28 March 2024 The Irish Film & Television Network
     

Irish Film and Television Network

 »

News

 »

Finance News



Brown Bag Films acquired by North America’s 9 Story Media Group
18 Aug 2015 : Seán Brosnan
Brown Bag Films acquired by 9 Story Media Group
Irish award-winning animation studio Brown Bag Films has been acquired by 9 Story Media Group, one of North America’s largest animation studios.

The Brown Bag Films brand will be retained, with Cathal Gaffney, founder and CEO, Darragh O’Connell, founder & Creative Director, and the senior management team continuing to lead the Irish operation. Gaffney and O’Connell feel that the sale will help the Irish based animation company to exploit more of its original content due to 9 Story’s strategic strengths in licensing, distribution and merchandising. As part of the American operation, the company will be in a better position to continue to focus on international co-productions and commissioned shows, with service work remaining as a key focus for the business. Under the new ownership, Brown Bag Films plans to hire an additional 50 staff in the near future as the company looks to reach new markets with its content.

Over the last two decades, the Irish company Brown Bag Films has developed a strong international reputation for animation service work along with its own original content and has seen its staff numbers almost tripling in numbers to meet the demand of international contract work last year saw the company open a 2D studio in Manchester.

The animation studio has secured a number of nominations and accolades over the years for its animation since its’ foundation in 1994. These include Oscar nominations for ‘Give Up Yer Aul Sins’ (2002) and ‘Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty’ (2010), and a host of BAFTA, IFTA, Emmy and Annie nominations for their animation work on shows such as ‘Doc McStuffins’ ‘Henry Hugglemonster’ and ‘Octonauts’.

This decision was taken after Brown Bag Films’ co-founders, Cathal Gaffney and Darragh O’Connell, explored a range of options to take the company to the next level. Gaffney and O’Connell stated that they opted to combine forces with 9 Story Media Group due to their shared ambition, culture and approach to creativity. They feel the deal will see both companies leverage each other’s strategic strengths in order to achieve their vision of becoming the largest pure play kids’ content studio in the world.

Brown Bag Films is renowned for its 3D animation and content, which includes producing four of the top ten pre-school TV shows. 9 Story Media Group is best known as an industry-leading 2D animator, with one of the largest studios in North America, and a highly successful global distribution division.

Commenting on the announcement, Cathal Gaffney, co-founder and CEO of Brown Bag Films, said: “This is a coming together of two great companies with a shared love of animation and storytelling that really resonates with kids. I am truly excited about this opportunity that we have worked so hard on and I look forward to continuing to produce the best animated content for children across the globe with 9 Story long into the future. By joining forces, they now have 3D animation and we now have distribution. There are so many synergies like this that made this deal a compelling and obvious opportunity that we wanted to take advantage of, but ultimately all of these synergies will see both companies grow and become stronger together.”

Darragh O’Connell, co-founder and Creative Director, added: “The combined entity will give us a greater bandwidth and wider global reach for getting our shows into production and watched by as many children as possible. This deal allows us to concentrate on what we have always done very well – making great shows for kids.”

Vince Commisso, CEO of 9 Story Media Group, also said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to be joining forces with Brown Bag Films. Cathal, Darragh and their team in Ireland have a well-established track record and an outstanding reputation for producing high quality animation. This transformative transaction, which extends our footprint into Europe, broadens our content offering to distribution partners and audiences worldwide, combines best in class CGI and 2D, and optimally positions the company for tremendous growth. We look forward to having Cathal, Darragh and the Brown Bag team, join the 9 Story family.”





FEATURES & INTERVIEWS
“For the industry to grow here, we need more storytellers”, Oscar-nominated producer Ed Guiney discusses Storyhouse
Sharon Horgan, Róisín Gallagher, and Éanna Hardwicke among BAFTA TV Award nominees
Free Industry Newsletter
Subscribe to IFTN's industry newsletter - it's free and e-mailed directly to your inbox every week.
Click here to sign up.






 
 the Website  Directory List  Festivals  Who's Who  Locations  Filmography  News  Crew  Actors
 

Contact Us | Advertise | Copyright | Terms & Conditions | Security & Privacy | RSS Feed | Twitter

 

 

 
canli bahis siteleri rulet siteleri deneme bonusu veren siteler bahis siteleri free spin veren siteler deneme bonusu veren yeni siteler yeni casino siteleri yeni bahis siteleri betwoon grandpashabet