Irishman Francis Fitzpatrick, creator of the seven time Emmy- award winning ‘Jakers and the Adventures of Piggley Winks’, has teamed up with the newly rejuvenated Cosgrave Hall production company, best known from animations such as ‘Dangermouse’ and ‘Count Duckula’, to form a new company Cosgrove Hall Fitzpatrick Entertainment Limited (CHF). Fitzpatrick is hoping to begin talks with the Irish Film Board in relation to basing part of its international franchise in Ireland.
Fitzpatrick who describes himself as “100% Irish beef” is eager to set up an Irish branch of CHF Entertainment in Dublin. It is hoped that the branch would help co-produce one of the two productions currently in the pipeline for the new company. ‘Hero Gliffix’ and ‘Pip!’
‘Hero Gliffix’ which it is hoped will be co-produced in Ireland tells the story of a team of crime fighting super dogs and their arch enemies, a cat called Fevil, known to be the world’s most evil feline and her sidekick Zolo, a villainous rat-bag and is aimed at 6-9 year olds, a key demographic for television stations according to Fitzpatrick.
.
The 52x11 minute comedy series has already been picked up by CITV and is to be aired in the first quarter of 2013, meaning that production is due to begin as early as January next year. It is hoped that if there is an Irish branch that it will create at least 12 permanent jobs and possibly anything up to 100 depending on production needs.
The attraction to co-producing in Ireland according to Fitzpatrick is three-fold, he wants to set up jobs here, the section 481 tax relief break is a big incentive giving productions back a guaranteed 28% of their spending. Fitzpatrick estimates that spending on the series could reach €10 million euro. More importantly he says, “Animation in Ireland is of the highest quality I have come across,” citing companies like Brown Bag.
Competition for the production however is rife, with at least four other countries at the moment bidding to be involved but, as Fitzpatrick explains, his partners Cosgrave and Hall have managed to ensure that ‘Pip!’, the second animation for the new company remains 100% UK based through the government sponsored EIS scheme, so he is hoping to use this fact to ensure that Ireland receives at least 50% of co-production on ‘Hero Gliffix’. Fitzpatrick is himself planning on least three trips to Dublin between now and Christmas to see if ‘Hero Gliffix’ can be produced in Ireland.
