By Business & Finance 
Business & Finance highlights some of the top movers and shakers in Ireland.
What is it?
Ben & Anvil is a creative post-production studio based in Dublin. The studio offers visual services such as motion graphics and animations in both 2D and 3D, to cover corporate idents and stings to animated infographics or short animated films.
The company is also a full service visual effects studio for the film and TV industry, and offers VFX consultancy.
The studio has been busy since the launch of the website in September 2015. Their animated short
The Story of Gin has won three animation awards including Silver at the Accenture Digital Media Awards for Best Design. It is exhibiting for three months at the Global Irish Design Challenge this summer.
Ben & Anvil were finalists at the PromaxBDA European Awards in Barcelona and are also finalists in the upcoming Blacknight SME Awards. Another of their projects, Swift Logistics, has been nominated for an international A’Design Award in Italy.
The studio’s focus is on top-quality design, and that has been reflected in their recent achievements. Since setting up, the Ben & Anvil team have helped national and international clients with the development of their ideas into well-designed video content.
Who’s behind it?
The studio was founded by husband and wife team, Daniel and Ailbhe Cantwell, as they felt there was a gap in the market for their services.
Daniel, the creative director, had worked for many years in other creative studios on award-winning children’s television shows and other high-profile visual effects work. He had experience supervising large teams of creatives and felt that starting his own studio would be the next step.
Ailbhe’s background is in business administration and she was a creative entrepreneur previously. She is qualified in project management and looks after the producing side of the business, along with the administration and communications.
How is it funded?
The set-up of the studio was funded by investment from the founders, with some support from the local enterprise office.
It is sustained by revenue generated by the business.
Future plans?
The studio plans to concentrate on the VFX side of the business over the coming months and are busy putting together their new showreel.
The creative couple have big plans for 2016 and they hope to make another short film, this time showcasing their skills in computer-generated visual effects. They are currently collaborating on a pre-school animated TV series and continue to turn out top-notch visual products.
Daniel and Ailbhe Cantwell, Ben & Anvil
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