Spiddal-based TV company awarded prestigious Emmy

A Co Galway-based television company has won a prestigious 2004 Emmy Award in the United States.

The award for Telegael's animated television series Tutenstein was presented at the Daytime Creative Arts awards in the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood - home of the Oscar ceremonies - on Saturday night.

The Tutenstein series was a co-production with Porchlight Entertainment of Los Angeles, Nic Entertainment of Korea and the US channel Discovery Kids. It featured 26 half-hour segments about a 10-year-old boy-mummy who is struck by lightning and comes back to life, determined to resume his career as a pharaoh.

The Daytime Emmy Awards, which recognise achievement in all fields of daytime television, are organised by the US National Television Academy and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Tutenstein's co-executive producer and chief executive of Telegael, Mr Paul Cummins, said the company was "thrilled to receive the Emmy award" which he said was a tribute to the people involved, particularly those at Telegael's Spiddal studios. The company currently employs 30 people on a full-time basis and about 30 more on a part-time basis, but staff can rise to more than 100 at times.

Telegael was responsible for all post-production on the Tutenstein series, including music composition, sound mixing and picture editing.

Tutenstein is currently being broadcast across the United States on NBC on Saturdays. The European rights for the series have been acquired by Fox Television Europe and it is being shown in the UK on ITV.

Mr Cummins said the company was also involved in co-productions on other features including The Island of Inis Cool, Petit Vampire and Four Eyes. Negotiations have also been completed for a number of animation series over the next three years.