West Cork series writer celebrates worldwide distribution deal

A West Cork writer and producer's animation series has been snapped up by the world famous Aardman Rights, a UK based distributor in a global TV, DVD and publishing deal that was sealed in Cannes recently.

Colm Tobin, originally from Ardfield near Clonakilty and now living in Dublin, is the series writer for 'Science Fiction', an animation series that has already aired on CBBC and RTÉ and is made by Kite Entertainment where he has worked with since 2006.

"Science Fiction is a series of high-paced, science themed multimedia cartoons for 8 to 13 year olds, which takes an irreverent, off kilter look at the world of science and technology. We use an unique mix of green-screened puppetry, 3D animation and 2D cartoon sketches and the series attempts to debunk many of the most common myths in the world of science, as well as a few utterly ridiculous and rude ones thrown in for good measure," said Colm.

"The show is presented by Doctor Sorcha Knowles, a sharp and ambitious young Irish scientist along with her rather less refined and bumbling sidekick, Professor Mike McCork from the County Cork. They are assisted by Bud-E, a supercomputer who, although plagued by technical problems manages to fulfill his duties with good cheer. Professor McCork struggles to grasp even the most basic fundamentals and this comedy tension forms the backbone of the show. We try to lure the audience in with rudeness and irreverent humour and then deliver some science education by stealth."

The themes and questions that the show covers include urban myths like 'If I Yodel in the Alps, will it start an avalanche? to ruder titles like 'Is a snot a sign that my brain is melting?' Such has been the success of the series that CBBC have acquired all 20 of the episodes made for RTÉ and have also commissioned 13 episodes as a co-production with RTÉ which Colm and his team have just completed.

Colm was also one of the co-creators of 'Langerland', a series of satirical animations on the internet, that predated YouTube and they built their own site to host them and the series was subsequently picked up by RTÉ or two very successful series. Colm is also a prolific tweeter with over 21,000 followers on Twitter.

"I love the immediacy of being able to comment and joke about current affairs as events happen and it's a great place to test out ideas and keep in touch with what's going on and it's also a place to mess about when you are meant to be working."

Not one to rest, Colm is also a writer on the upcoming Mario Rosenstock Show on RTÉ 2  and a writer on the new show, 'Irish Pictorial Boatly', a new satirical show hosted by Barry Murphy and a host of other comedians. He is also one of the original creators of 'Anglo The Musical' which was written by Paul Howard.

Colm is also a huge fan of Cork's own 'Sminky Shorts' which he thinks are brilliant.