Hi All,
I was so pleased to find the AWN Forums. In a single day of browsing I've found a tremendous amount of information. Thanks for sharing... :)
I'm an American filmmaker who has settled in Goa (west coast of India.) We are going to produce a pilot episode of a TV show for children integrating live action and animation. The project is called "Earthlings" with the subtitle "One People, One Planet."
We will be using about six children from all over the world shot against a green screen intereacting with six animated animal characters based on mythology from different cultures. The show will include games of cooperation, fun meditations, simple yoga exercises, original songs and themes that emphasize peaceful living.
I'm thinking about trying to parallel the international theme of the show by producing it cooperatively with animators all around the world. If anyone is interested in participating please let me know. It could be as simple as creating sketches for a single character...all the way to being involved in the whole production process. Those of you looking for a production credit and those of you interested in producing something "different" for children I'd really like to get as much input as possible.
I understand that coordinating people around the globe may be difficult, but I think it might be worth a try...or at least exploring. I have been discussing this with animation companies in India to see what might be done here. Anyone with an Indian Animation company that produces high quality 2D and 3D animation for the budget minded please contact me.
Looking forward to hearing from many of you and participating in the forums. Any help / suggestions will be appreciated.
Sincerely,
Greg Acuna
gregindia@bigfoot.com
0091-9890921913
greg,
i would recommend you plan out your entire budget and then meet with some studios. you could travel to bombay or hyderabad and get all answers there.
id recommend against co-ordinating with people in too many locations coz it can be a nightmare.
Hey Skinny,
Thanks for the advice. I've had a few people tell me that coordinating people in different places would be a logistic nightmare. I'm going to Bangalore in ten days to meet with several animation companies. Starting there because I have some animator friends who are interested in the project and they would be able to check progress on site while I'm in Goa working on the live action, music, voices, etc.
Are there any companies you would recommend in Bangalore?
Enjoy!
Greg
i dont know much about the animation scene in Bangalore. I do know that Hyderabad is a hot bed but my contacts there have moved on to Delhi and Bombay.
if you need help with rates etc in Bombay give me a shout.
have you got a broadcaster interested in this or is this a proof of concept kind of thing
Our plan is to produce a pilot episode on time to submit to the International Animation Market/Festival in Annecy, France next year. There will present the first episode along with a development package to see if we can find a broadcaster interested in the concept.
The company I am at worked with an animation studio in hydrebad in 2005 on an episode of our series ( www.angelwars.com ) and the episode turned out well despite a lot of headaches in production. Like many Indian animation companies, this one in particular was funded and looking for work so able to come in at low cost and offer favorable payment terms, but staffed with only one or two individuals out of eighty or so, entirely competent in the software (in this case Maya). Some great artists, and some great computer people but not always the two combined in an animator.
Despite a great deal of dedication and hard work by the team, they had all kinds of problems picking up nuances and meeting schedules and a chunk of the rendering and lighting ended up having to go to a company in Korea. This was mostly due to lack of experiece with the software which is needed for creative problem solving that is essential for any production. Our show was technically challenging and there were many times when we began to question whether India was up to par with Korea, Taiwan, or Hong Kong in the trade. Still the show turned out great, thanks in no small part to our a very experienced and knowledgable animation producer we sent to live there and basically teach maya to the team for about 2 months. But it ran over schedule by about 3 months and we had to take a portion of the work and send it to Korea.
There is no doubt that india will have the capabilities to turn out some excellent 3d animation, but it will be a few years i believe before they are as a culture up to speed. There is a great deal of technical aptitude, but the integration with the artistic qualities of animation are not quite there. Atleast that was my experience.
Still, the fact that they are english speaking makes outsourcing to there and coordinating efforts remotely with other aspects of production is nice. And cost is obviously attactive. If you are local to the production studio and can help train, setup a team, and watchover the production there is no limit to what you can do for low cost.
My experience there is almost two years old and i would not doubt if strides have been made in even that short period of time. However, if you have any specific questions or want references or leads, feel free to PM me.
newbie
www.angelwars.com
www.backyardentertainment.com
i think Dangel has pretty much nailed everything one needs to know in and around the indian animation world. i couldnt add anything more.
Dangel & Skinny,
Just wanted to say thanks for the advice. The funny thing is I'm overwhelmed by choices at the moment. I think things will be clearer after meeting with animation companies in Bangalore next week. At this point I think the first choice is to work with a solid indian company. Still I'm considering getting people from around the world to work on pieces...what do you think? I've heard from a few people to consider some of the Asian animation powerhouse countries, but I'm guessing that travel expenses would probably make them much more expensive than doing it in India.
Still, things are moving along well. I'm getting a lot of people interested and finding some amazing talent. It's not going to be easy finishing by the end of January...but I still think it's possible.
Thanks again.
Greg
Greg,
i know people work with multi located talents but usually you would wnat that as a practice rather than do a one off.
what i mean is it should be a format you work with so you know the problems and have the solutions.
you dont want to be someone who goes into it as a novice to get something made that you wish to sell (you could end up over budget and deadline)
i suggest, stick to the funadementals, go for a established (by that i mean who have a decent infrastructure, good demo reel) studio.