By Arjun Madhavan
India is witnessing one of the most fascinating decades in its history. Over the past few decades, India has undergone a significant economic transformation transitioning from a highly regulated, slow-growth state-led enterprise to one of the fastest-growing economies in the world – making it an exciting time to be a part of the country’s story.
While the “Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics” (AVGC) industry may be relatively young compared to Information & Technology, textiles, Automobile, Banking & Insurance, its growth trajectory and evolution in India have been truly phenomenal. These five dimensions, or 5D’s, will play a monumental role in its evolution.
Demographics
The post-pandemic era has witnessed remarkable growth in the volume and value of the global animation and VFX industry. The industry has proven incredibly resilient as it is the only medium of entertainment that can be produced at scale digitally. This enormous growth requires a heavy supply of talent, artists, and technologists. India’s demographic advantage is well-suited to address this supply chain deficit. There is an increasing focus on skills and talent development over the past several years and an emergence of a rising number of training initiatives, institutions, programs, and academies that are capturing this space to feed the global talent pool. India’s rich tradition of art and culture will also help to nurture a vibrant creative ecosystem that will continue to flourish. Through such focused talent development efforts, the global industry will be heavily reliant on India’s supply of talent and will arguably form the backbone of this supply chain.
Demand
The onset of mobile telecommunications and internet penetration across India, and its prolific efforts in “last mile connectivity” has been a game changer across various consumption categories. In the content ecosystem particularly, the availability of streaming services in various parts of India including the heartland has resulted in promising viewership statistics. Viewers now have access to a wide variety of genres, formats, styles, and types of content, which has sparked a change in Indian viewers’ appetites. Indian viewers are now watching formats of storytelling that they didn’t have access to previously. From K-dramas to Spanish telenovelas to Japanese anime – we are watching it all! As Indian homes and families start consuming “Animation” there will be a significant demand for engaging content and will open up the next big frontier opportunities for filmmakers, studios, and creators globally to satiate this demand. The world’s waiting for India to consume animation, and whilst it is still a few years away, it’s closer than it ever was. The adoption of Animation, Gaming, and Comics in India is set to be one of the biggest opportunities for the global fraternity.
While viewership in kid’s content has been promising over the years, there is still a long way to go before animation is perceived as “family viewing” rather than just “cartoons for kids”. As demand for animation continues to grow, we can expect to see an evolution in the perception of animation as a legitimate form of family entertainment over the next few years.
Diversity
The diversity of India is its most potent soft power, second to no one. India’s rich culture, ancient history, and the vast array of languages provide an endless source of inspiration for storytelling, and this forms the perfect bedrock for an opportunity explosion in the animation industry.
As the demand for animation in India continues to grow, the diversity of the country will undoubtedly fuel this grand opportunity. Vernacular and local language content is already seeing a rise and the vastness allows more room for storytellers and filmmakers. The contextualization of local stories and classics can also empower storytellers to have their work travel across geographies, and Animation lends itself perfectly to this medium. Animation is powerful as it’s language agnostic and the diversity of stories and storytelling techniques that emanate in and from India is being watched. The world is ready to experience and has a heightened appetite for stories that brim with cultural richness, immersive visual experiences, and enthralling narratives.
The AVGC (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics) industry has the power to shape cultural conversations and preserve our shared heritage for generations to come, especially in today’s more transparent and inclusive world.
Digitization
India has demonstrated over the last few years its ability to be the fastest and most robust adopter of modern and frontier technology. For example, it is evident in how quickly, securely, and scalably the banking, finance, and payment ecosystem adopted technology in a widespread way. Similarly in other industries too, there is a conscious effort to explore and adopt new-age technology. To be clear, there is an enormous amount of work to be done and developments to be made, and we are scratching the surface here, but the velocity of progress is commendable. India is making significant strides in exploring various technologies in the AVGC industry. Virtual production, facial and motion capture technology, real-time rendering, shared/collaborative workflows & cloud-based pipelines, and the use of machine learning, automation, and AI in production studios are all game-changing technologies that are transforming the AVGC industry. The adoption of these techniques will unlock greater potential for India and is not being ignored. With the advent and access to global content, even local filmmakers, studios, and production houses are appreciating the role of tech in creative processes, and are now leaning more deeply into the use of Animation and VFX in their filmmaking process. Technology has always been an enabler for us and the post-pandemic digital revolution has provided even more opportunities to create new content for new audiences. These are also opening up new avenues of opportunities for the AVGC industry.
Desi
The hunger to learn, unlearn and relearn is evident in the industry and it is this thirst for knowledge that is driving the industry forward. The desire not to be on the global stage but to play a key role in it is also established, as Indian studios strive to create world-class content. The recent Oscar/BAFTA and other global wins are testimony to the steps in that direction in the media/entertainment ecosystem. I won’t be surprised if an animation production from India wins an Oscar/BAFTA/Annie’s in the next few years. Within AVGC, we’ve also witnessed an increased dialogue between Government and the private sector in terms of avenues for cooperation and support to make India even more compelling.
The ability to work hard and problem-solve coupled with the aspiration to achieve excellence is a great position to be in and it drives my conviction that these attributes will help realize the visions and dreams of many in the country. For the AVGC industry, this is a golden period and the future couldn’t have been more exciting!
This modern, aspirational India is rapidly becoming a formidable force in the global AVGC industry. Indeed, this is not just India’s decade but India’s century.
The author is the CEO at Assemblage Entertainment.
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