Ennis woman’s Two by Two takes in €3.8m

A FULL-length animation film produced by an Ennis woman is the highest earning Irish movie this year, after taking in €3.8 million in less than two months in Ireland and UK cinemas.

Moe Honan, now based in Galway and the owner of Moetion Films, has seen her feature-length animation movie Two by Two…Ooops, The Ark is Gone, which opened on May 1 in 427 UK and 62 Irish cinemas, become the top earner this year.

The feature film, which was made for €8m – a fraction of the cost of US animation blockbusters – was co-produced by Moe and Emely Christians, Ulysses Films, Hamburg, Germany. The film was supported by the Irish Film Board, with partners in Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium.

Two by Two…Ooops, The Ark is Gone is directed by Toby Genkel and Sean McCormack and follows the adventures of animals, including fictional nestrians and grymps, who sneak on board Noah’s Ark after being left off the passenger roster. Once the ark sets sail, youngsters Finny and Leah fall overboard and must learn to work together to survive, while their parents struggle to set aside their differences to rescue their kids.

The success of Two by Two in Ireland and the UK has prompted US distributors eOne (Entertainment One) to move to the next phase – an exclusive Google Play showing under the name All Creatures Big and Small, before it hits the cinemas in the US and Germany later this month.

“Google Play have a short-term exclusivity on it since last week and then eOne, who are the owners and distributors of it in the US, will bring it into cinemas there from July 17,” Moe told The Clare Champion.

“The film will also get a good release in Germany from July 30, which is really great because Germany is a significant market as well. They usually put a lot of money into distribution and publicity and they have a big population, so it should go well there again,” Moe said.

”I’m absolutely delighted with it and we’re planning the DVD with the distributors for late August,” she said.

Moe is confident that the financiers, including her own company, and the distributors will be able to get their investment back and the film’s success will open the door for more movie projects and jobs in Ireland.

Ron Kirwan