Australian animation studio Like A Photon Creative (LAPC) is opening a new location in Dublin, Ireland to speed up its workflow and tap into the country’s compelling tax credits and talent pool. 

The studio behind animated features The Wishmas Tree and Combat Wombat says it’s looking to create “a 24-hour global workflow”. (In other words, when its Australian team is sleeping, its Irish studio can still be working.) 

An upcoming Bluey movie will be the first project to run through the Dublin hub. Cosmic Dino is handling the animation services, and LAPC will be manage the studio’s IT and support its production pipeline. 

LAPC shifted from making animated series to feature films in 2020, when Australia axed its kids TV content quotas, reducing the demand for this kind of content domestically. The studio’s pivot has resulted in film deals with Crayola, Macmillan Publishers and HarperCollins. Just last year, distributor Sola Media sold LAPC’s film The Sloth Lane (pictured) in more than 40 territories. And in February, LAPC partnered with Crayola Studios and MIMO Studios to produce the CG-animated feature Maggie and Abby’s Neverending Play Fort, an adaptation of a same-name HarperCollins book. 

Nadine Bates and Kristen Souvlis, co-CEOS of Like A Photon Creative.

Opening a studio in Dublin will give LAPC access to Ireland’s 32% tax credit on animated film and TV productions. There’s also an additional 8% uplift for feature films under US$23 million, bringing it up to 40% of the eligible amount spent in Ireland. To qualify, projects need to spend a minimum of roughly US$145,000 in the country, with a cap of US$145 million.

Ireland’s animation industry has been on the rise in recent years, with Cartoon Saloon producing the Oscar-nominated film Wolfwalkers, and Brown Bag Films working on hit Disney Junior series Doc McStuffins. 

“Ireland has an incredible history of animation excellence,” said LAPC co-CEOs Kristen Souvlis and Nadine Bates in a joint statement. “By establishing a base there, we can expand our talent pool, strengthen international collaborations, and provide around-the-clock creative and technical services without overextending our Australian team.”