The animation studio has announced plans to open its first international base in Galway, rolling out 60 new positions over the next three years.
South African animation company Triggerfish will open its first international studio in Galway, bringing 60 new jobs to the region.
Galway-based positions currently listed on the Triggerfish website are in games animation. The rest of the new jobs will be rolled out over the next three years with support from IDA Ireland.
The company was first set up in 1996 and has produced two of highest-grossing South African feature films of all time: Adventures in Zambezia and Khumba. In collaboration with Magic Light Pictures, it has also animated five award-winning BBC Christmas adaptations.
Triggerfish CEO Stuart Forrest said: “To keep up with demand, we started outsourcing work to Irish animators in 2019 and were quickly won over by both the quality of the work and the dedication to the craft.
“In many ways, the Irish creatives seem very similar to what we always look for in South Africa: a passion for animation, a love of story and the deeply felt ambition to create award-winning and entertaining work.”
Studio producer Andy Wonnacott will lead the new Galway team. He said: “We need more capacity to keep up with our ambitions and Galway ticked all the boxes for our European base.
“It has a similar time zone to South Africa, is very well connected with both flights and broadband connectivity, has a thriving creative community and offers loads of really fantastic business support.
“For us personally, Ireland is our second home, so it will be good to be back with family and friends.”
Triggerfish’s other projects have included initiatives such as the Triggerfish Story Lab, supported by The Walt Disney Company, and the all-women Triggerfish Writers Lab with Netflix. The studio is producing its third animated film at the moment, an action-comedy called Seal Team.
Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Heather Humphreys, TD, said that Galway will be a “natural fit for this creative company”.
“They will join a burgeoning list of award-winning indigenous and foreign animation studios already based here, and will be a great addition to this thriving sector,” she added.
Forrest said that the Triggerfish teams are “big fans” of Irish studios Cartoon Saloon and Giant Animation, and are “looking forward to helping grow Ireland as an animation hub”.
