The Indian Animation Masters Summit by Toonz Animation turned to be a huge crowd puller on the concluding day, with huge numbers of people thronging the venue to listen to the masters of the Indian animation industry.
The two day long Indian Animation Masters Summit organised by the Toonz Animation as a part of its one year long 15th Anniversary Celebrations concluded on a positive note with the key presenters and the crowds dispersing with in high spirits and determined to make the most of the opportunities available and to create a new wave of renaissance in the field on Indian Animation.
“Animation is like my genre, comedy and I have great respect for the animation films, it drives kids crazy and make them laugh in no time,” said Suraj Venjaramoodu, a National Award winner while inaugurating the Indian Animation Masters Summit-2014.
“It is really appreciable that Toonz took an initiative to bring in all the stalwarts of Indian animation under one roof and it’s a great honour being among them”, he added.
The inaugural ceremony was felicitated by Sach Chandaria, the representative of the Toonz Promoter Group, the ComCraft. “The master who are here for the summit have incredible role in our journey of 15 glorious year, they were our role models, mentors , guide during the course of the journey, said Sach Chandaria in his felicitation.
“Now we have cemented our position in top and we still expect the same support and guidance from all of them in our forward journey also, he added. The fifteen years has taught us absolutely fundamental skill to excel and Toonz is at an influx point to take off. We are highly ambition and we have the creative talents and expertise to strike our goal, add Sach.
The gathering was welcomed by P. Jayakumar, CEO of Toonz Animation who also briefed the gathering about the importance of hosting such a Masters Summit and also introduced the key speakers to the audience. He highlighted the milestones that Toonz Animation Studio went over through during their fifteen years of existence and what the studio intends to give back to the society and to the field of animation as a token of appreciation during the one year long anniversary celebrations.
“These are indeed tempestuous times for the animation industry. Big studios are shutting down. Our Government provides no support unlike the other Asian countries or the Behemoths of the West where the government provides everything to nurture the animation market. And surviving under these circumstances is indeed challenging. Hence an event of this kind is indeed significant where the veterans can share their views. And yet we don’t intend to explore the business side of animation through this event. For us ‘Indian Animation Masters Summit’ is to absorb and reflect the ‘art of animation’ “said P Jayakumar.
He said, “We believe that this initiative will set a launch pad for a collective learning in the industry and will drive the aspiring animation enthusiasts to opt animation as a career.
Suraj Venjaramoodu was felicitated at the Summit Venue as he won this year’s National Award. Thirteen masters of Indian Animation Industry – Ajit Rao, Dhimant Vyas, Sanjiv Waeerkar, Nina Sabnani, Prosenjit Ganguly, Gitanjali Rao, Sekhar Mukherjee, Chetan Sharma, Vaibhav Kumaresh, Manisha Mohan and Ranjit Singh Tony were there at the inaugural ceremony.
Hari Varma, CCO of Toonz proposed the vote of thanks. Toonz Chief Operating Officer Hari Iyer, the Chief Development Officer Toonz, Mohan Subramaniam, Toonz Head of Operation P K Vijayakumar we also present at the grand event on the first day.
After the inaugural ceremony, the stage was set for the Masters of the Animation Industry to present to the audience, on the reaches, problems and highlights of the Animation Industry in India. Ajit Rao, a pioneer of Indian Animation Industry, talked to the audience on the topic “Animation Training – Mentoring an Indian Perspective”. By mixing his personal experiences and explorations that he was able to garner during his association with the animation industry was shared to the audience.
Dhimant Vyas, one of the well-known names in the Animation Industry of the country, spoke to the crowds of Thiruvananthapuram on the topic “Magic with Motion”. The man who was behind the title animation of the Amir Khan movie, Taare Zameen Par, enlightened the crowd on the painstaking effort behind each frame.
Sanjiv Waeerkar, who has had more two decades of experience in the animation industry, spoke to the audience on how being addicted to comics, changed his life as an animator and an artist.
Artist and Animation director Nina Sabani, talked eloquently on mixing the Traditional Arts and Animation for Historical Researches. She explained to the audience her personal experiences with the traditional dancers and story tellers from the Indian Villages and how their stories were turned into animations to be preserved for the generations to come.
Sekhar Mukherjee, a veteran in the field of Animation spoke on the importance of Artistic Festivals and how it can improve the artistic scenario in our country.
Prosenjit Ganguly, a young face in the animation industry, who has bagged myriad awards and laurels in a short span of time, highlighted the pains that the people who become masters undertake and that it is through sheer hard work and determination that they get to be known as masters.
The first day of the two day event held at the Kanakakunu Palace grounds and witnessed huge public participation and the presenters were left spell bound with the enthusiasm that they received from the crowds of Thiruvananthapuram.
The second day kicked off with a talk by Chetan Sharma, film maker, animator and writer, who is a self-trained Animator. He spoke on how to turn the obstacles that appears in one’s way to success and glory into stepping stones to reach the galleries of success easily.
Devdutt Patnaik, a best-selling author and a great orator, gave insights to the audience on the Science of Story-telling and highlighted the importance of understanding our epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata.
“Readers should get an after taste after reading a story, it should touch one’s inner self of athma, said Devadutt in his session on story writing. By reading a mythology the reader should feel uplifting. Usually every one say stories are universal but they are not, they don’t exist without culture, he added.
“Every story is rooted in culture, the structure of the story exists all around us, we should see them that’s all. Story telling is part of our temple rituals. The target audience have changed considerably over the years, so before telling a story certain thinks need to be kept in mind, added Devadutt.
“Budding writing should always keep in mind the mood of the countries before writing, for writing a timeless story, timeless emotion should be incorporated in the creativity otherwise it will not be well received” He quipped.
“I write for the young urban mind and evaluate it by watching the expressions of the listener in the reading session. For the reader there are umpteen alternatives available in the market, so we have to me super brilliant to excel in storytelling, he said.
“One fabulous idea can transform life. So go for it”. Devadutt said, the impact will be higher if the story is properly located. The mythology is like puzzles you got to know every character, to know the story thoroughly.
Vaibhav Kumaresh, founder of the Vaibhav Studios and a visiting faculty at many institutions, shared his experience at the animation industry and building up a good animation studio which is producing short format animation films. His talk also conveyed the difference between short format and long format animation films.
Manisha Mohan, the head of Design and Animation at Tata Interactive Systems (TIS), shared her visions and experiences on how Animation can be taken Beyond Entertainment. Her experiences in creating interactive tools for children with learning disabilities was also shared and discussed upon.
Gayatri Rao, founder and director of Animagic studios, spoke on her experiences as an internee at the Walt Disney studio and how from there went onto create India’s first fully 2D animated music video.
Ranjit Singh Tony, a well known Animation author, told the audience how important production management is in the success of an animation film.
Toonz Animation India CEO P. Jayakumar, Toonz Chief Creative Officer Hari Varma, Head of Operation PK Vijayakumar were present at the event and Toonz Chief Operating Officer, Hari Iyer, proposed the vote of thanks.