On Thursday the critically acclaimed animated special, El Deafo, was nominated for a Peabody Award in the Children’s & Youth category. Produced at Kilkenny’s Lighthouse Studios in association with Apple TV+, the three-part series is based on the graphic memoir by the same name by author Cece Bell and tells the tale of a young Cece who must learn to navigate the world after a sudden illness causes her to lose her hearing. She copes by creating a super-hero alter ego, El Deafo.
The nomination comes after a hat trick of wins in 2022 for El Deafo. The animated special won the Power of Sound theme prize at the Prix Jeunesse festival in France in June, followed by the Humanitas prize for Children’s Teleplay in September. El Deafo also won the BAFTA Children’s and Young People award in the Content for Change category in December.
The Peabody Awards represent the most compelling and empowering stories released in broadcasting and streaming media. This year, 69 nominees are in the running for the prestigious accolade, selected from over 1,200 entries from television, podcasts/radio and the web/digital in entertainment, news, documentary, arts, children’s/youth, public service and interactive programming.
Managing Director of Lighthouse Studios, and one of El Deafo’s executive producers, Claire Finn, said “To witness first hand all that El Deafo has achieved since its release has been exhilarating. Cece’s story has truly captured the hearts of audiences the world over. We’re so proud to have undertaken this journey with Apple TV+, working closely with Cece every step of the way to ensure we did her story justice.”
El Deafo’s director and head creative at Lighthouse Studios, Gilly Fogg, said “The Peabody nomination is an honour for everyone at Lighthouse who worked on the adaption of Cece Bell’s graphic novel. We’re extremely grateful to Cece and to Apple TV+ for entrusting us with El Deafo, a story which has resonated with so many people.”
The winners of this year’s awards will be announced on May 9th and celebrated on June 11th in Los Angeles.
El Deafo is currently streaming on Apple TV+.
About Lighthouse Studios
Lighthouse Studios was formed in 2017 as a joint venture between two widely acclaimed animation studios, Canada’s Mercury Filmworks and Ireland’s Cartoon Saloon. Today, operating independently, the studio has produced the BAFTA-winning El Deafo for Apple TV+ and Bug Diaries for Amazon Prime and has created 2D animation for a slate of content, including The Bob’s Burgers Movie from 20th Century Studios; Netflix’s hit series The Cuphead Show!; Little Ellen for Warner Bros. Animation, which premiered in September 2021 and Emmy-Award nominated series, If You Give A Mouse A Cookie. The Kilkenny based studio is currently working on Rick and Morty and is developing its own original series, Savage Town, based on the graphic novel of the same name by Declan Shalvey and Philip Barrett. For more information, please visit https://www.lighthousestudios.ie/