Academy to boost Bengal animation market
Thursday,
July
13,
2006
Kolkata
(UNI):
With
animation
industry's
contribution
to
the
IT
sector
increasing,
the
state
government
has
recently
set
up
an
animation
school
Toonz-Webel
Academy
to
bridge
the
gap
between
demand
and
supply,
besides
giving
a
fillip
to
the
neglected
sector
in
West
Bengal.
Bengal
National
Chamber
of
Commerce
and
Industry
(BNCCI)
President
Nayantara
Palchoudhuri
today
said
the
state
has
a
natural
advantage
in
respect
to
the
large
English
speaking
base,
prominent
presence
of
entertainment
industry,
heritage
of
traditional
literature
to
facilitate
content
based
partnership
and
low
cost
of
production
but
rued
that
the
state
was
still
lagging
behind
many
states.
WEBEL Managing Director Debanjan Dutta said that although WEBEL produced many animation professionals, who were all absorbed, it was unfortunate that majority of them ventured out of the state because of lack of opportunities here. End user segments such as TV programmes, commercials, game shows, online education, CAD applications and popular feature films such as 'Humtum' are increasingly using animation to cater to the growing demand.
ELCOM Software CEO R D Mallik said he had bagged a few contracts from overseas market like Germany and Canada but said the state was facing acute shortage of skilled professionals, adding that he needs about 50 creative minds to cater to the growing demands. Mr Mallick also evinced keen interest for more use of animation in the Tollywood films.
There is a boom in animation programmes with nine channels exclusively catering to the children's appetite for cartoons. Indian Animation industry is expected to reach $15 billion by 2008 as the country is becoming a hot destination for outsourcing assignments to global studios like Walt Disney Pictures, Warner Bros and Cartoon Network.
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