The animation sector in Ireland has experienced phenomenal growth, quadrupling in size over the last decade. As an integral part of Ireland’s flourishing film industry their work has been critically acclaimed producing award winning, BAFTA and OSCAR nominated animation films such as Go Jetters (Boulder Media) and Woolfwalkers (Cartoon Saloon).

Animated films produced in Ireland are watched and enjoyed by millions the world over, children and adults alike. Many of the top animation studios are based here and are working with household names such as Amazon, Apple, BBC, Cartoon Network, Disney, Netflix, Nickelodeon and Warner Bros to name but a few. With studios in Ireland producing content in stop motion, mixed media, 2D, 3D and increasingly Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) there are many opportunities to get involved in cutting edge technologies.

The demand for animated content is growing rapidly and is now used extensively not only in films but in gaming, apps, advertising, graphic design, simulations, education and the medical field.

A decade ago there were only 70 people working in animation in Ireland, this has now grown to over 1,600 across 40+ studios with numbers forecast to grow over the coming years. One of the initiatives to fill the skills gap and attract new talent from other creative industries is Screen Ireland’s graduate traineeships. This highly successful programme incorporates on-the-job training where over 90% of participants go on to secure employment with animation studios.

If you are technically minded and artistic, interested in storytelling and creative software animation is an art form which offers many interesting career options.

Some of the key roles within the animation sector include:

1. Concept artists, who create the initial designs and visualisations for characters, environments, and other elements of the animation.
2. 3D modelers, who use specialised software to create 3D models of the characters, sets, and other objects that will appear in the animation.
3. Animators, who bring the characters and objects to life through movement and expression.
4. Lighting and shading artists, who use specialised software to create the lighting and shading effects that add depth and realism to the animation.
5. Compositors, who combine all the different elements of the animation together into a final, polished product.
6. Directors and producers, who oversee the creative and technical aspects of the animation project and coordinate the work of the various artists and technicians involved.