Writing & Animation: Books & Screen

Join two writers and creative practitioners making work for young people - Máire Zephf and Samantha Porciello - as they discuss their journeys and approaches to their work being adapted for screen.

They will be joined by industry experts Gráinne McGuinness, from award-winning production company Paper Owls Films Limited, and BBC Commissioning Executive Guy Phenix.

Come armed with questions for this informative event on writing and animcation chaired by author Babita Sharma

Award-winning author Máire Zepf has written 16 books for children, from picture books to a YA verse novel. Writing in Irish and in English, her books appear in 10 languages worldwide. Her Rita series of picture books with illustrator Mr. Ando has recently been adapted for television. She is writer and co-creator of the celtic anime series Lí Ban. The Co. Down author was the first Children’s Writing Fellow for Northern Ireland, based at the Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry at QUB.

Samantha Porciello is a theatre maker, writer and artistic director for Place to Wonder Children’s Theatre Company. In 2018 Sam wrote and directed theatre adventure ‘Dream a Little Dream’ (following a little girl called Luna who is caught in a bad dream), and the following year adapted it into a childrens’ relaxation book. With funding from Arts Council of Northern Ireland Samantha adapted the book into a children’s animated series with Flickerpix animation studio and after a 5-year development process Luna in Dream Land is in production, to be shown on platforms across the world in August 2026. 

Guy Phenix is a Commissioning Executive for Animation 0-6 within the BBC. He is part of the Commissioning & Acquisitions team at BBC Children’s identifying and securing the widest range of top quality animation from the UK and internationally. Guy is based in Northern Ireland but responsible for projects across the UK and internationally.

Gráinne McGuinness is Creative Director at Paper Owl Films Ltd, an award winning creator of standout stories for young children, encouraging them to see the world in different ways.  Creator of, Pablo, for CBeebies, RTÉjr. and CAKE, Gráinne is currently running spin-off series, Pablo: Next Level, with BBC Children’s, CAKE and Crayola Studios.  Gráinne is also creator of Happy the Hoglet & Sol (TG4, CITV, Aardman) and Co Creator of Ladybird & Bee (RTÉ and Disney). Gráinne has collaborated with Máire Zepf on the newly launched Lí Ban series for TG4, S4C and Aardman. Series Two has just been green lit in a canon that sees a total of five series in development overall.

Babita Sharma is an award-winning Author, Journalist and Broadcaster. Babita is the author of the critically acclaimed non-fiction book The Corner Shop and the children's book series The Adventures of Priya Mistry. A former BBC News Anchor, Babita spent ten years covering major global stories for BBC World News, including Cop 27, the Covid-19 pandemic, the US Elections 2020, the Black Lives Matter protests and the award-winning BBC 100 Women series.