RTÉ KIDS celebrate Kidscreen success in San Diego

There were two big wins for RTÉ KIDS shows at the 17th Kidscreen Awards in San Diego this week with Maddie + Triggs and BeddyByes both taking home gongs.

The Kidscreen Awards, the Oscars for children’s content, celebrates outstanding TV and digital media that keeps kids and families entertained worldwide.

Maddie + Triggs, produced by Turnip + Duck, won Best New Preschool Series, one of the major honours on the night. The series follows a vision-impaired seven-year-old girl, and her doggy best friend finding music and adventure in the sounds of the everyday, by really listening to the world around them.

RTÉ’s Eimear O’Mahony was there to pick up the award. She said, “I’m delighted to see Maddie + Triggs getting recognised with an award like this on the international stage. We are so proud to have been involved with this show since its inception as an RTÉ KIDS podcast through to its development as an animation. Congrats to all the team at Turnip + Duck!”

Commenting on the success, Colm Tobin and Aidan O’ Donovan from Turnip + Duck said, “Winning Best New Series (Preschool) at the Kidscreen Awards is a surreal moment for everyone at Turnip + Duck – and we couldn’t have done it without the team at RTÉ Kids.

From the very beginning, RTÉ Kids believed in Maddie + Triggs. They backed our ambition to bring a podcast-first, Irish-made inclusive series to screen, and their support has been unwavering at every step of the journey. 

There has never been a more important time for public service values to show up in children’s content. Maddie + Triggs is joyful, inclusive, and unapologetically Irish – and the fact that it is now finding audiences far beyond these shores shows what the Irish screen sector can achieve when the national broadcaster and the independent sector come together with a shared purpose.

We are deeply grateful. And we are only getting started.”

And, there was more success for RTÉ KIDS as Dawn French won Best Voice Acting for her work on the JAM Media-produced animated series, BeddyByes which is helping parents and caregivers win the bedtime battle with gentle storytelling and calming soundscapes and visuals.

Suzanne Kelly, Head of Children’s & Young People’s Content RTÉ KIDS said, “Winning an award at Kidscreen is like winning an Oscar for Kids content and is a testament to the quality of animation emerging from Ireland;  both of these series Maddie +Triggs (Turnip + Duck)  & Beddybyes (Jam Media)  have quickly become firm favourites with our audience here on RTÉ KIDS.    It takes an army to create content of this calibre and to see it recognised on a world stage is so well deserved. Congratulations to everyone involved.”

Maddie + Triggs is streaming now on RTÉ Player – Maddie + Triggs – RTE Player

The podcast is on RTÉ KIDS Podcasts – Maddie + Triggs – RTÉ Podcasts

BeddyByes is streaming here on RTÉ Player – BeddyByes – RTE Player

And BeddyByes as Gaeilge is here – BeddyByes as Gaeilge – RTE Player