Corks are popped as Galway TV production firm awarded Emmy
CHAMPAGNE corks popped in the Galway Gaeltacht yesterday as an Egyptian boy mummy won an impressive second Emmy Award for a local television production company.
Telegael producers Paul Cummins and Siobhan Ni Ghadra toasted the success of their cartoon 'Tutenstein' which scooped the Emmy for Outstanding Special Class Animated Programme at a glitzy award ceremony in the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, the home of the Oscars.
It was the second time that the cartoon has won an Emmy for Telegael Media Group, the first series was also honoured in 2004. The cartoon tells the adventures of a 10-year-old mummy who is struck by lightning and brought back to life in a modern day museum in a large metropolitan city.
This latest award cements the international reputation of Telegael which is based in Spiddal. Plans are now afoot to turn the unconventional cartoon into a movie.
While the animation is done in the United States, the characters' voices are recorded and added in Spiddal along with sound effects. The cartoon is then sent back across the Atlantic for final tweakings.
'Tutenstein' is broadcast across the US on the NBC channel as well as in 40 other countries. In Ireland the first series was shown on RTE 2 while Telegael is in discussions with montrose chiefs to screen the second series.
Speaking in Los Angeles following the award ceremony, Telegael chief executive and 'Tutenstein' producer Paul Cummins said the win has put the Galway company on the world map yet again.
"The fact Telegael has been nominated for Emmys for four consecutive years highlights the strength and the consistency of the company's production slate and underlines the level of skill and talent amongst the team at our studios in An Spideal.
"This win also underlines the tremendous strides which the company has made in the highly competitive global animation industry." Founded in 1989, Telegael employs 50 full-time staff and some 200 others who provide a range of creative, production and technical services on a part-time basis.
It recently won an Irish Film and Television Award for teenage comedy drama series 'Aifric' for Best Children's/Youth Programme and also produced the documentary 'Tall, Dark & O hAilpin' about footballing brothers Sean Og, Setanta and Aisake.
- Breda Heffernan
