How did you start your career?
I was into computer games and storytelling as a teenager. At that time there weren’t many third level opportunities to follow that path so I looked at film and television. This turned out to be a lot more interesting and exciting - I had a desire to be out in the world rather sitting at a computer 40 hours a week.
So I pivoted and went to university in Dublin where I specialised in practical and craft skills, focusing very much on camera work and editing. I had a thirst for knowledge and wanted to learn and I was lucky to have had some paid work experience by the time I finished college. That meant getting a job was a little bit easier because I had some connections in the industry.
I started out as an assistant editor, helping cut TV commercials and corporate videos, which led to me working as a cameraman for a number of years until I got commissioned to produce my first documentary in 2008, when I was 25.
Once I had enough experience in the camera work and editing skills, working a lot on different types of content, the desire to follow my own ideas and to pitch and try to produce things that I believe in became very important to me.
I did a master's in documentary practice and through that, I was able to produce and direct broadcast documentary. I went on then to produce and direct half hours, hour-long and six-part series for the BBC, RTE and TG4.
Then Gráinne McGuinness, Stephen Pettcirew and I decided to start our own company. Around that time as well, I got married and had kids. We are a family business. The reason I was so passionate about documentary in that early part of my career was because I believed in the power of storytelling to improve society and to change the world.
When we started working in children's, having seen my own kids respond to content, I found that a very powerful attraction - what if you could make something that every kid in the world could see? Then around 2013 - 2014 Pablo, one of our leading projects about a boy with autism came onto our slate. That was a real catalyst for growth for our company. We went from a very small independent production company that was never really any more than 10 or 15 people to having a 52-part series for international audiences.
And then all of a sudden, things of scale come into the company. Legal work was a lot more regular, paperwork, contracts and especially the financing. I have always had an aptitude for math and business, so it was natural for me and my role in the company to leave camerawork and editing behind and take on that mantle of executive producer and managing director.
I never set out to get to where I am today, but each step on my career pathway felt very organic. I was always trying to learn, always trying to upscale, always doing training, always trying to have mentors and support systems because obviously I'm ambitious but you have to be willing to put in the hard work too.
How did you get involved with the Animation Skills Council and why?
I've always believed in skills and training. It is a complicated ecosystem and it does require a lot of different people doing a lot of different things. An organisation like ScreenSkills can bring that umbrella-type strategy.
I also have a strong sense of advocacy for growing the regional skills footprint in Northern Ireland, so I try to ensure that we get as much ScreenSkills activity going in the region as possible. We obviously have a growing and thriving creative industry here across multiple genres and the stronger we are as a cluster of companies, as a hub here in Northern Ireland, the better it is for our local industry, the better it is for our local companies.
We have a huge appetite and strategic desire to grow local talent so, for us, supporting ScreenSkills is us trying to put our shoulder to the wheel, developing local Northern Irish talent that help us create content that wins awards and travels the world.
And working with Kieran (Argo) and Matt (Brothers) makes it a lot easier to volunteer. They bring real clarity and focus to things with their leadership and management.
What challenges is the animation industry facing this year?
I think one of the bigger challenges is a skills deficit in the industry. I'm worried about gaps in career pathways because of remote working having become the norm in animation.
We have recently invested in a new studio and we are encouraging people to come to the office and work more in person and in a more collaborative way because we believe it'll be more efficient. We believe it will make our content better and we believe it will help upscale people, particularly from junior to mid and from mid to senior.
We’re working on how we can do that in a flexible way. How do we keep what was good about home working and how do we bring back what was good about the time before COVID?
The reason we've put the investment into the building, from a skills point of view, is because we want to make sure our leaders get stronger. We want to ensure our mids become leaders and we want our trainees to learn by osmosis. I think our crew are missing opportunities to grow and learn by working with others in the absence of in person environments.
What’s the most exciting thing about working in animation?
Number one, when you’re working on cartoons that are designed to make kids laugh, that is a good craic. It’s still hard. Still stressful. Still takes a lot of energy and enthusiasm, but it's a good craic. But the idea that you are also making something that has social impact or a positive impact on society. Something that will have a legacy.
What’s the best piece of advice you can give to somebody starting out or early in their career?
You almost need an insatiable appetite for learning. You also really need to know your industry. The Internet is a wonderful thing. Who are the companies creating the content that you like? What content is that? How would you go about approaching them, working with them on an individual basis?
I tell everybody to watch the credits. If you've seen something and you see a credit and you don't know what that job is or what that job entails, go on the ScreenSkills website to the job profiles and look and understand what that job is. You need to really research your industry.
If you really want to be an art director, can you name me an art director? You want to be a background artist? Who are they? And then you find them on LinkedIn and then you send them a message. Time pressures aside, people are very, very generous spirits and want to help the next generation come along.