OSCAR-NOMINATED animation studio Brown Bag Films has joined forces with one of the country's most successful video game entrepreneurs, Dylan Collins, to turn the hit online game Fight My Monsterinto a 3D-animated TV series.

Fight My Monsteris aimed at 7-12-year-old boys and has a similar appeal to Pokemon; players can build up virtual trading cards, sell their creations or put them into battle against other monsters. Launched in January 2011, it has already built up more than 300,000 users.

Collins, the entrepreneur behind DemonWare and Jolt Online, came on board Fight My Monsteras executive chairman earlier this year and introduced Brown Bag Films CEO Cathal Gaffney to the game.

“I’ve known Dylan for a while and he knew we were on the look out for something for young boys that was character-driven. Dylan showed me the game and we saw huge potential straight away,” says Gaffney.

“Straight away I knew it was something I would want to watch on TV. The beauty of working in animation is that you never grow up; I’m still a 10-year-old boy!”

Brown Bag Films, which employs 76 people in Dublin and 12 in its Los Angeles office, is pitching the TV show to a number of broadcasters. The animation studio enjoys a close relationship with US children's channel Nickelodeon due to its Olivia the Pigseries, while its pre-school cartoon series The Octonautsairs on CBeebies in the UK.

“We’re in the initial stages of the development process but there’s already been a huge reaction to it,” adds Gaffney.

Brown Bag uses its LA base to focus mainly on feature films and Gaffney says Fight My Monstermay also be making its way to the big screen as well as on to iPhone and Android handsets.

He sees Fight My Monsteras a great fusion of games and animation and points out that these sectors are among the strongest in the Irish technology scene. "Irish animation is punching way above its weight. For the last five years the winner of producer of the year at the Poland Cartoon Forum has been an Irish producer."

Gaffney says animation is the alchemy of making commerce out of art. “It’s so hard to make money out of creativity but this proves to be one of Ireland’s strongest exports. In the animation sector here there are highly skilled people creating IP that shows up on the balance sheet of Irish companies. If that’s not the knowledge economy I don’t know what is.”