Although India hosts the contemporary world’s largest audio-visual entertainment industry with Bollywood and its regional clones churning out 877 feature films per year, and numerous television companies producing millions of reams of footage, the country’s animation industry surprisingly, is still at a nascent stage. This is primarily because until recently, there were barely any qualitative institutions offering specialised education in animation and visual effects.
Sensing a huge business opportunity here, in 2007 Rajesh Turakhia (former chief executive and director of the Mumbai-based Maya Entertainment Ltd), and Naveen Gupta (former chief operating officer, Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics), who together have built MAAC into one of the foremost animation education brands in the country, quit their jobs and promoted Frameboxx Animation & Visual Effects in Mumbai. “The training available was generalised and lacked sophistication. Therefore as industry insiders, we took advantage of our experience and started curriculum-based skills courses across the country,” says Gupta, a former director of the Manipal Institute of Technology who joined MAAC in 2000.
With famous producer/director Manmohan Shetty (founder of Adlabs Films) and Chandir Gidwani, promoter of Centrum Capital Ltd holding a majority stake, Frameboxx Animation & Visual Effects (paid up capital: Rs.50 crore) has established 48 learning centres across the country in quick time, and the animation scenario in India is set for a major trans-formation. “To bring the animation industry up to speed, we have tied up with international leaders such as the Cambridge School of Art of Anglia Ruskin University, UK, and Seneca College, Canada and have devised contemporary curriculums for training students,” says Gupta.
The company’s training academy will also roll out a spate of awards in various categories shortly, to popularise animation as a profession. Moreover to attract talent, the management has announced a scholarship scheme for underprivileged students from the NCR Delhi region. “The idea is to interest students who couldn’t make it to professional colleges and offer them a quality education alternative,” explains Gupta. The academy admits students who have cleared Plus Two and possess a creative bent of mind. Taking a cue from global practices, online programmes, certificate courses for professionals and trainers are also on offer.
“India is the world’s largest producer of feature films and television content. Moreover there is tremendous growth in all segments of the media industry, and outsourcing work is pouring into countries such as Taiwan and South Korea. But we have real advantages — English speaking capability, cheap labour, latent creativity and familiarity with western media and entertainment,” says Gupta, who believes that potential demand for animators and animation services is huge, even if international demand is in slo-mo temporarily.
“The Indian animation industry is transcending to maturity and animation educators need to take a big leap forward. Frameboxx Animation is our response to this challenge and opportunity,” he adds.
Autar Nehru (Delhi)