Second Academy Award® nomination for Irish animation studio Brown Bag Films

Award-winning Irish animation studio, Brown Bag Films secured its second Academy Award® nomination in 8 years with its short animated film ‘Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty’. Brown Bag Films was previously nominated in 2002 for the short film ‘Give Up Yer Aul Sins®’.

The six-minute film of ‘Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty’ is directed by Nicky Phelan, produced by Darragh O’Connell for Brown Bag Films and written and performed by comedian Kathleen O’Rourke. It tells the story of a seemingly sweet old lady who terrifies her little granddaughter at bedtime with her dark version of the Sleeping Beauty fairytale.

Granny O’Grimm started life as a character in Kathleen O’Rourke’s comedy show. Director Nicky Phelan saw Granny O’Grimm’s potential as an animated character and, working with Brown Bag Films, production began in 2008. Kathleen O’Rourke reprised her role to voice the character in the short film.

‘Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty’ was one of five nominations in its category.

‘Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty’ received funding from the Irish Film Board, RTE and the Arts Council through the ‘Frameworks’ scheme. It has received 11 national and international awards including the Newport Beach Film Festival (Outstanding Achievement in Short Films), Cinegael Montreal (Audience Award, Best Short) and the Heart of Gold Film Festival, Australia (Best Comedy).

Granny O’Grimm’s media profile has grown exponentially in recent months. While unhappy that the media may be sticking their nose into her business (and lodging official complaints to that effect), her following has expanded with over 1325 fans on Facebook and over 560 followers (including Jackie Collins) on Twitter. Her personal brand of pessimism and pernicious advice is proving very popular across the globe.

Over 70,000 people have watched ‘Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty’ via the internet, and over 22,000 people viewed her acerbic Christmas greetings to the world online. Her hairstyle was recently compared to Jedward’s by the Irish media and she was cited as ‘One to Watch in 2010’ by the Irish Times. Neither reference impressed her.

Meet Granny and watch ‘Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty’ on: www.grannyogrimm.com

About BROWN BAG FILMS

Brown Bag Films® is an award-winning animation studio, producing high quality computer animation for the international market. Established in 1994 by Cathal Gaffney and Darragh O’Connell, Brown Bag Films is located in the heart of Dublin City but also operates an office in Toronto, Canada. In 2002, their short film Give Up Yer Aul Sins was nominated for an Academy Award®.

Brown Bag Films have worked on a number of high profile international series with recent productions including Chorion’s Olivia for Nickelodeon US, Wobblyland for HIT Entertainment/Nickelodeon UK and the remake of Enid Blyton’s Noddy in Toyland for Chorion/FIVE UK. Current productions include the 52 episode series The Octonauts for Chorion, to be broadcast on BBC in 2010.

Employing more than 50 full time staff, Brown Bag Films is equipped with a state of the art High Definition Picture and Dolby 5:1 Audio post production facility. Brown Bag Films have a slate of original television and family feature properties in active development but are also engaged in international co-productions and service work.

In 2009, Brown Bag Films delivered 20 hours of animation to International broadcasters and were voted the European Producer of the Year at the Cartoon Tributes, Norway.

Brown Bag Films are currently developing Granny O’Grimm into an animated TV series and a 30 min Christmas special.