India’s animation sector is witnessing a major boom. Overseas entertainment giants like Walt Disney, Imax and Sony are increasingly outsourcing cartoon characters and special effects to India. Other companies are outsourcing animation from India for commercials and computer games.

The 32nd Durban International Film Festival hosted a workshop exploring the global reach of India’s animation industry at The Royal Hotel on Friday 22 July.

Vice-president of Business Development at Whistling Woods International (WWI), Chaitanya Chinchlikar delivered a delightful PowerPoint presentation on what makes India a hub for animation.

Whistling Woods International (WWI) is a film, television and media arts institute located in Mumbai, India. The institute is promoted by Indian filmmaker Subhash Ghai, Mukta Arts Limited and Film City Mumbai.

Chinchlikar drew us into the presentation by outlining some realities about India: 1.2 billion people; 1200+ films made annually and over 3 billion tickets sold; strong ‘local’ connect – 90% revenue comes from within; over 550 TV channels; 800 million cellphones; 135 million households have TVs.

“Essentially there are two ways in which local goes global: Either the stories go global, or the business goes global,” he explained. “Business goes global through the creation of skill sets and a support mechanism, public-private partnerships, support for those who create jobs, government serving as enabler rather than operator, and the venture working out financially for everyone in the value chain including the government.”

He stressed the importance of research, imitation, education (across all strata), public policy, local industry support and time as the major deal-breakers.

The session ended with a panel discussion led by Nyasha Mboti of The Centre for Communication, Media & Society, Ross Joughin, marketing and research director of the COA Group, Durban and Ravi Rabheru, sales manager - media & entertainment at Bluegfx, UK.

Reference: If it’s animation, it must be India!