Monday, November 18, 2002		Feature

THE fantastic adventures of a young boy named King are coming alive in an animation studio on the outskirts of the Indian capital.

The 26-episode animation serial King, a co-production of Canadian animation firms Decode and Funbags, has been commissioned to Indian company Escotoonz, the animation wing of Escosoft Technologies of the Escorts Group.

"On the lines of Disney cartoons, the plot should thrill all lovers of fantasy as King wanders into a world of imagination where his adventures take him to strange places amid interesting characters, both human and animal," Aspy Mehta, CEO of Escosoft Technologies, told IANS.

"And as can be expected, King rules in that world!"

"King" is the first overseas major animation project that Escotoonz has bagged.

Equipped with the largest animation studio in the north, Faridabad-based Escotoonz has been largely providing animation for a number of advertisement campaigns and documentary films since setting up shop in July 2001.

"We expect to finish our part of the initial 26-espisode animation of 22 minutes each by April next year when the post-production work will start in Canada," said Mehta.

If all goes well, "King", being produced at an estimated cost of Canadian $3.9 million, will be ready to go on air in Canada by July next year. Mehta said each animation episode of 22 minutes costs between C$200,000 and C$300,000.

Increasingly, foreign companies are looking to India for outsourcing, as software and animation skills of studios here are recognised.

"India is getting a bit of global market share not because of the lower cost, but because of the quality and time factor. We are getting more assignments," said Mehta.

Escotoonz is in talks with some producers in Europe and Canada keen to outsource production to India.

The animation industry globally is one of the fastest growing segments among IT enabled services. A recent study by Andersen Consulting (now called Accenture) pegged the Indian animation industry at $550 million and which is expected to reach $15 billion by 2008.

According to the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom), the digital content industry in India will be worth Rs.50 billion by 2004 and will grow to Rs.100 billion by 2008 employing over 10,000 persons.

Forty major players in the country have set up the Animation Producers Association of India to train and create a pool of skilled animators. Set up in July, it approached the government for funds to train persons for 2D animation.

Unlike 3D computer generated animation, which is still in a fledgling state in India, 2D animation has serious players in the country with Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, New Delhi and Thiruvananthapuram emerging as major hubs of animation talent.

"The domestic demand is still very small but increasingly there is lot of interest in Indian skills from producers in Canada, the US and Europe-particularly France and Britain," said Mehta, a founding member of the association.

Escotoonz has trained the first batch of 30 animators and absorbed them into its team of 200 animators and software experts.