Bizstartup.ie - ENTREPRENEURS

Cathal Gaffney

Brown Bag Films

Cathal Gaffney of Brown Bag Films has made the journey from college dropout to feted CEO by virtue of hard work, self-reliance and an endless passion for animation.

Gaffney (39) set up the business in 1994 with Darragh O’Connell, the studio’s creative head.

They met on the animation course at Ballyfermot College and, in classic entrepreneurial style, got kicked out in third year and set up their own business, which they still own jointly today.

Brown Bag has 53 permanent employees and a lengthening rollcall of credits and honours to its name. Most recently, Brown Bag’s animation film Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty received an Oscar nomination in the Best Animated Short Film category at the 2010 Academy Awards.

Starting out as a micro-enterprise

The way Brown Bag has evolved since is a classic case of bootstrapping.

“We set up Brown Bag as a micro-company,” explains Gaffney. “Our growth has been slow and organic and there is no venture capital or anything like that in the company. You could almost say the company has reinvented itself every three years.”

Brown Bag is best known in Ireland for its 2002 Oscar-nominated production Give Up Yer Aul Sins. While the feature is still a useful calling card, especially in the US, Gaffney stresses that the business has moved on.

Turnover of €9m annually

And how. It has grown to the stage where it turns over about €9m annually and is now considered one of the leading producers in Europe, a perception underscored by its recent nomination as European Producer of the Year. Gaffney himself was nominated for the 2009 Ernst & Young Irish Entrepreneur of the Year.

In the early days, Brown Bag did business with the likes of RTÉ, but today the company is entirely export-focused, working on projects commissioned by global entertainment empires based in the US or Europe. Brown Bag productions currently running on TV include Olivia, a cartoon series for Nickelodeon US about a loveable pig.

“We can’t do business in Ireland; there’s no income to be generated here really,” notes Gaffney. “The business is totally export-oriented. And let’s face it: a three-year-old or six-year-old kid doesn’t care where a programme is made – France, Germany, Spain or LA. We’re telling universal stories.”

What has changed about the business in recent years, Gaffney observes, is that TV is no longer the only medium that matters.

“The TV landscape is changing. When we develop a show now we have to think, how will this work as an iPhone app? How will this work as a computer game? You’ve got to think not just of TV but how in its entirety this project will work – ‘360-commissioning’ is the buzzword.”

Research and development budget

Up to 70pc of Brown Bag’s research and development budget goes on ideas and content such as bibles and pilots for new series; the remaining 30pc on technology.

“People think animation is about drawing cartoons, but over the years we’ve become a computer animation company. We’re as much a technology company as an animation company. We write software and [create] ways of making animation more efficient,” Gaffney explains.

“Good animation is always our priority. We’re not technology-led, we’re creative led. If you look at the best businesses, they’re all creative-led companies – Lasseter, Pixar, DreamWorks, Warner Bros, Disney. I don’t think the creative economy and creative entrepreneurism is something we’ve seen enough of in Ireland. I think the creative economy definitely has its place.” 

Learning to delegate

In the early days, Gaffney got involved in every element of the business but as the company has grown he has learned to pull back from the coalface.

“I’m now chief executive of the company and I have a fantastic team of managers looking after every aspect, from TV production to post-production. There’s no need for me to get into the nano-detail of it. I’m not a frustrated creative anymore; I know I’m better at doing what I’m doing now.”

For all the success of his company, and its seemingly bright future, Gaffney refuses to get carried away with it all. ‘Grounded’ is a word that could have been invented for him. Running a business can be tough, he admits, but when you are passionate about the work you’re doing it’s a real labour of love.

“I love the work we do. It is stressful – running a business and all that goes with that is a concern and a worry – but find a job you love and you never have to work a day again in your life.”

This is an abridged version of an article that first appeared in Irish Director magazine

Photo: Cathal Gaffney, CEO, Brown Bag Films