By Business & Finance 
Cartoon Saloon creates stunning animations from its Kilkenny studio
Canadian animation studio Mercury Filmworks has joined forces with Kilkenny-based animation studio Cartoon Saloon to create Lighthouse Studios, an all-new 2D-focused animation studio in Ireland.
The joint venture will create over 140 jobs over the next three years.
In the coming weeks, Lighthouse Studios also plans to announce development and production projects, as well as a hiring initiative encompassing production management, designers, animators, effects artists, compositors, technical directors, 3D modellers, riggers, lighting and texture artists and IT administrators.
The new studio will provide family animated content and production services.
Mercury Filmworks CEO Clint Eland commented: “Lighthouse Studios is neither wholly Mercury Filmworks nor Cartoon Saloon, but rather the best parts of each, transplanted in the rich Irish soil and nurtured by its own talented team of artists into a studio with its own unique and distinct creative perspective.”
Cartoon Saloon’s CEO Paul Young added: “Ireland enjoys a number of advantages when it comes to animation. The industry is supported by a growing number of educational programs and draws talent from all over Europe due to the quality of projects being produced here. The Irish talent pool has been spilling over into other parts of Europe and North America for years and we look forward to welcoming a lot of that talent home.”
