Irish Animation Firm JAM Media Announces 22 New High Spec Animation Jobs
Jimmy Deenihan TD, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, today announced the creation of 22 new high specification jobs by Irish animation company JAM Media.
The new jobs will be created around animated content creation, software development and production with a particular focus on new platforms and devices such as tablets. JAM Media are currently producing three series' which will be broadcast by the BBC including twice BAFTA nominated ROY, a series about the only animated boy in the world; along with surreal pre-school BABY JAKE; and a brand new series TILLY & FRIENDS. ROY is an original series created by JAM Media and TILLY & FRIENDS was adapted from a series of books by Polly Dunbar. Both series were produced with development and production funding from Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board (IFB).
Commenting on the announcement, Minister Deenihan said: "As the Minister with responsibility for audiovisual matters I am delighted at this announcement of 22 new jobs in JAM Media. This is very good news in these difficult economic times and is a great testament to the hard work of John Rice and his colleagues in JAM Media in creating these new jobs. It is also evidence that Government policy in this area is working through support provided by the Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board and the Section 481 film tax relief scheme. Finally, I want to wish John continued success into the future".
JAM Media Chief Executive John Rice said "Having secured three new BBC contracts over the past 12 months JAM Media is now in a strong position to grow our development, production and software businesses. Our team will grow to 46 people by October which means that our company will be producing three series per year, along with five new projects in the development process. Section 481, IFB Funding and the BAI Sound & Vision Fund have been
paramount to the company's success so far allowing us to create jobs in Ireland and exploit the international rights to the series we have developed.
"With R & D Funding from Enterprise Ireland, the technology department in JAM Media started with the aim to create exciting interactive content on the web and mobile devices to enhance JAM Media's animated properties and expanded rapidly creating cutting-edge software applications around our personalisation software named Head-Hunter. Our aim is to continue to create shows that not only speak to an Irish audience but an international one."
The Irish animation sector has been going from strength to strength over the past decade with five Academy Award® nominations since 2002. The sector is primarily an export focused business that remains a leading full time employer in the Irish audio visual sector. The overall turnover for the animation industry in Ireland was estimated at €60 million in 2010 with the sector creating spend in the Irish economy on local jobs, goods and services.
ABOUT THE SERIES: ‘ROY'
This unique series follows the daily life of Roy O' Brian the only animated boy in the world. The series combines live action and animation and is told in a phydo documentary format. The series had been a critical and ratings winner and has sold to 18 international territories to date. ROY is produced by JAM Media with financing from the IFB, BBC, BAI and RTE. The main theme of the series is a celebration of what it's like to be different. The series was developed out of a Framework short film funded by RTÉ, the IFB and the Arts Council. ROY will also be broadcast on RTÉ.
ABOUT THE SERIES: TILLY & FRIENDS
TILLY & FRIENDS will be produced for the BBC adapted from a series of Walker Books by Polly Dunbar. Tilly lives with her animal friends in a little yellow house. The series is about friendship and nurturing. The series was developed with funding from the IFB. TILLY & FRIENDS is produced by JAM Media with financing from BBC, Walker Productions, IFB, France TV, RAI, ABC Australia, Aardman Animation and RTÉ.
ABOUT THE SERIES: ‘BABY JAKE'
In addition to this JAM are producing Baby Jake again with the BBC. This surreal preschool
series follows the adventures of two year old Jake and his older brother as they go on magical, imaginary adventures. The series combines cut out animation with live action and is about encouraging imagination. BABY JAKE was produced by JAM Media for the BBC and Darrel McQueen.
About JAM Media
JAM Media are a multi award winning company that develop and produce entertainment brands for distribution across multiple platforms. Primarily focused on Children's entertainment, JAM's first series, the hugely successful PICME has been licensed to over 90 territories and continues to be a ratings winner due to the highly interactive and participatory nature of the series. This was then followed by Funky Fables 26 x 11 for BBC and 'ROY' 26 x 28 for BBC, this twice BAFTA nominated and RTS winning live action/animation hybrid is now in production on series 2. Also currently being produced is the eagerly anticipated 'Baby Jake' with Darrall MacQueen for CBeebies and Tilly and Friends With innovation at its core, JAM Media have strived to create content that is both immersive, engaging as well as entertaining. www.jammedia.ie
JAM Media creates entertainment brands across all genres and platforms. JAM has created a number of award-winning TV series and short animations and continually strives for immersive stories, engaging characters and quality animations in all its productions. Since its inception in 2002, the founders John Rice, Alan Shannon and Mark Cumberton have developed methods of delivering broadcast quality animated content over traditional and emerging platforms. The company's ‘Headhunter' software allows for photographs to be superimposed onto their immersive, story driven content creating a unique, personalised, multi-platform experience.
Among JAM Media original TV series are,
PICME
(104 X 5min)
Preschool personalised animation series,
Funky Fables
(26 X 11min)
Personalised animation series,
Roy
(13 X 28min)
Live action/animation hybrid series
Baby Jake
(26 X 11min)
Preschool animation series
Roy 02
(13 X 28min)
Second season of Live action/animation hybrid series
Tilly and Friends
(52 X 11min)
Preschool animation series
From short film to pre-school TV series JAM Media continue to develop and produce quality award winning content.