India is picking up the pace in the race of becoming a formidable name in the kids’ animation IP sector. Apart from the studios creating content, the broadcasters seem to have joined along in the front seat to cater to the demand of original content.
For long, eyed as a service destination, the indigenous market is beginning to pupate into a favourable space for original content as well. The success of home-grown IPs can largely been contributed to the fact that the kids find a sense of belonging through the sub-continental themed characters, story lines and more.
While the aforementioned factors bring in more demand for content, but the unique selling point of the shows at home might hinder their performances on the global scale. The shows being created in concentration of the Indian milieu, many believe, might not strike a chord on a worldwide scale.
We spoke to Turner International Asia Pacific SVP and CCO (kids) Mark Eyers to get some insights about the current trends of the industry.
“We’re currently experiencing an explosion in animated content, one of the reasons being, people realising that animation travels better (than other modes). The APAC region, including India, is a part of it.”
Apart from creative driven, comedy, non-dialogue shows, which are working everywhere, there is a certain trend in local content, which in turn brings good traction.
Acording to Eyers, it is good for the eco-system as a whole and it is helping in developing more talent, but it is also to be kept in mind to create some content which appeals to kids globally.He further says that strong universal stories are to be told in order to achieve the goals, stories which are creative driven and not just manufactured.
Monetisation of the kids section still being under-represented, the budget constrains affecting the quality of content has been consistently a problem. The metrics analysing the consumption of kids’ content are sometimes inadequate. A single TV set being the only one in the household sometimes mean that people apart the designated age-group intended for the shows also consume the same content and hence the content is tweaked to cater to others as well. This is to chase the ad dollars, which according to Eyers, “is not necessarily good for the audience.”
Further talking about content which can travel globally, Eyers elaborates, “Lamput is being accepted globally as it is a non-dialogue, with a sub-continental influence but global appeal. Comedy almost always works with kids. The show’s hand-drawn style animation just adds to it. CGI dates very quickly, whereas very well executed 2D animation lasts long, like Tom and Jerry.”
Eyers says Turner is looking for more indigenous voices to create content, which can trot throughout the globe with equal élan as they do in the country. However, he does not rule out creating more content specifically for the Indian audience, through Cartoon Network and Pogo.
Concluding his thoughts, he says, “kids’ taste change very quickly and we are always looking to create content, which is not derivative and has a fresh feel to it. So, I see India playing a big role in content coming out of here across Asia and the world.”
Amen to that!
