FICCI-KPMG-Report-13-FRAMES

156
The power of a billion: Realizing the Indian dream
India ascends global stage with Animation and VFX
© 2013 KPMG, an Indian Registered Partnership and a member firm of the KPMG network of independent member firms affiliated
with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved.
Biren Ghose,
Country Head
Technicolour India
It’s been 85 years of the Oscars and yet we have had
fully animated movies as a category awarded only since
2001. In the short film category however, there have been
winners from animation for several decades. This shows
the emerging recognition of this genre as a relatively
recent phenomenon - Disney and Miyazaki excepted!
When it comes to large scale productions, be it in Argo
[Oscar winner for Best Picture 2012]that was shot in
Turkey while they meant to depict Iran in 1979 [not a
single shot was filmed there whereas one sees seamless
digitally created Iran impeccably incarnated in several
shots across the US Embassy, etc. thanks to the power of
CG]. Similarly, Skyfall, where the climactic sequences are
all intended to be in Scotland [remember Glencoe and the
frozen loch etc.] - all this was actually shot in London and
digitally recreated substantially including by our artists in
Bangalore and London.
There are always questions about how to commend the
value of artistry that goes into high-end visual effects
development work. The world’s leading conceptual
artists including matte painters in major movies are
often seconded from VFX companies and are “deputed”
to feature film productions as lead artists. Their skill
in traditional illustration fused with the latest digital
technology helps them handle concepts for characters,
vehicles, motion graphics, environments and FX, and they
can be diverse using multiple stylistic approaches.
Just look at what we have to show for ourselves in India.
Life of Pi won the VFX Oscar and two studios that worked
on the film - Rhythm n’ Hues and MPC - both having used
a substantial number of their team members in India.
At Bangalore, we have executed projects across a
veritable who’s who of the full CG animation global titles
such as Kung Fu Panda; The Penguins of Madagascar;
Fanboy and Chum Chum and the Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles. In Visual Effects [VFX] India’s contribution to
Hollywood movies is well known - the last two Harry
Potters [Part 1 and 2]; Pirates of the Caribbean; Percy
Jackson; Life of Pi; Skyfall; Prometheus have all used
India talent. This has been enabled as larger studios have
extended their pipelines and proprietary tool sets and
software to India. In parallel, local animated productions
such as Chhota Bheem; Delhi Safari and Arjun have
also hit the big screen in India and overseas. VFX is a
strategic lever for the big films of the year. Take the several
hundreds of shots across all top grossers like Ek Tha Tiger;
Dabaang 2; Jab Tak Hai Jaan; Houseful 2; Bol Bachhan;
etc. - all these productions have found increasing value
addition in and have relied on VFX technology for helping
extend the director’s ‘reach’ and allowing for that high
quality ‘polish’.
The Indian animation and VFX entertainment industry
has evolved rapidly in a very short span of time. Yet Indian
production studios and production talent have had the
privilege of working with global majors like Disney, WB,
DreamWorks, Sony, Viacom/Nick, BBC, Cartoon Network,
EA, Fox, Rockstar, Square Enix Ubisoft and Zynga among
several others. The industry has gained rapid momentum
and is set to witness a boom in the future.
India has been in the animation industry for only 12-
14 years as compared to many other countries that
developed local and/or international businesses over
the last 35 to 50 years. If we go back 5 to 7 years, the
industry was a meagre 2 to 3 percent of the total Indian
M&E revenues. That share has now increased and will go
to almost 10 percent of the total India M&E sector in the
next 6 to 7 years. The potential is even greater and these
predictions are constrained by the ‘production readiness’
of the Indian talent in CG.
The demand for animation services in India is growing
at a swift speed owing to the increase in hi-end TV
shows - this sector will [in my belief] grow at about 15+
per annum. Productions like Kung Fu Panda, Sherlock
Holmes, How to Train your Dragons and Teenage Ninja
Turtles have set a very good precedent for this segment
and well-known ‘players’ like Technicolor’s MPC have
made India their strategic base for scaling their business
in terms of number of projects. India is one of the key
drivers for MPC’s productions. They are also located in
other cities like London, Vancouver, New York and LA.
Sony Imageworks; Digital Domain in which Reliance
Media Works now has a strategic stake, Prime Focus
[which has grown inorganically through M&A] and others
will all help contribute to a local growth of well over 20-25
percent CAGR. What will add to this growth strongly is
the revived domestic India box office and more big budget
Indian films that are using large amounts of CG/VFX. The
adoption and investment in VFX by the Indian product
houses has therefore gone up tremendously. International
movies have also done extremely well in India [Mission
Impossible’s USD 11 million is now a know statistic]. This
has resulted in the overall growth in content, and as a
consequence of this plus the growing broadcasting and
advertising commercials business, the post production
work is poised for a sharp demand estimated @ about 18
to 20 percent p.a. These several segments complemented
by CG in the gaming business and the growth of the world
of apps and potentially the second screen makes digital
productions in India a potentially even higher growth
arena, not only domestically but also in regions like South
East Asia, Middle East and certain parts of Africa.
I must point out that the big ticket syndrome in VFX and
animation [by revenues] is still the international business
of services, co-productions and captive centres driving
double digit growth for shows from international world
majors and independents.
I anticipate that one of these days a film made in English
and Hindi and with world class CG animation and VFX will
do what ‘Crouching Tiger’ & ‘Life of Pi’ have done till date
Unless otherwise noted, all information included in this column/
article was provided by Bhiren Ghoshe. The views and opinions
expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily
represent the views and opinions of KPMG in India.