Hasta La Motion!

Maya Digital Studios (MDS) pioneered the art & technology of animation & visual effects in India and is arguably one of the largest animation and VFX studio in the country operating out of Mumbai. MDS is the brainchild of the internationally acclaimed film maker Ketan Mehta and continues under his creative lead. It is a tight, successful, 300-person outfit and well-positioned to collaborate and deliver high-quality, creative work within schedules and budgets.

MDS has, in the past, delivered award-winning international animation work for global clients including BBC, Disney, Google, Sony, Electronic Arts, Ragdoll Inc UK, Rainbow, Mike Young Productions, Activision, Brown Bag Films, VGI Entertainment. The studio has been awarded across several prestigious events including the IFTA, BAFTA, PULCINELLA, FICCI and GDC.

Speaking exclusively to AnimationXpress.com’s Sidharth Iyer, Mehta gets candid on the kind of work that Maya Digital Studios has done in the past, what instigated him to get into the animation and VFX space, the success of ‘Motu Patlu’, the importance of skilled professionals in the field and much more.  

When did you think of venturing into the animation and VFX industry?

It all started when I was doing a feature film – ‘Maya Memsaab’ – at the end of which, we had one really important VFX shot but at that point in time we didn’t have any state of the art technology at disposal, so I had to shoot half a dozen times, still I was not too kicked with the shots, thus we went to Hong Kong and re-shot that scene. India is known as one of the biggest cinema industries in the world, we produce so many films but we don’t have basic technology. This was early 90’s when computers were coming in, digital, animation and visual effects were taking different leaps all together. That was the time when Deepa and I decided to come up with a new studio ‘Maya’ that was primarily for animation and VFX.

Our first TV series was ‘Captain Vyom’ which was also India’s first sci-fi series and it went on for a year that is how our journey began. India at that time lacked skilled manpower so we were outsourcing work from US. We started training people, and opened MAAC, which helped a lot in really educating people on this space and we went onto produce almost 50,000 animators within 6-7 years.

What kind of work does Maya Digital Studios undertake?

Right now we are just focussing on the technical and creative side of things, so we develop characters, stories, and carry out the entire design, production, pre and post production in-house, so all these things are under our purview directly, but we use the softwares that are available in the market, so Maya studios is a 360 degree Entertainment Company in that sense.

At Maya, employees are central to our work and our efforts are focused around the requirements of the industry. Therefore, our prime objective is to prepare professionals who are armed to succeed in the workplace. We believe that traditional knowledge-based education is no longer meeting the requirements of employers or the aspirations of learners. We have therefore moved beyond academia and transformed ourselves into a truly professional training organization.

When did you think of coming up with original IPs?

About a year and a half ago we decided to make our own IP’s and other products. We had faith in ourselves and in Indian animation, as we thought that now animation in India is mature enough to absorb original and engaging content. We had also produced a full length feature film ‘Ramayana: The Epic’ in 2010, which was really appreciated by the industry at large. Now the Indian TV sector for animation has also matured, with kids being hooked to TV animation that was the time when we decided to take a leap into Indian TV content creation.

This was also the time when ‘Motu Patlu’ happened. The series which is telecast on Nickelodeon in India is based on a 40 years old comic strip which has really taken off and loved by all kids. Now I am very happy the way Indian animation is taking off as well as satisfied with my success.

We are currently producing 20 episodes of 22 minutes per month, going up from four episodes a while back, which add upto nearly 500 minutes of content on a monthly basis. That’s quite a feat, considering the number of animation series we are working on currently.

What is required to get audiences filling up theatres for animation?

All we need is a little more patience, Indian animation is only 10-12 years old, and the whole generation of kids today is definitely growing up on animation, so this market is ready to explode now.

With the field growing rapidly, there is also a requirement of getting crucial talent on board.  Being Indians we are very good at adapting new technologies, so growth will happen. It’s an exciting time and I am really feeling good about visual effects and this growing animation industry in India.

What is the requirement of having MIST, the learning arm of Maya?

Our training is modelled on the real world of work. Our curriculum and learning materials are mapped to real business processes. Indeed, we aim to train rather than just educate; assess rather than just examine; produce doers rather than thinkers; and we instil in our learners a professional value system that will make them valuable corporate citizens.

Learning is a lifelong process and training needs will change at various stages of a professional’s life. Hence we have devised a system which will provide lifelong learning and placement support at every stage of a learner’s career.

It’s kind of an apprentice program which we have going at MIST (Maya In-Studio Training), and it is the need of the hour as it is a human driven sector. Sensing this need for the industry and more importantly in order to impart the right studio relevant skills to the young animation, visual effects and 3D stereoscopy enthusiasts, Maya Digital Studios has strategically launched MIST, which will provide the right stepping stone into the studio careers of those who are passionate about this magical industry but don’t know how to approach and conquer the milestones of success.

Finally, what are your thoughts on the Budget 2014 showing a little interest in the animation and VFX space as well?

“Der aaye darusat aaye” is all I can really say, while the industry has been pushing people and telling them that how important this sector is, there is a real potential of growth as well.  Countries like Singapore, Malaysia are giving so much of incentives for this industry, but we haven’t got much support from the government thus far. With such moves the government is certainly waking up and showing some much needed interest towards this field.