Digital Hub Network provides a unique environment for producing world-class digital media products.

Kavaleer Productions & Riverdeep collaboration

Formed in 2001 with a skilled team of just 3 people, Kavaleer Productions already had worldwide experience in the animation industry in studios such as Warner Brothers and Sullivan Bluth. Since inception, Founder / CEO Andrew Kavanagh and Director of Business Development Gary Timpson have steered the company from being a fledgling producer of visually stunning short films to a major promoter of animated content for the European and International markets.

Relocating in 2003 to The Digital Hub’s incubation facility, the Digital Depot, Kavaleer worked on projects for Cartoon Network UK and also on its own vampire-based animated sitcom called ‘Dad the Impaler’.

At a networking event held in The Digital Hub in late 2005, Kavaleer were presented with an opportunity to enter into a major multimedia content contract for e-learning company, Riverdeep, who are also based in The Digital Hub. The contract with Riverdeep meant Kavaleer had to immediately recruit 40 extra staff.

Kavaleer were able to recruit 40 second and third-year animation and interactive design graduates from the Dun Laoghaire Institute of Design & Technology, aided by the Digital Media Forum’s (DMF) Accel-funded training programme, which allowed Kavaleer to up skill the students while also meeting ongoing project deadlines for Riverdeep. Conveniently for both Kavaleer and Riverdeep, Digital Media Forum was also located in The Digital Hub. The Digital Hub’s flexible approach and ready supply of enterprise spaces allowed Kavaleer to house their 40 new employees’ onsite for the duration of the contract. While the 40 appointments were only for the summer months of 2006, Kavaleer Productions have maintained a core managerial team of 6 people. Andrew Kavanagh was recently quoted in siliconrepublic.com as saying that “Ultimately we will be looking at a second production in coming months and aim to keep a core group of 10 to 15 people to work on pre-production and bring the crew back up to 40 or so again in time for the larger production.”

Going from strength to strength Kavaleer have since begun pre-production work on a 52 part series ‘Luke the Lifeboat’ in co-production with Banjax Studios, Belfast, and are ramping up to produce another 52 episode of their own TV Series ‘Garth’ to be broadcast on RTE and the BBC’s ‘cBeebies’ channel in 2008. The company are currently hiring animators for these projects and aim to retain a staff of 20 plus for the two years duration of the work. The Kavaleer & Riverdeep collaboration highlights the positive outcomes of co-location and networking in The Digital Hub: World class next generation digital media products.

Kavaleer Productions
4 St. Catherine’s Lane West
The Digital Hub
Dublin 8.
00 353 (0) 1 4806200
Andrew@kavaleer.com
www.kavaleer.com