Tucked away in a lane behind a sprawling pharmaceutical factory, alongside
abandoned industrial blocks, a modest three-storey white building is
bustling with youngsters creating magic.
The 70-odd animators at Crest House in central Bombay, almost all in their
twenties, casually dressed and brimming with enthusiasm, may soon be working
on an animated film for release by Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group.
India, the world's largest producer of live action films -- over 800 a year
-- is starting to get a footing in the animation scene, and the target
audience is overseas.
Its studios are trying to grab a slice of the animation outsourcing services
pie currently shared by other Asian countries like the Philippines, Korea
and Taiwan.
Crest Communication Ltd, one of India's fledgling animation studios, is
aiming high.
Its dream project, named "Automation", a $50 million film about car factory
robots that come alive after the humans go home, scripted and designed by
Los Angeles subsidiary RichCrest.
A deal with Columbia to either co-produce or distribute the film is nearing
its final stages, says A.K. Madhavan, senior vice-president, international
business.
The ambience may be different at Pentamedia Graphics , where more than 2,000
people work in a sprawling 22-acre digital imaging centre on the outskirts
of the southern city of Madras, but not the enthusiasm.
They've already done the animation for Warner Brothers' "King and I",
released in 1999, and for 3D film "Sindbad: Beyond the Veil of Mists",
released in the United States last year.
An accurate estimate of the value of the global animation industry --
covering television serials, commercials and games -- is hard to come by.
Some industry sources peg it at $25 billion, and estimate it could touch $70
billion soon.
Western studios typically do the pre-production work of story concept,
script-writing, character designing and voice tracks and then outsource the
actual production -- the tortuous work of drawing, colouring and composing
images -- to Asian studios.
With classical 2D animation sometimes requiring as many as 20,000 drawings
for 20 minutes of film, it's no easy task.
Among the handful of Indian companies seriously involved in animation are
Pentamedia Graphics, UTV Toons, Crest Communications, Toonz Animation India,
Padmalaya Telefilms and Colour Chips.
"Countries like India and China are gearing up to compete for western
contracts with more established producers like South Korea, Taiwan and the
Philippines," Tim Westcott, author of a European Union-Screen Digest
sponsored report this year on the animation business, told Reuters.
"Clearly price comes into it, as well as the time factor."
"The economics of doing business in India is the main attraction," said Bill
Dennis, chief of Kerala-based Toonz Animation.
The cost of making an animated film in India is almost one fifth of the U.S.
and 35 percent less than in the Philippines.
A 90-minute 3D film like "Automation" would have cost $115-300 million to
make in the United States, Madhavan said.
"We are the new kids on the block and can be competitive," said Ram Mohan,
president of Bombay-based UTV Toons.
India's English-educated, computer-savvy manpower, which has catapulted the
country into the position of a global IT services outsourcing hub, offers a
natural talent pool.
"Right now India can claim less than one percent of the global animation
industry. But within the next five years, it's very possible that our piece
of the animation pie will quadruple," Dennis told Reuters.
However, despite India's huge cost advantage, a shortage of already trained
animators could mean it will be a while before India can meet the industry's
demand in any significant way.
Unlike India's software services business which is fed by formal and private
training centres estimated at between 12,000 and 70,000 in number, there are
hardly any multimedia schools.
Ram Mohan, considered the doyen of Indian animation, who set up shop for
commercial projects with 15 artists nearly 30 years ago, says he has
struggled to double his staff since then.
There is more interest in animation as a career now, but the lack of proper
schooling facilities is a problem, he said.
So when UTV Toons was set up as joint venture with media firm UTV in 1997,
the emphasis was on training. Mohan says the company hired people in batches
every six months and now has 450 artists. Pentamedia Graphics also offers
training courses, and Crest has spent nearly $12 million over the past four
years to impart training skills and install modern equipment. Toonz has
spent a quarter of its $2 million investment on training.
UTV Toons' Mohan said it could take up to five to six years for Indian
animation houses to get up to speed to meet the kind of output demanded by
studios. "But there is no point in rushing and making claims of delivery
which cannot be met," he said.
"We decided that we will not be just a services-based sweatshop, because in
such models competition springs up quickly, providing services at half the
price, but we will also own intellecutual property rights for our content,"
said Madhavan.
Indian houses acknowledge that making exportable content requires tie-ups
with established western production studios.
"Though we make 800 movies in India, we have not made movies for the world
market. We make it for non-resident Indians, but not for everyone else,
except for the rare film that makes it to festivals," Madhavan said.
"We lack the skills for slick production processes in terms of story,
character design and scripting for world markets."
Hence the acquisition of Rich Animation Studios, which has made four
animated features including "King and I" and "Swan Princess", and has the
right Hollywood contacts.
Pentamedia too has made acquisitions like Singapore's Kingdom Animasia Inc
and USA-based Improvision Corp. in a bid to extend its reach in global
markets.