Galway-based animation company Moetion Films has just won the prestigious Producer of the Year Award 2016 at the European Cartoon Movie Market in French city of Lyon, on March 4. The award is an acknowledgment of the company’s unprecedented success with their latest release Two by Two … Ooops The Ark Has Gone. Produced in their animation studio in the heart of Galway city, it tells a heart-warming story of the animals left behind by Noah’s Ark. This impressive debut feature, which opened in over 450 cinemas across the UK and Ireland last May, went on to sell out world wide with distributors vying for international rights. It ranks second only to last year’s Oscar hit Brooklyn at the Irish box office securing a top slot among the best-selling Irish movies.
Producer and Company CEO Moe Honan said ‘Moetion Films are thrilled with this award and delighted that it once again highlights the strength of Ireland’s achievements in filmmaking this year’. She went on to praise the dedication and professionalism of all the partners involved. ‘The success of this European co-production highlights the importance of state supports like the section 481 tax incentive and The Irish Film Board whose investment helped finance the project from development right through to production’.
The award forms part of the annual Cartoon Movie Tributes, the aim of which is to reward outstanding achievements, companies or personalities that have had a positive and dynamic influence on the animation feature film industry.
All professionals attending Cartoon Movie vote for their favourite nominee in three categories: Director, Distributor and Producer of the Year. The winners receive the specially-commissioned Cartoon Movie Tributes trophy as a symbol of the professional recognition from their peers. Honan is naturally delighted with the honour ‘It is a valuable and humbling endorsement for the producers of the film coming from our peers in the industry all across Europe and follows on foot of the audiences’ enthusiasm for the film’.
Previous award recipients include the makers of hits such as Shaun the Sheep, Despicable Me, The Secret of Kells and Wallace and Gromit – The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Moetion Films share the award with the film’s European co-producers: Ulysses Filmproduktion (Germany), Fabrique d’images, (Luxembourg) and Grid Animation (Belgium). This film is yet another example of what can be achieved by vibrant Irish film companies punching above their weight on the world stage.