Cartoon Saloon’s two-time Oscar nominee Tomm Moore will receive The Murakami Award at Animation Dingle.
James Hickey, CEO of The Irish Film Board will hand over the award to Tomm at a presentation as part of The Irish Animation Awards in The Skellig Hotel on Friday, March 13.
Tomm Moore is co-Founder and Creative director of Cartoon Saloon. He founded Cartoon Saloon in 1999 with Paul Young while studying animation at Ballyfermot Senior College, Dublin. Over the company’s history, he has worked as Director, Art Director, Storyboarder, Animator and Illustrator on a range of projects from commercials to service work for feature films and TV series, as well as a number of short film projects.
Tomm’s feature films ‘The Secret of Kells’ and ‘Song of the Sea’ were both nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
Speaking about receiving the award, Tomm Moore said: ‘Jimmy Murakami was an inspiration to me as a young animator, the fact he based his studio here in Ireland made it possible for a whole generation of us Irish animators to dream of taking up this profession in the first place. I got to know him a little bit in his later years and he was a warm, generous and funny storyteller. It’s a great honour for me to receive an award endorsed by him and in his memory. It’s a great further encouragement to keep pushing forward and exploring the art form like he did all his life. I’m delighted to return to Dingle after a fantastic year for our film ‘Song of The Sea’ which I presented as a work in progress last year at the festival. The Animation Dingle event is very special and since ‘Song of The Sea’ was originally inspired by a trip to Dingle a few years ago it’s fitting that we return with it this year for a special industry preview screening prior to the official premiere in Galway this July!’
The first ceremony for the Irish Animation Awards is due to take place March 13 at Dingle Skelligs Hotel in County Kerry. Among the ceremony’s 14 categories are Best Animated Preschool Series, Best Animated Short Film and Kids Choice Award for Best Animated Series. Two judges will oversee each category, picking a shortlist and selecting the winners. Some of the kids’ TV executives due to act as chairs and judges include Jackie Edwards, executive producer at CBeebies Animation; Tim Patterson, the VP and director of programming for Nickelodeon U.K.; and Sarah Muller, the head of acquisitions for CBBC.
