Kerala animators make global presence

By Arjun Raghunath

Sept , 2010

The creative skills of a group of animators from Kerala has already entertained the animation buffs of Latin American and is getting ready to reach other parts of the world.

Gaturro, a 3D animated feature film that has been brought out by the Toonz Animation at the Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram, is one of the scores of animation works being done from Kerala to cater to the international market.

With the multimedia and animation industry across globe witnessing a sky rocketing growth, the animation and multimedia industry in India is cashing on it. About 95 percent of the animation and multimedia works being carried out in the country are outsourced from foreign countries, mainly US and UK.

Besides undertaking outsources works from the international clients, many of the prominent multimedia and animation firms in the state like the Toonz, Accel and Vismaya Max are also involved in co-porduction with leading international production and distribution house as well as developing in-house procducts targeting the international audience.

“According to a recent report of NASCOM, the Indian animation industry that stands at 494 million US $ in 2008 would touch one billion US $ by 2012. This projection also reflects the huge job potential in the sector,” says Toonz Animation Chief Executive Officer P.Jayakumar.

Toonz which has a state of the art studio at Technopark has brought out a number of animation feature films in association with world renowned institutions catering to mainly to the American and European markets. We have also entered into a deal with Oscar winner Voltage Pictures for bringing out Gaturro in other foreign languages, says Jayakumar.

Though China is emerging as another destination for animation industry, India has its own advantages. A better command over the English language is an edge for India over China.

“There is tremendous prospects in the sector. The demand for animation production services from India has been growing with the emergence of an organised animation production sector, with state-of-the-art of work required for international TV program production, at substantially lower costs,” Chief Technology Officer of Accel Animation Studios S.Muralidharan said.

The Chennai-based Accel Animation, which has 20,000 square feet facility at KINFRA Film and Video Park in Thiruvananthapuram equipped with latest facilities in 3D production, has been carrying out outsources works mainly from countries like USA, France, Singapore and Malaysia, besides other in-house productions targeting the international market. “At present we are doing the complete visual post production work of Hollywood feature film The Flying Machine,” said Muralidharan.

Amidst the bright scenario in the multimedia and animation sector, the sector is witnessingan aacutehortage of fine tuned professionals, says A.S.Pramod, marketing head of Vismaya Max Animation Academy and Studios.

“Though a number of animation and multimedia training institutions have come up, besides a fedw well reputed ones, many are not providing quality training. Hence the students who pass out from such institutes need to further trained by the employers, “ says Pramod.

Vismaya Max which is promoted by actor Mohanlal also caters to Emirates, US and UK. It also has a training animation and multi-media training division.

Ends.