Hasta La Motion!

Why do so many people use the internet to harass and threaten people, and stretch the freedom of speech to its limits? Director Kyrre Lien meets a global group of strongly opinionated individuals, who spend their time debating online on the subjects they care most strongly about. Online platforms are their favourite tools to express the opinions that others might find objectionable in language that often offends. Do they behave in the same way when they come offline?

A personal quest for spiritual enlightenment leads to romance and despair. — Animated Shorts Jury Award — SXSW, Austin, USA, 2017 Public Award — Les Sommets du Cinéma d’Animation, Montreal, Canada, 2016 Special Jury Award — Les Sommets du Cinéma d’Animation, Montreal, Canada, 2016 Official Selection — Annecy International Animated Film Festival, Annecy, France (12 Jun — 17 Jun 2017) Official Selection — Pictoplasma, Berlin, Germany (10 May — 14 May 2017) Official Selection — Anima, Brussels, Belgium (24 Feb — 5 Mar 2017) Official Selection — IndieLisboa, Lisbon, Portugal (3 May — 14 May 2017) Official Selection — Encounters, Bristol, UK (20 Sept — 25 Sept 2016) — Commissioned by Channel 4’s Random Acts, and part of the second anthology of Late Night Work Club, “Strangers”. Written, Designed & Directed by: Nicolas Ménard Pencil Drawings: Manshen Lo Sound & music: David Kamp Producer: Claire Cook Executive Producers at Nexus: Charlotte Bavasso, Chris O’Reilly Assistant Producer: Rebecca Archer 2D Animation: Anne Lou Erambert, Claudio Salas, Sean Weston, Iris Abols, Nicolas Ménard 3D Animation: Michal Firkowski Additional Compositing: Andy Hague Additional Artworking: Alasdair Brotherston, Jean-Baptiste Aziere Voices: Denis Foley, Aneta Piotrowska Produced at Nexus Production Special Thanks to Joe Bichard & Greet Kallikorm Copyright Nicolas Menard & Nexus, 2016 — www.nicolasmenard.com www.nexusstudios.com

The Best Animated Frames or BAF awards was initiated in 2004 by FICCI to recognise the efforts of students and professionals from the field of animation. With the 18th edition of FICCI Frames underway at Hotel Renaissance in Mumbai, the awards would be back tomorrow. The awards take entries from the sections of animation, visual effects and gaming.

With just 24 hours remaining before the accolades are given away to the deserving ones, here’s a look at this year’s nominees:

Short Film – Student (International)

Nobody Nose Cleopatra: ISART Digital
Garden Party: MoPA
Beyond the Books: MoPA
Preston: ISART Digital

Short Film – Student (Indian)

Path to Heaven: MIT Institute of Design
Lil Joey: MAAC Surat
Umaa: RTG Animate-Animation Academy
Little Love Bites: DSK International Campus – Pune
Believe In It: MAAC Andheri

Promo Film (International)

Kikoriki. Legend of the Golden Dragon: Riki Production Center LLC, Art Pictures Studio LLC | Smeshariki LLC
Trigo : Thought Cloud Studio | Lattu Kids
Superbabies: Nestle India | Paperboat Design Studios Pvt Ltd

Promo Film (Indian)

Trigo: Thought Cloud Studio | Lattu Kids
Desk Dhamaal – Roll no 21: Turner International India Pvt Ltd
Superbabies : Nestle India | Paperboat Design Studios Pvt Ltd

Ad Film (Indian)

Metro Tyres: Whacky Films Pvt.Ltd
YK Organic Myntra: Vivi5 Animation Art Design Studio
Highmont : Great Guns

Short Film – Professional (International)

Tokri The Basket: Studio Eeksaurus Productions Pvt. Ltd.
Homecoming of the Goddess of Wealth: IDC, School of Design, IIT Bombay
The Bloop Troop: Pencillati Studios

Short Film – Professional (Indian)

Tokri The Basket: Studio Eeksaurus Productions Pvt. Ltd.
Homecoming of the Goddess of Wealth: IDC, School of Design, IIT Bombay
The Bloop Troop: Pencillati Studios

Episode (International)

Ande Pirki: Aum Animation Studios Pvt LTD
Baby Riki – A Tree: Riki Production Center LLC | Smeshariki LLC
Trigo – Drawing is Fun: Thought Cloud Studio | Lattu Kids

Episode (Indian)

Maan Na Maan Main Tera Musalman: India Today Group
Ande Pirki: Aum Animation Studios Pvt LTD
Trigo – Drawing is Fun: Thought Cloud Studio | Lattu Kids
Gajubhai: Toonz Animation India Pvt Ltd

Film (International)

Kikoriki. Legend of the Golden Dragon: Riki Production Center LLC | Art Pictures Studio LLC | Smeshariki LLC
Bunyan and Babe: Toonz Animation India Pvt Ltd
The Shonku Diaries- A Unicorn Adventure: Turtle In Motion Studios Pvt Ltd

Film (Indian)

Motu Patlu King of Kings: Maya Digital Studios Pvt Ltd
Mahayoddha Rama: Contiloe Pictures Pvt Ltd
The Shonku Diaries- A Unicorn Adventure: Turtle In Motion Studios Pvt Ltd

Short Film – Student (International)

Invasion Day: ISART Digital
Red Dawn: ArtFx
Ouroboros: ISART Digital

Short Film – Student (Indian)

Explore Wayanad: Image Infotainment Limited
Unbelieveable Tutting: Jain University
Sync Error: B. U. Bhandari Edutainment | Reliance Education

Ad Film (International)

Dano Milk: Nomad Films | FutureWorks Media
Tongyi: Gwantsi Productions | Prana Studios

Ad Film (Indian)

Dano Milk: Nomad Films | FutureWorks Media
Lays Boatman: Perfect Ten Films | Famous Digital Studios Pvt. Ltd.
Finolex Fan: Whitescript | Famous Digital Studios Pvt. Ltd

Promo Film (Indian)

Mimadamos: The Bigger Picture | Prana Studios
Phantasmagoria: Zee Format Factory | Paperboat Design Studios Pvt Ltd
The Eclipse Harvest: Zee Format Factory | Paperboat Design Studios Pvt Ltd

Episode (Indian)

Karamphaldata Shani: Swastik Productions | One Life Studios

Film (International)

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Warner Bros. Studios and Heyday Films | Framestore
Doctor Strange: Marvel Studios | Framestore
Fan: Redchillies.VFX

Film (Indian)

Fan: Redchillies.VFX
Mirzya: Cinestaan Film Company | Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra Pictures | Prana Studios
M.S.Dhoni The Untold Story: Fox Star Studios | Prime Focus Limited

Shot of the Year (Film) (Indian)

Miryza: Cinestaan Film Company | Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra Pictures | Prana Studios
Delite Hotel Action Sequence: Redchillies.VFX
Gaurav goes to Aryans house: Redchillies.VFX

Gaming Category:

Mobile and Tablet Game:Sports (Indian)

Turbo Racer: 7Seas Entertainment Ltd
Pele Soccer Legend: Cosi Games Pvt Ltd
Bat Attack Cricket: Nextwave Multimedia Pvt Ltd

Mobile and Tablet Game:Puzzle (International)

The BFG Game: Reliance Games

Mobile and Tablet Game:Puzzle (Indian)

Rubek: Xigma Games

Mobile and Tablet Game:Action / Adventure (International)

Deer Hunter Classic: Glu Mobile
Drone 2 Air Assault: Reliance Games

Mobile and Tablet Game:Action / Adventure (Indian)

Sultan The Game: 99Games Online Pvt. Ltd.
Deer Hunter Classic: Glu Mobile

Mobile and Tablet Game:Arcade / Casual (International)

Twisty Board: Love Handle Developers LLP
Super Pixel Heroes: Reliance Games

Mobile and Tablet Game:Arcade / Casual (Indian)

Twisty Board: Love Handle Developers LLP
Real Carrom 3D: Nextwave Multimedia Pvt Ltd

Mobile and Tablet Game:Other Genres (International)

Bad Dream Brigade: Holy Cow Productions
Duck Dynasty ® Family Empire: Reliance Games

Mobile and Tablet Game:Other Genres (Indian)

Pulimurugan: Csharks Games

PC, Console & Hand-held Game (Indian)

Scribbled Arena: Apar Games

Student Game (International)

Psychocat The Answer: DSK International Campus Pune
Tremor: DSK International Campus Pune
Perfect, Me: DSK International Campus Pune

Student Game (Indian)

Tremor: DSK International Campus Pune
Perfect, Me: DSK International Campus Pune

The post Yet to be released kids’ program ‘Trigo’ tops the number of nominations for BAF Awards 2017 appeared first on AnimationXpress.

The 18^th edition of FICCI Frames commenced today at Hotel Renaissance, Mumbai. With a thoroughly lit, line-up of dignitaries present, the inaugural session quickly made way for the event’s primary session which highlighted the key points and analysis from the KPMG report on the Indian M&E (media and entertainment) industry.

The KPMG report has been an integral part of FICCI Frames and no sooner had this year’s report was made available, the stacks vanished in almost a jiffy.

This year’s report is heavily reliant on the digital medium and is segmented into these highlights:

Digital consumption
Television
Radio
Sports
Theme parks deal volume and value in 2016
Demonetisation
Print
Impact of goods and service tax
Films
LiveEvents
Tax and regulatory
Animation VFX and post-production

In the session discussing the report, Media and Entertainment KPMG India, director, Girish Menon stated that India has shifted from being an ‘attention economy to an engagement economy’, which is why digital is gaining more prominence. The mode allows the creators to analyse the consumer trends and demands in a more effective manner and hence helps content creators in curating more customised content.

The recent arrival of 4G services from numerous telecos has further strengthened medium as even the rural areas are consuming huge amounts of digital content. The advent of Reliance Jio provided a further impetus to the digital boost.

The advertising revenues for television had a steady growth of 11 per cent in 2016 over 2015, however print lacked behind with just 6.3 per cent increase. But again the same picture persisted here as well with digital spearheading the advertising revenue figures with an increase of 28 per cent, which is 15 per cent of the overall revenue.

“The Indian M&E industry is projected to grow at a faster pace of 14 per cent over the period 2016-21, with advertising revenue expected to increase at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 15.3 per cent during the same period. However, in 2017, advertising revenues are expected to grow at a marginally slower rate of 13.1 per cent due to the lingering effects of demonetisation and initial volatilities arising from GST implementation,” states the report.

The animation industry in India registered a growth of 7.9 per cent year-over-year.

According to the report, “Although animation services have always accounted for a lion’s share of the revenue, animation IP production is fast coming to the forefront growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of close to 8 per cent during 2011 to 2016. In 2016, animation intellectual Property (IP) production recorded a year-on-year growth of 8.7 per cent. Though, over the next five years, animation services would continue to dominate the animation industry, the domestic content production would also pick up owing to the growing demand of IPs, new characters and storylines.”

ChuChu TV Nursery Rhymes & Kids Songs continue to be at the apex of the top viewed and animated YouTube channel list with 7,826,147,490 views and 8,453,889 subscribers, followed by CVS 3D Rhymes and Videogyan 3D Rhymes – Nursery Rhymes and Kids Songs.

The VFX Industry, which has become quite an indispensable part of feature films now, has experienced a growth of 31 per cent in 2016. The inflow of VFX work from Hollywood movies has proved to be really fruitful for the Indian industry in a way, as it has a large talent pool of VFX artists. VFX revenues from from international projects continue dominating charts accounting to more than 73 per cent of the industry revenue.

With the VFX quality in domestic projects on an upward surge, the reliability has also significantly increased. Thus, the VFX revenue from domestic projects is projected to grow at a CAGR of more than 31 per cent during 2016 to 2021.

Apart from films, IPs over TV and OTT services are opting for quality VFX, which will open new avenues for the industry.

The post Unsurprisingly, the KPMG 2017 M&E report hails digital as the king appeared first on AnimationXpress.

Animation continues to endow substantial opportunities for imaginative filmmakers. The year 2016 saw the Indian animation industry touching new heights. However, animation’s primary market continued to be for kids in the age group of zero to 14 years in the country.

The animation industry in India registered a growth of eight per cent in 2016, with revenues amounting to Rs 15 billion. Animation IP production has grown at a CAGR of close to eight percent  between 2011 and 2016. In 2016, it recorded a y-o-y growth of 8.7 per cent resulting in the domestic content production picking up. Domestic animation IP production across TV and digital domains has picked up dramatically. Additionally, advent of global VOD players such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and YouTube Kids in India is further proliferating the demand for original content.

Together, revenues from outsourced TV and film projects accounted for around 85 per cent of the total animation service turnover in India in 2016. Conversely, the domestic market remained tepid, but exhibiting strong growth – albeit on a smaller scale. TV projects continued to dominate the animation services market. Animation service for digital advertising is expected to register a CAGR of more than 24 per cent in the same period.

Investment and collaboration opportunities between animation studios and broadcasters in India have picked up, with the latter paying as high as Rs 1.5 to four million per 30-minutes of animation content.

Indian animation film space has seen only a handful of domestic productions like Motu Patlu King of Kings and Chhota Bheem: Himalayan Adventure, over the last few years. Production houses have been giving animated features a cold shoulder owing to limited returns. Domestic animated features struggle at the box office due to under-penetration of screens and direct competition with high quality Hollywood animated content.

Regional animation film space is also starting to pick up in India- positive reviews from audience for Chaar Sahibzaade 2 being an example. Punyakoti, currently under production, is likely to be India’s first-ever animation feature in Sanskrit, with 30 independent animators working on it.

The Indian ad space has started witnessing diverse styles of animation in 2D, 3D, stop motion, puppet animation and other formats. In 2016, Rajasthan Tourism appointed Ogilvy and Mather – an advertising agency – and Studio Eeksaurus – an animation studio – to refurbish and create a fresh version of its tourism campaign. The team created a new logo, the depth of which was represented by the use of clay and sand relief forms and a distinction animation method.

The ingress of OTT platforms has seen the consumption of short form and preschool content rising. The advent of digital has also been a boon for smaller studios, which face challenges to find airtime on broadcast TV.

Digital players are also producing their own content. Sony LIV, the digital video entertainment platform of Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI), introduced a premium kids’ content section called ‘LIV Kids’ on its platform. The content for the section is produced by Sony and majorly comprises famous nursery rhymes.

The recognition and brand awareness of several IPs has paved the way for growth in merchandising as well as increase in the number of collaborations and cross promotions in the animation industry.

Trends observed in the animation industry are:

Creators focussing on animated shorts:
In place of articulating themselves by means of a full-length movie, several Indian content creators are switching to making animated shorts and travelling around the world for numerous prominent film festivals. In 2016, Ishan Shukla’s Schirkoa became the first Indian animated short film that qualified for Oscars. It also premiered at the LA Short Film Festival, bagging the Best Animated Short award.

Focus on original Indian shows:
The emphasis on original Indian shows based on the establishment of a new business model that underpins the importance of characters has emerged. The growth of e-commerce has led to more opportunities for diversification and monetisation through sales of merchandise.

Challenges for the animation industry:

Animation films not doing well at the box office
Despite India being among the most flourishing markets in the world in terms of the number of films produced, animation is yet to make an impact, particularly in the domestic content category. For studios in India, despite having access to technology, manpower and infrastructure, the budgets to make quality animated movies are not available.

No set standard for animation education
Currently, there is no benchmark for animation education and training in India. The country is in a dire need of a guidance centre, either funded by the government or privately-run, to establish benchmarks for animation education.

A major proportion of animation studios in India have been working on the principle of quantity rather than quality. This has led to Indian animation lagging behind more developed markets in terms of sharpening the budding talents.

While outsourcing has been a major driver of the vigorous growth in India’s animation industry in recent years, competition from neighbouring countries with even cheaper wages is intensifying. A blend of both state-led investment and new talent is being tactically nurtured in the animation space in other Asian countries.

With the AVGC industry rising high globally, India is on its way of joining the list of countries that boast a robust animation landscape. Initiatives for the furtherance of the industry in India are being undertaken by the central and a number of state governments.

India’s first training institute devoted to animation, visual effects, gaming and comics is going to be established in Mumbai. In 2017, the government authorised to allot 20 acre of land in Goregaon Film City to set up the National Centre for Excellence for Animation, VFX, Gaming and Comics. Karnataka’s AVGC Policy comprises developing a Centre of Excellence for stimulating AVGC education in the state and establishing Digital Art Centres to carry out digital art and animation curriculum in certain fine art schools across Karnataka. Government of Telangana is also aggressively supporting AVGC sector and is planning to set-up an incubation centre called ‘Innovation in Multimedia, Animation, Gaming and Entertainment’ (IMAGE) in Hyderabad, which would provide an ideal environment for businesses in the animation, visual effects, gaming and comics industry. The Government of Gujarat is pursuing investments to launch an AVGC lab in the state that would provide a number of facets in the Gujarat AVGC sector a technological boost.

Government of India has permitted 100 per cent FDI in the animation industry through automatic route on a condition that it needs to be in agreement with the Reserve Bank of India guidelines.

With the shifting mindset of viewers, animation holds the potential to develop into one of the most desirable avenues for entertainment and storytelling in India. On the other hand, this would require a major impetus from the government in the form of incentives for talent and IP development along with an evolved approaches and attitude on the part of content creators.

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