After becoming the highest rated show on a kids channel, India?s first 3D animation series, Little Krishna, may have set the ball rolling for local content. The 13-episode mythological show will soon set sail for international shores. Ashish Kulkarni, CEO, BIG Animation, tells Sagorika Dasgupta about the importance of marketing animation content overseas and the three-year-old company?s future plans. Excerpts:
After domestic success, do you plan to take Little Krishna overseas?
Yes, we are on the verge of closing in on several distribution avenues for Little Krishna as far as broadcasting and the DVD is concerned. The DVDs will soon be launched across the globe and we are planning to release the DVDs in India during Diwali. We showcased Little Krishna at MIPCOM, and the content generated a good response. Around 50-60 countries approached us to acquire the broadcast rights for the series. That is when we realised the importance of having an international distributor with us on board.
What all projects are you working on?
We are working a TV series based on a pre-school subject and are in the process of designing the characters for the show. We will soon be lining up two more feature films for release and another TV series. We are in the process of releasing an animated feature film called Hey Krishna, which is based on the life of Lord Krishna. While the TV series based on Krishna was in 3D animation, the feature film will be in 2D.
Why did you choose to make the feature film in 2D animation?
The budget and the cost of production for a 3D film is much higher than that of 2D. We had to be very calcultive in terms of costs when we made the TV series. While conceptualising the film we also kept in mind that the reach of the film would not just be restricted to the Hindi-speaking markets. We plan to dub the film and have subtitles to tap the regional as well as the international audience. We also had to make sure that the TV series should have a different look from the feature film.
How important is it to explore foreign markets?
It?s very important to exploit Indian animation content overseas. It does not make sense to restrict properties to Indian territories since content creation is very expensive. In India there is a mental block about animation being positioned as kid?s entertainment. Most Indian animation companies are working towards expanding the reach of animation to a larger viewerbase that also comprises adults and we will soon witness this gradual change.
Will foreign co-productions bring down costs?
International co-productions are crucial since huge investments are required to make an animation film. While countries like Japan, the US, France, UK and Canada are able to create properties that are self-sustainable models, it becomes difficult for an Indian production house to do the same. For us to make a headway in that direction, we have to be a little more patient in making Indian properties go overseas.
Is our quality at par with global standards?
We need to churn out animation keeping international audiences in mind. Scriptwriting needs to be outsourced because some of the skills that got nurtured in India in the last 10 years were more towards the production side. This stemmed mainly because India was built as a major outourcing hub for animation and not as an original content creator.
What is BIG Animation?s market share?
We are a start-up?it will take us three to five years to acquire a good market share.
What are your future plans?
We want to focus on ideation, scripts and screenplays to start with. International studios like Pixar and Dreamworks carry out all phases of production under one roof, we intend to build a similar pipeline. The next step would be to present ourselves across multiple locations internationally for facilitating co-production deals.