India emerges as world's new animation hub By Sumeet Chatterjee MUMBAI: Where do studios from Italy, Germany, Canada, Britain, the US, even Walt Disney and George Lucas go hunting for latest animation talent India. Using its prowess in cuttingedge information technology (IT) and pool of talented low cost manpower, at par with the best and brightest around the globe, India is the youngest animation hub in the world. Not only does the country have an edge in innovative techniques but animators here are also drawing from its endless pool of myths and legends for good stories to tell. All this is making India hugely competitive in the world of animation - which, by the way, gave some of the biggest hits in Hollywood last year beating star-heavy, mega budget films. Outsourcing of animation productions is the latest and spunkiest to travel to India following its less exciting, though highly profitable parallels like back office work and call centres. In fact, Maya Entertainment, based in India's finance and film capital Mumbai and promoted by the director and actress duo Ketan and Deepa Mehta, even worked for the special effects of Hollywood blockbusters like Star Wars, The Phantom Menace, The Mummy and Stuart Little. And Toonz Animation, one of the pioneers in the business in India and set up with an investment of $7 million in 1999, now caters to clients from across the globe - from the US, France and Belgium to South Korea. Based in the southern state of Kerala, the company has also produced many acclaimed television series like "Katya and Nutcracker", "Prezzy", "Tommy and Oscar", "Turtle Island" and "The Land of Gnoo" for global clients. Toonz also made India's first animated television series "The Adventures of Tenali Raman", based on the age-old myth about a clever court jester who solves every problem in a jiffy in ancient India. Broadcast on Cartoon Network, it turned out to be a massive hit and is now being re-telecast on Nickelodeon's Asia feed. "The future offers boundless opportunities," P. Jayakumar, chief executive officer of Toonz told IANS. "We have positioned ourselves as a top player by collaborating with industry leaders and creating world-class original content," said Jayakumar, whose studio has recently closed a deal with a major US distributor for a series of 39 episodes. It is also working on a fullfledged animated feature film for an Italian client and on the "Brady's Beast" series, a 52- epsiode co-production with French, Canadian and British partners. So great is the demand that Maya Entertainment also runs 17 animation training centres around the country. By 2005 end, it plans to have 50 and next year, Maya hopes to open centres in Thailand and Dubai. According to the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom), India's apex IT body, global animation production is poised to grow to $51.7 billion by 2005. By the same year, India's animation industry, currently growing at a rate of 30 percent, is estimated to reach $1.5 billion. And, with local animation design studios gradually establishing their credentials overseas and building their skill sets in this high potential global market, animation production outsourcing to India in poised to boom, believe experts. "We have all the right ingredients to replicate our IT success in the field of animation and become a global powerhouse," said Sunil Mehta, vice president of Nasscom. "Indian animation producers have the talent, ingenuity, cultural heritage, language, low labour rates and entrepreneurial spirit. We have the cost and language advantage over numerous other competing countries," Mehta told IANS. "Animation will become another major outsourcing story in India, if studios here continue to improve the quality of their work and if they manage their businesses well." With the increase in the backend service work, Indian studios are moving up the value chain, thus witnessing more co-production deals and increase in development of intellectual properties in India. India's animation studios are catering to the requirements of various end-user segments such as feature films, TV programs, advertisements, and computer games. Animation solutions are also finding a place in niche areas like film titling, special effects, Web entertainment programmes, TV graphics, 3D modelling, and background development. Mehta said India's share in the global computer animation production market has increased significantly, based on its strengths. North American film and television programme producers are finding it viable to sub-contract animation production activities to independent studios overseas, and thus focusing instead on areas like film distribution. "Indian companies are naturally partaking of this expanding potential. India's strong entertainment and computer software industries are expected to make the country a big player in the animation space," said Mehta. According to an animation industry study report, Indian animation production costs are the lowest, as compared to production rates in the US, Canada, South Korea and the Philippines - the major global centres for animation production. While the rates for production of a halfhour television animation programme would be around $250,000-$400,000 in the US and Canada, it is in the region of $60,000 in India, the report says. India is, however, up against substantial competition from countries within the Asia-Pacific region such as the Philippines, Taiwan and South Korea that have been active in the animation production market for a longer period.