Animation maybe the lesser-known cousin of the IT industry in India but might just turn out to be the proverbial dark horse in the years to come.

Galloping Growth
India’s National Association of Software and Services Companies reports that the animation industry in India valued at $400–500 million is expected to grow to $1.5 billion by end 2005. Globally the animation market accounts for $70 billion. “There are a lot of numbers floating around regarding projected figures of the growth of animation in India, but I personally feel that the $1.5 billion mark can be breached by end 2005,” says P. Jayakumar, CEO, Toonz Animation India based at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Such growth is a reflection of the performance of the following forerunners. Toonz Animation for example posted a revenue of $20 million for 2004–2005 and projects a growth up to $30–35 million in the following financial year. Maya Entertainment started in 1996 with eight animators and now boasts of a 150 strong team. Tata Elxsi is also on a high growth mode, headquartered in Bangalore, India, with a strong network of over 20 offices worldwide.

The Sector
Taking the animation sector as a whole many primary studios in India execute outsourced projects. In India entertainment animation encompasses film, television and advertising. The non-entertainment animation sector in India is disorganized with small players and holds promise for product design, the education sector (computer training), virtual training for hazardous professions, 3D human body modeling for virtual surgery in medicine, corporate presentations among others.
Co-production among Indian and Western design studios is essential for growth. This allows keeping costs down, considering the fact that an 11-minute animation production in India costs $113,500 to $227,000. Hence if one has to recover costs, the project done in India can be exploited in the international market too by screening the product in at least 80–90 countries.

Plus Points
“Our understanding of the English language, an earthy sense of humor and superb timing instincts are the strengths India can leverage on,” says Rajesh Turakhia, CEO, Maya Entertainment Ltd., Mumbai.

India is attractive to studios abroad due to low cost of production, time zone difference with the Western world and cheap labor. When it comes to technology India faces no threat but only opportunity in the computer generated animation division, with regard to manpower as can be ascertained by the huge demand for its skilled programmers.

Animators are the Asset
Turakhia says, “At present jobs are available in plenty in the animation industry but people are not.” In India the current trained labor in the animation industry stands at 5000 though the requirement as per industry estimates is 300,000.

The academic institutes teaching animation in India are considered below par by the industry. This has prompted many studios to start their own teaching centers, as it will help if animators are trained properly. Prominent among which are Maya Academy for Advanced Cinematics set up in 2001 and the Toonz Animation’s training school in Kolkata–the ‘Toonz Webber Academy’.

Achilles Heel
“There are no academic institutes like IITs, IISCs, RECs, Polytechnics, etc churning out animators by the thousands. What we have are only Fine Arts Schools which teach the fundamentals but not the technical skills required for production,” points out K Chandrashekar, General Manager and Head, MediaWorks, Tata Elxsi as a primary vulnerability in the sector. By not reaching global standard production maturity, India faces an obstacle in emerging as the animation hub of the world. “Indian studios at present are doing contract kind of jobs for overseas studios for less margins. It pays off the bills surely, but no value is created and ultimately when the product is handed over to these studios we lose the IPR, which does not leave anything in our kitty. This business model can be said to be another major threat to India,” adds Jayakumar.

Customers and Competitors
Maya Entertainment has executed work for international clients like BBC, Nickelodeon (U.K.) and Electronic Arts among others. Toonz Animation’s top customers are Disney, Hallmark, Paramount, and Marvel Pictures; they also have co-production with Eva (France) and Viva Vision (Canada).

India is viewed as the hub for 3D as far as outsourcing to India is concerned which is good news, because the future of animation worldwide is in 3D. Whereas India’s competitors like Philippines, Korea and Taiwan are still sought for 2D. East European countries are also the emerging competitors for India.

Glowing Finished Products
The charges that Indian animators produce shoddy work have been vindicated by the global recognition received with the nomination of Maya Entertainment for the ‘Best Cinematics’ at the Game Developers Conference for their work at Electronic Arts in 2004. In 2005, Maya did it again with their nomination at the Pulcinella Awards in animation and backgrounds for the TV movie ‘The Tale of Jack Frost’ made for BBC.

“At Toonz, we consider Hanuman and Twin Princess to be our star products,” reveals Jayakumar. Tata Elxsi considers the Graphics R&D for the Oscars in 2004 and the 2012 Olympics work that was done for New York City in their bid to the International Olympics Committee to be their high-profile jobs.

Helping Hands for the next Conquest
The Government of India can encourage the animation industry in India by providing tax benefits, provision for participation of studios in international conferences and taking up training programs.

The Association International du Film d’Animation India promotes the art side of animation by organizing film festivals, conducting workshops and animation film competitions. The Animation Production Association of India looks into the business side of animation and recently gave representation to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry of India to ensure 10 percent reservation on all TV channels to take local animated content.

Jayakumar’s observation of the various projected growth figures bandied about is itself an answer to why there is a talk that hardly conceals the growing Indian animation industry’s excitement.