Animation industry gears up to fill demand supply gap

The Indian animation industry may be taking center stage by fast emerging as an important destination for outsourcing assignments from the global studios such as Walt Disney Pictures and Cartoon Network. And the country may be equipped with the requisite work force, but the real challenge is the talent crunch that the industry is facing at the moment. The latest NASSCOM report has stated that the Indian animation industry is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 22 per cent by 2012 while the global animation market is pegged to touch USD 950 million by 2010. In addition, many entertainment giants, such as Walt Disney, Sony Pictures and Turner Entertainment, which make television commercials and computer games, are off-shoring animation content to India. "Today many Indian studios and production houses are currently packed with work be it outsourced or in-house. Most of them are even working on multiple co-productions simultaneously. Hence, the Indian animation industry is certainly facing talent crunch as more and more studios that are international are off-shoring animation content to India. There is a huge gap to fulfill these requirements," says Bhavika Chouhan, VP-Marketing Head, Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC). "Most animation institutes impart the basic skills required to get a job in the animation industry. However, the most important thing in animation is the knack of portraying ideas and emotions as well as making them visually attractive. Thus, it is important for animation institutes to try to nurture the creative streaks, knowledge of fundamentals of visual communication, the nature of media and the art of storytelling," says Anuj Kacker, chief operating officer, Aptech Ltd. & Global Head Arena Animation. Animation institutes and industry experts feel the demand supply gap can be filled only through quality education to the aspiring animators. "The number of professionals joining the animation industry has been growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.2 percent and is expected to grow at the same rate. Though India possesses the work force with the requisite skill set, what remains an area of concern is the education imparted to this work force from the quality. This is where animation-training academies play a huge role in providing an a comprehensive training to the animation artists in advanced 3D principles along with project experience, making them industry ready," Chouhan adds. India already offers a significant cost advantage in animation and game development, as compared to other outsourcing destinations such as Taiwan and South Korea. A key factor restricting the growth of animation and gaming in India is the scarcity of skilled professionals. "Increasing the level of interaction between the industry and existing institutes to develop a comprehensive training module can result in bridging the demand-supply gap of skilled professionals. Industry support in the form of funding, and enabling environment for domestic market development can further grow the opportunity," Kacker suggests. On their part, aspiring animators seem to be brushing up their talent with every bit of update on their field. "India is rapidly growing as a major animation outsourcing hub with screeching growth rates of 30 per cent. The gap between demand and supply is huge as the industry requires more than 30000 professionals. Nowadays, students prepare themselves to accept the challenges of the quirky work atmosphere from day one. Students pursue the larger things which in turn will ensure that they train on the most precocious technologies," says Shrishti Jain, an animation student.