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Brown Bag Films

Brown Bag Films (BBF) is an Irish-Canadian television and computer animation production studio owned by Canadian production studio 9 Story Media Group and based in Dublin with 2D and 3D animation facilities in Bali, Los Angeles, Toronto and formerly Manchester.

Founded in 1994 by Cathal Gaffney and Darragh O'Connell, the studio is well known for the production of computer-animated television series and short films, including Give Up Yer Aul Sins and Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty. The studio has garnered a number of awards, including Academy Award nominations for Give Up Yer Aul Sins (Best Animated Short Film at the 73rd Academy Awards) and Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty (Best Animated Short Film at the 83rd Academy Awards), 6 Emmy Awards for Peter Rabbit, an Emmy award for Bing and a number of BAFTA, Emmy and Annie Award nominations for their shows; Octonauts, Doc McStuffins, Henry Hugglemonster, and Vampirina.

History

Independent era (1994–2015)

Brown Bag Films was established in 1994 by Cathal Gaffney and Darragh O'Connell, producing their first series 'Peig' for RTÉ using hand-painted acetate cels shot on 35mm film. In 1995, the studio moved to an old Georgian house off Gardiner Street, producing a few commercials and illustrations. Wolves, Witches and Giants was created in 1996 for ITV Studios.

The studio moved to a new premises in Dublin city centre in 1997, establishing Ireland's first digital ink-and-paint workstation. They worked on the Warner Bros feature film The King & I, coordinating European animation with LA via the a 56K modem. Barstool and Taxi were produced for RTÉ and they began to grow their commercials service.

In 1998, Brown Bag Films produced the series "Why?" for RTÉ which sold in over 100 countries worldwide.

In 1999, Brown Bag Films released their short film The Last Elk, directed by Alan Shannon. The film went on to win numerous international awards.

In 2002, Brown Bag Films was nominated for its first Oscar, Give Up Yer Aul Sins, directed by Gaffney and produced by O'Connell and the company grew to a staff of 22.

In July 2007, Brown Bag Films moved to a new studio in Smithfield Square, Dublin, designed by Douglas Wallace Architects, and began production on their first animated series, Olivia, for Nickelodeon. In the same year development began on Noddy in Toyland.

In 2008, the studio began working on Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty, directed by Nicky Phelan, landing a second Academy Award (Oscar) nomination.

In 2009, Brown Bag Films delivered 20 hours of animation to international broadcasters and was awarded European Producer of the Year at Cartoon Tributes, Norway. The studio has grown to more than 160 people and is equipped with a high-definition picture and 5:1 audio post production facility.

In July 2010, the company established an office in Los Angeles to produce animated feature films.

In 2011, they premièred Darragh O'Connell's short film, "23 Degrees, 5 Minutes", voiced by John Hurt. They began production on Doc McStuffins – the first show commissioned by newly re-branded Disney Junior which it would premiere on alongside Disney Channel. The Octonauts was nominated for a BAFTA award. Brown Bag Films began production on their own original series, Henry Hugglemonster, based on a book by Niamh Sharkey, for Disney Junior.

On 23 March 2012, the premiere of Doc McStuffins broke rating records for the most watched preschool premiere ever in the United States. Brown Bag Films continue production on it as well as Henry Hugglemonster following Disney Junior's announcement of their series renewals and a second season of the Octonauts, and are joined by a very special new staff member - Toby the Studio Dog!

In 2013, Brown Bag Films began production on a short film ANYA, made to raise awareness for the charity To Russia With Love. Brown Bag Films recruit 30 new staff and expand the studio into a third premises.

In February 2014, Brown Bag Films announced a television series adaptation of the Bing book series by author and illustrator Ted Dewan. Following series renewals by the host TV networks, they continued production on a second season of Henry Hugglemonster and Peter Rabbit, a third season of Doc McStuffins and a fourth season of The Octonauts. Brown Bag Films launched Brown Bag Labs, an online space for behind-the-scenes fun and tutorials from the studio. Octonauts was awarded with an IFTA for Best Children's Programme. ANYA was released online to raise funds for To Russia With Love charity. They announce the opening of their 2D studio in Manchester. Their short film An Ode To Love is awarded Best Irish Animation at Foyle Film Festival. They release the Christmas Special episode of their new online series Trouble In Paradise.

In January 2015, their pilot episode of The Stinky and Dirty Show, based on the 'I Stink!' book series by Kate and Jim McMullan, debuted on Amazon Prime (now Amazon Prime Video) and was later greenlit for a full series. Bing is awarded for Best Writing in a Children's TV Episode by The Writer's Guild of Great Britain. Doc McStuffins received an award for Outstanding Children's Program at the 46th NAACP Image Awards and a Peabody Award at the 74th Annual Peabody Awards.

9 Story Media Group subsidiary (2015–present)

Brown Bag Films was acquired by 9 Story Media Group on 18 August 2015 as a way of "re-introducing CGI animation to 9 Story" after "a failed first-attempt implementation", according to its president, Vincent "Vince" Commisso. On 7 March 2016, they began work on a computer-animated series for Disney Junior, Vampirina, based on the Vampirina Ballerina series of children's books written by Anne Marie Pace and illustrated by LeUyen Pham which debuted on 1 October 2017.

In October 2017, more than two years after Brown Bag's acquisition, it became one of 9 Story's two main divisions alongside 9 Story Distribution International, taking over all 2D and 3D animation across 9 Story's studios in Dublin, Manchester and Toronto. 9 Story also renamed its two animation studios in Bali (formerly BASE Animation Studios) and its base in Toronto after Brown Bag Films.

Awards

At the 2014 Daytime Emmy Awards, Brown Bag Films bagged three awards and scored another five nominations for the series Peter Rabbit, earning the most nominations for an animated show that year.