Independent Television Company Abú Media, which was set up 10 years ago by Pierce Boyce and sisters Eileen & Bríd Seoighe, has recently embarked on a new expansion plan bucking the trend in the current recession.
“We’ve recently installed all new high definition equipment worth about €500,000 to upgrade all our editing facilities in Abú”, says MD Pierce Boyce, “and right now we are at the cutting edge of television production.”
Current productions include a 13 part Organic gardening series being broadcast on TG4 called Garraí Glas, which is hosted by ex-Glenroe star Síle Nic Chonaonaigh and as well as the show Abú have produced a new website to accompany the series www.garraiglas.ie, where viewers can get additional information on organic growing.
Meanwhile in the editing rooms they are busy putting the finishing touches to a brand new historical documentary series Seachtar na Casca that is based on the seven signatories of the 1916 Easter Proclamation. This major series was funded by TG4 and The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland’s Sound and Vision scheme. This series will be broadcast from September this year and is the first time a project of this scale has been produced and broadcast on this particular subject on Irish television since the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising in 1966.
The company is also in line to pick up several awards.
“We have just received word that two of our Documentary series have been nominated for upcoming TV awards. Mobs Mhericea has been shortlisted for the Celtic Media Festival awards while Bothar go dtí an Whitehouse has been nominated for the equally prestigious Irish Film and Television Awards,” says Mr Boyce
So what’s on the horizon for Abú Media? “Well, we are in pre-production with our schools quiz show Bog Stop and we shoot over 60 programmes of this April in the Black Box, the crew are dusting off their passports again as we are heading over to Canada to shoot a new series called Mobs Canada on Irish Canadian mobsters, we’re hoping to get the gardening tools out with another series of Garrai Glas, if we get the green light on it from the broadcaster TG4. More long term, we are very excited about two children’s animation series which we are developing that we expect to go in to production next year,” said Mr Boyce
You can catch Abú Media’s Garrai Glas on TG4 every Sunday night at 7.30pm and again on Thursdays at 8pm while Bog Stop is on every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 4.10pm or check out their website www.abumedia.com
