Telegael, the Galway-based film and television production company, have appointed Siobhán Ní Ghadhra as chief operating officer.
The role is a new position within the company and will see Ni Ghadhra, a two-time EMMY award winner, responsible for the day-to-day operations of Telegael and its subsidiary companies.
Established in 1988, IFTA award winning studio Telegael is one of Ireland’s leading live action and animation production studios, with its various productions exceeding 175 in 2011.
The company’s client list includes some of the biggest names in global broadcasting including Disney, Discovery Kids, France Television, Super-RTL, KIKA, BBC,
Nickelodeon, PBS Sprout, ITV, ZDF and Cartoon Network.
Under the new structure, CEO Paul Cummins will focus on further developing the company’s global relationships, with the company having established overseas offices in London and Los Angeles in recent years.
Cummins said the appointment of a chief operating officer was “an important strategic move for the company at this point in time.”
He added: “In excess of 90 per cent of our output is for the global market which is reflected in the establishment of overseas offices in London and Los Angeles in recent years. We have also grown our activities to include the development and production of long-run live action television series as well as children’s’ animated series.”
As Telegael’s head of production for the last 12 years, he noted that Ní Ghadhra “has a wealth of experience in all aspects of live action and animation production.”
Speaking of her new appointment, Siobhán Ní Ghadhra said: “I am truly honoured to be given such an opportunity and also to be in a position where I can continue to work with our amazing team here at Telegael. I am really looking forward to embracing the new role”.
Ní Ghadhra begun her career at Roger Corman’s Irish film studios in 1998, before being appointed head of production at Telegael in 2000. In that role she had responsibility for all Telegael productions and international co-productions, working with numerous partners including Disney, Discovery Kids, Moonscoop, BBC, France 3, Super RTL, ITV, ZDF, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, TF1, Kids Warner Bros and KiKa.
She was also responsible for Telegael's reversioning into Irish of series such as Dora the Explorer, Arthur and Elmo and Friends and also worked on the development of numerous projects for the home and international market.
Nominated for seven EMMY awards, she has won the award twice, in 2004 and 2007, as Irish producer of the Tutenstein animation series for Discovery Kids. She was also a producer on the IFTA winning series Skunk Fu! and on the BBC series Zombie Hotel which won an Annecy International award in 2006.
