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Kerala to strike it rich in animation industry

They did it in tourism and repeated the same success formula in ITES sector in an impressive manner. And now it’s turn of the animation industry to do the act. Believably, Kerala is fast turning out to be a preferred outsourcing destination for the fast growing animation industry in India. Significantly, Kerala is enjoying an edge over other states in the country largely due to its qualified man power. With the entertainment and media sector bourgeoning at a fast pac e, the scope for animators are immense. Notably, the state has been witnessing hectic activities in the domain of infotainment. To make its presence felt globally, it needs to meet the stringent quality bench marks of the global infotainment industry.

Annually, the animation industry in India is said to be registering a 30% growth. Clearly and apparently, with little fine-tuning, the fledgling Indian animation industry could become a sunrise sector of the Indian economy besides being a star foreign exchange earner for the country. This is in spite of the fact that, when compared to the US and South East Asian countries, the animation industry in India is relatively young. According to industry sources, the business volume of animation industry in India would be making an annual turnover of US $ 950 million by the year 2009-10. The gaming industry alone is likely to rake in US $ 350 million by 2010. As a mater of fact, the biggest trump card of the Indian animation industry is the availability of the skilled and talented manpower at an affordable cost. "We have a pool of skilled animators and with good English language proficiency Kerala is going to be next big name as ananimation outsourcing destination", says a confident Nimmy Sebi of MACC, a Cambridge certified animation centre in Kochi. She is also of the view that more dynamic animation courses will have to be designed accordingly to address the global demand and also to rise up to the expectations of the overseas counterparts.

With a view to tap the future potential, more number of centres exclusively imparting animation training and education are cropping up in the state. Diverse courses are being offered by them and most of them are also providing the students with internships and hands-on industry training to equip them adequately to meet the requirements of a challenging career ahead of them. "Today’s generation is immensely creative and are aware of things in a better way. Their aptitude and skill is truly amazing", reveals Christopher of St. Joseph’s College of Communication. St Joseph’s, managed by the Diocese of Changanassery, is perhaps the only centre in the state that offers a university affiliated BA programme in Animation & Graphic Design. Sanoj of CADD Centre observes that, with several foreign countries beginning to outsource their animation requirements in a big way, the animation industry is fast growing and this has ensured limitless earnings for the qualfied and trained animators. When one look at the mindset of Malayalis, they have grown up listening to stories and thus always have creative bend of mind, which is very esstential for making a good career in animation industry, substantiates Easo Thampy of Aptech.

The booming celluloid industry which churns out more than 700 films a year is also opening up the flood gates of opportunities for budding animators in the country. The export earning of the Indian animation industry for the current year has been pegged at around US$ 600 million. As things stand now, the animation sector in the country is on the way of becoming one of the most dynamic and lucrative components of the IT-enables services in India. The fact that the overall cost of animation production in the country is much lower when compared to destinations such as Canada, South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines, is attracting big names in the industry to turn towards India."The animation segment in Kerala is still untapped to a great extent.

We have good resources but as there are only fewer centres offering indusry oriented training, skilled personnel is scarce. As such, stress should be given to quality build up which is what the animation industry is really thirsting for", remarks Ramaswamy of LCC. With a number of advantages like language proficiency and good human resources, Kerala has the potential to be recognised as an animation hub in the country. Kerala has some of the best animation training centres with latest infrastructure and trained faculty, which again needs to be improved in a bigger scale. According to many, to meet the future requirements, more stress should be given to training and investment in advanced technology. Shiju Antony of Rays and Hues is also of the opinion that the lack of qualified faculty is a common problem faced by most of the animation training centres in Kerala. However, with faster technology getting streamlined, good opportunities have surfaced and the film industry in India is increasingly looking towards the animators for their graphics. "With advanced technology, the machinery have become quite affordable and this has worked out to the advantage of animation sector", adds he.

With the animation scenario growing at a rapid pace, it’s the right time to give more attention to quality animation training to the future generation, feels Shabi Karuvatta of Freer Animation. "Kerala is fast majoring into big leage in the domain of animation and other such ITES industry and thus requirement for qualified personnel will be huge in recent future", observes Ravi Jose who heads the 3D training division of Freer Animation.

Truly, India is emerging as a destination for outsourcing assignments from global studios. India definitely has some advantages and potential to develop the animation industry. Definitely, lower production costs can work in the favour of India. But more importantly, good training, investing heavily in the industry and providing original and compelling content, will be critical to its growth. India with vast and extensive epic stories and folklores, there is immense potential to create its own saga of success. Following suit, the success that Kerala has tasted in emerging areas like BPO and ITES, the same can be repeated in the case of animation industry too.

SUNIL NALIYATH

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