A couple of months ago VFX Producer N Madhusudhanan who was toying with the idea of beginning a Visual Effects Community in India, got together with FICCI and announced FICCI VEC.
FICCI VEC formally launches on 29 Aug and to set the ball rolling, the society has organised a half day seminar at the Le Meriden;Chennai.
The half day seminar includes a panel discussion on the topic ‘Areas of Co-operation between Indian and US Visual Effects Industry’ the panelists include VES (LA) Vice Chairman Jeffrey Allen Okun, FICCI VEC Chairman N Madhu Sudhanan, FICCI VEC Co- Chairman Sai Prasad and VES (LA) Director Tim McGoevern. The panel is also scheduled to deliberate on the association of FICCI VEC with VES(LA).
Other highlights of the event include presentations by VES (LA) Director Tim Mc Goevern on VFX in Hollywood and Greengold animation director Rajiv Chilakalupudi on Animation in Vikram Betaal.
Speaking to Animation ‘xpress VFX producer and FICCI VEC Chairman N Madhusudhanan said,”Visual Effects in the entertainment Industry is largely Hollywood dominant. The Indian entertainment industry is one of the fastest growing segments of the Indian economy. Going forward, the importance of visual effects in the Indian motion pictures and other sectors will steadily go up. I am thrilled to understand an organization like FICCI had come forward to initiate such a wonderful step that is very important considering the producers from the global film industry had started looking at India recently”
“FICCI VEC has dedicated itself for the cause of the visual effects industry and will facilitate business generation in this sector” he added.
Drawing comparisions with The Los Angeles based Visual Effects Society, which is an organisation that honors, advances and promotes Visual Effects and professionals working in that field the world over, Madhu commented that,”FICCI VEC is going to do exactly the same in India” “A chapter in India for Indians is very important as I see a lot more potential for the Asian Digital shops to make in-roads in wooing visual effects for films in the International market space. One has to wait and see how far Indians will be successful in terms of competing with some of our neighbors like China, Korea and Japan. Most of the Asian countries are using â€?Cost effective solutionâ€? mantras to attract work from the global market especially from American Producers. According to me, it is not just cost factor but addressing the issue of producing high quality visual effects is the top most priority” he added.
“We need to prove ourselves that we are much more capable of doing other than some basic works like rotos, wire removals, dust removals etc. One Lord Of The Rings that we did successfully is history; we need to constantly keep pacing ourselves with others in the international market space by doing highly complicated shows. I am already in talks with some high profile Hollywood personals to visit India frequently and exchange their views and conduct some workshops for the existing artists and to the next generation students!” concluded Madhusudhanan.
Following is the schedule for the launch followed by the half day seminar
2: 45 p.m – 3:00 p.m
Registration
3:00 p.m. – 3.10 p.m.
Welcome Address: Onkar S kanwar, President FICCI
3.10 p.m. – 3. 15 p.m.
Unveiling of FICCI VEC (Visual Effects Community) logo by Yash Chopra
AV Clip of Logo Unveiling
3.15 p.m. – 3. 30 p.m.
Key Note Address: Yash Chopra
3.30 p.m – 4. 15 p.m
Areas of Co-operation between Indian and US Visual Effects Industry
Panelists include
Jeffrey Allen Okun, Vice Chairman, VES, LA
N Madhu Sudhanan, Chairman, FICCI VEC
Sai Prasad, Co- Chairman, FICCI VEC
Tim McGoevern, Director, VES, LA, Academy Award winner for Total Recall
The Panelists shall also deliberate on association of FICCI VEC and VES LA
4.15 p.m.- .5. 00 p.m.
Illustrated Case Study on VFX in Hollywood Movies
Tim McGoevern, Director, VES, LA, Academy Award winner for Total Recall
5. 00 p.m. 5.30. p.m.
Illustrated Case Study on Vikram Betal, Animated full length feature film
Rajiv Chilakalapudi, Director, Green Gold Animation Pvt. Ltd.
5:30 p.m.- 5:50 p.m.
Discussions
5.50 p.m. – 6.00 p.m.
Vote of Thanks, Sai Prasad, Co- Chairman, FICCI VEC
6:00 p.m. onwards
High Tea