8/8/2019 Kulwinder Singh, Director, Global Marketing and Communication, Synechron, on Indian Animation Industry in Broad

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Indian AnimationIndustry FuturePerfect Kulwinder SinghHead Global Marketing and Communications,

Satyam BPO

The global animation industry

is all set to explode to double

digit growth with India fast

emerging as a leading animation

and visual effects outsourcing hub

for Hollywood lmmakers. Produc-

tion houses in the U.S. are making

a beeline to outsource large chunks

of work to India, catapulting Indian

professionals to a different league of

big-budget blockbusters.

Although the Indian outsourcing

industry is at a nascent stage, the

industrys growth has been phe-

nomenal, largely due to the reputa-

tion that the Indian outsourcing has

earned across the world in a shorttime. The National Association of

Software and Service Companies

(NASSCOM) has estimated that the

global animation market will grow

from USD 59 billion in 2006 to USD

80 billion by 2010. The global mar-

ket for animated content and related

services is estimated at USD 26 bil-

lion and is forecast to cross USD 34

billion by 2010. The Indian anima-

tion industry is expected to reach

USD 869 million (Rs. 4084.3 crore)

by the end of year 2010 at an esti-mated CAGR of 52.2 percent.

Why India is the hub?

Qualied professionals

One denite answer is that large

numbers of qualied and employable

professionals in India, combined

with increasing interest amongst the

younger, college-going strata, make

the country lucrative as an outsourc-

ing destination. Moreover, Indias

workforce is known to have the dex-

terity to partner with the clients for

better customer service. Also most of

the workforce in the Indian anima-

tion outsourcing industry has better

understanding of English language

and this places them ahead of other

countries.

Cost factor

Consider this. It costs anywhere be-

tween USD 200,000 USD 400,000 to

produce a 30-minute animated show

in the US. The same work is execut-

ed in India at a cost of USD 70,000 (Rs. 0.32crore). Companies like Walt

Disney Pictures, Time Warners

Cartoon Network, and Sony Pictures

have already outsourced work to In-dia. Though initially it all started

with low-end bulk work, Indian com-

panies have worked their way up

the ladder and are now working on

high-end animation. The Indian ani-

mation outsourcing industry started

work on the cost arbitrage platform

but soon moved to the quality pa-

rameters for deal making. Now the

deals are quality, delivery timelines,

and adherence to norms which have

ensured that we have an enhanced

reputation in the global market.Skills

The animation industry is still young.

Indian cinema is yet to make its

mark on the global stage. The boom-

ing animation outsourcing industry

is constantly demanding new skills

and fresh infusion of new talent into

the industry. As such, it is impera-

tive that we have a healthy pipeline

to supply talent to the industry.

Skills required in the animation eld

can be clubbed under two broad cat-

egories, mainly technical skills and

soft skills. Programming expertise,

analytical ability, and prociency on

the software are basic requirements

for technical skills. The number of

professionals joining the animation

industry has been growing at a com-

pound annual growth rate (CAGR) of

18.2 percent and is expected to grow

at the same rate. Though India pos-

sesses the manpower with the requi-

site skill set, what remains an area

of concern is the education imparted

to this manpower from the quality

perspective.

This has resulted in mushrooming of

multimedia institutes. What is inter-

esting is that quite a few reputed or-

ganizations have come forward and

started a chain of multimedia insti-

tutions for two reasons. One, theycan use the trained professionals for

in-house animation development and

secondly, use this education channel

for market diversication and pene-

tration. However, companies need to

invest considerable time and money

in bringing these students up to the

levels where they start earning rev-

enue for the organization.

Look at what some Indian anima-

tion companies, especially those op-

erating in the outsourcing sphere,

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38 | BROADCAST & CABLESAT | OCTOBER 08 | broadcastandcablesat.co.in | An ADI Media Publication

8/8/2019 Kulwinder Singh, Director, Global Marketing and Communication, Synechron, on Indian Animation Industry in Broad

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are doing to meet the quality man-

power. The solution involves hiring

beginners from the market and then

imparting training to them so as to

bring them up to client expectations.

They are also bringing in experi-enced professionals (especially from

Hollywood) to train the workforce.

Some organizations have even gone

to the extent of hiring international

talent.

Where is Indian animation

heading?

The Indian animation industry is

currently at the bottom of the ani-

mation pyramid. Presently, global

outsourcing happens at the produc-

tion stage. This involves creation of

animation, air-brushing of charac-

ters, lip synchronization, scanning,

and compositing. As with all the

work that we do in the outsourcing

space, we are steadily moving up the

value chain. The industry is pitch-

ing for business in both pre-and-post

production stages. In the pre-produc-

tion stage, Indian rms are target-

ing activities like

Storyboardingl

Dialog writingl

Layout preparationl

Post-production work primarily re-

volves around audio and music edit-

ing and lm compositing. The ma-

jor work in this eld is happening

around content development for TV

and broadcast mediums. The pres-

ent quality of work being delivered

by Indian companies is encouraging

outsourcers to look at sending out

even high-end post-production work

to India. This will enable Indian

rms to focus on end-to-end delivery,with the client focusing on the cre-

ative and pre-production work.

Indian rms are also pitching for

work in the visual effects (VFX) are-

na as the demand for the same is in-

creasing. It is VFX which constitutes

majority of the work in the post-pro-

duction stage of lms. Indian compa-

nies today are focusing on low-end

work like wire removal, removing

tracking markers, crowd multiplica-

tion, green matte removal and com-

positing, and set extension. A clutch

of companies is putting their ener-

gies behind similar work for lms.

This involves not only convincing

customers about the assured quality

but also training the resources fordelivering international quality of

work. Companies like Satyam BPO

and Prime Focus have built capabili-

ties in the VFX arena. Other creative

studios like Cinesite have also done

the same.

Partnership model

With the Indian television and mov-

ie industry creating content worth

hundreds of hours each day, it is

but obvious that Indian outsourcing

rms would also look at this form of

outsourcing. In an age when Con-

tent is King, many rms like DQ En-

tertainment are looking at not just

outsourced work but also at co-pro-

ducing/sole producing movies. This

helps them gain content rights and

build their portfolio. These initiatives

place India rmly on the outsourcing

world map. Many boutique anima-

tion outsourcing rms are now solely

focusing on generating content and

selling it to various organizations.

This is not only in the eld of movies

and episode-based programs but also

in the arena of marketing and edu-

cative programs. Organizations are

targeting the huge market for inter-

active marketing and e-learning and

using the expertise gained in anima-

tion outsourcing to service leading

customers in these areas.

Challenges

The Indian animation industry, how-

ever, is not without challenges.Quality manpower shortage. Indian

rms are looking at innovative ideas

for shoring up their workforce. Apart

from calling in industry experts, the

industry is also tying up with insti-

tutions to develop and impart indus-

try specic course content.

Government support. The Indian

animation outsourcing industry

has grown at a scorching pace. This

gets dwarfed when compared to the

opportunity available in the mar-

ket. Countries like Singapore and

Canada are giving stiff competition

to the Indian outsourcing industry.

They have been able to do so due to

the support of their governments.

In Singapore, the animation indus-try has made great strides due to

the immense support provided by

the Economic Development Board

of Singapore. It has even formed a

Media Development Agency to facili-

tate the same. India, though being

the pioneer of outsourcing industry,

has not found much initiative being

taken by the government to promote

animation industry. The IT industry

is a great example of how industry

benecial policies can help industry

growth. What the animation out-sourcing industry requires now is a

whole set of policies for its benet.

Intellectual property. Outsourcers

have always been concerned with the

protection of their intellectual prop-

erty in India. India is one of the few

countries which have failed to take

stern action against its infringe-

ment. India needs to strengthen its

IP policy and ensure that companies

operating in the outsourcing sphere

take stringent steps to take care of

clients IP rights. Ability to scale operations. Indian

rms are facing a talent shortage

which affects their ability to scale

up their operations based on client

demands. This also affects the cli-

ents condence in offshoring large

chunks of work. Though Indian com-

panies have put in place huge expan-

sion plans, these are often marred by

various reasons. Tie-ups with educa-

tional institutes are helping over-

come this difculty.

Future Perfect

India is well on its way to becoming

the hub for animation outsourcing. A

step further, Hollywood lmmakers

are looking at shooting their movies

in India. The Indian entertainment

industry is booming like never before.

In fact, there could be a time when

Hollywood icks will be shot in India,

the post production work done here,

and the movies sold out of India.

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40 | BROADCAST & CABLESAT | OCTOBER 08 | broadcastandcablesat.co.in | An ADI Media Publication