Pioneering Indian Studio, Crest Animation recently initiated the WOW (Work of Wonders) Awards which were held to celebrate and commemorate the studio’s best talent!
And quite some show it was! Absolutely WOW!
Full of life with close to 500 out of Crestâ€?s 600 strong team cheering whistling, acting, dancing, mimicking and rooting for their peers….. looking at the dances and the skits one instantly felt how necessary alternate arts was in stimulating artistic and entertainment instincts….
Categories in which the Awards were handed out included Modeling, Texturing, Rigging, Animation, Matte Painting, Backgrounds, BG Lighting, Character Lighting, Rendering, Compositing, Effects as well as other departments including HR, Admin, Technology, Service etc…
One of the most impressive things was that in spite of it being a competition and an Awards function, quite a few winners insisted that their entire team take the stage along with them! Displaying first hand that animation is a teamsport and that the Crestians were all for it!
Presided over by CEO AK Madhavan and MD Seemha Ramanna, the Awards were held at the Zaverben Popatlal auditorium in Ghatkopar, close to the studio’s premises. Guests of honor at the show included AnimationXpress.com Co Founder Anand Gurnani and Jean-Louis Vandestoc, CGI Director from Marathon Media.
The ceremony kick-started with the keynote by head of HR P Rajsekhar stating , “Over the years, Crest has received a number of awards. We, at Crest, wished to acknowledge, appreciate, and recognize the contribution of our employees, the force behind all our accomplishments. Crest WOW Awards is a platform for the employees of Crest Animation to showcase their work to a wider audience.”
Along with the exciting awards presentations, there were some very good entertainment programmes for the audience with dance performances by employees of Crest. Performances by Surajit Dey & Anuja Diwakaran, Hemant Gandhi and Srilakshmi troupe, Chitra Bagkar & Srilalita were some amongst several exciting performances. While the crowd was just getting over these breath taking performances, Rakesh and Shashank dance troupe wooed the gathering with a rocking performance on a medley. Mimicry by Indranil Mallik, where he mimicked Bollywood actors as voiceovers for animated movies was an outstanding performance. The entire programme showed that the animators at Crest are talented even otherwise and not just in animating skills.
Commenting on the Awards, CEO AK Madhavan said, “The awards have grown in creative challenges and helped our employees to recognize their talent and potential. Each of our employee gave his best work and I am sure, you guys are priceless”
The award ceremony also included skits and gags featuring Human Resources and Salary concerns in a company, which led the audience into splits. The performance which actually was an idea to communicate employees� message to HR about the timings, salary and production work was a good one!
Elated on winning the award, Venkatesh Babu who won the award for the Best Character Modeling, said, �It is really an honor for me to win this award. I am fortunate that I am working with Crest, which is amongst the best animation studios in India. I also want to thank all my colleagues who helped me all around to achieve this award.�