Indian Animation industry is booming and growing everyday. Besides big animation studios like Green Gold Animation, Toonz Animation, Cosmos-Maya and others, a lot of local, regional studios are also coming up who are contributing significantly to the community.
Mumbai based Massive Pictures is one such new 3D animation and VFX studio founded by University of Bombay Commerce Graduate, Akshaya Mahadik. Just three years old in the business, Massive Picture is growing steadily and is already developing three animated IPs. A division of Massive Connexxion, technology and digital marketing firm, Massive Picture started with four to five artists and have worked as sub-vendors for studios like Cosmos-Maya and a few others, providing service for popular animated IPs, such as, Shiva (Nickelodeon Sonic), Guru Bhole ( Sony YAY!) and many more.
“We’re relatively new in the industry but growing each day and presently are developing three in-house kids IP, based on three different genres and subjects. One is the future world and sci-fi, the second is based on ancient Indian dynasties and their different purposes, and third is based on the mystical world. We are also working on a religious animated short film, alongside one series and two movies for a client. We also did the client’s IP’s Concept art and pre-production, all this besides working on Corporate AV’s and e-learning content,” shared Mahadik with AnimationXpress.
Always dreamt of being a woman entrepreneur, Mahadik began her career as a freelance website developer and worked as an associate sales executive with a technology company. She started her own advertising agency, Massive Connexxion in order to provide a 360-degree branding solution to her clients, before founding Massive Pictures in 2018.
Being fascinated with the explosion of kids content and soaring viewership, she forayed into the kid’s content segment, and started by collaborating with studios and channels as sub-vendors offering animation service.
Before Massive Pictures was set up, she also incorporated CGI for informative videos for brand clients to convey their services and marketing solutions. For technology content, she provided AR-VR and hologram technology for ambient advertising to clients such as Suzuki, Hero Honda, Starbucks and more. Massive Pictures also worked on E-learning content for Piramal and Sharekhan.
With a 15 member team now, Mahadik has also managed to work her way through the pandemic and has in fact also created an animated video, COVID Yoddha or Superheroes of Maharashtra for the Maharashtra Government and earned praise for CM Uddhav Thackarey as well.
“The pandemic taught us many new things proving the ‘Work from Home’ concept can be fruitful too. Our team adapted pretty well and set up a strong pipeline and virtual infrastructure to ensure smooth workflow from home. We were lucky enough to sense the situation early and were prepared for any unwanted situation, thus it didn’t hamper our production much”, she said.
The Massive Picture team is still working remotely and will continue to do so, prioritizing on the employees’ well being until the situation becomes better. Founder and CEO Mahadik also mentioned that the team is delivering targets on time, with productivity increasing.
The Massive Picture team is supervised by –
> Studio head and creative director Amar Pawale, a CG generalist with 12 years of experience. He is capable of single-handedly delivering pre- to post-production of any project, right from concept art to final delivery in an optimised way.
> Head of Technology Akshay Dhuri has eight years of experience and is adept in managing the team and solving their problems. He handles the technology department and delivers client expectations.
Mahadik mentioned that she faced many challenges including an investor backing off after her own kids’ content concept was fully ready, but never stopped herself and bounced back with a bigger vision. Now her team is working simultaneously on their in-house kids IP as well as successfully delivering episodic content for kids animated series without compromising on the quality.
Another challenge was monetary issues owing to the pandemic and the lockdown that followed. “As I mentioned, due to early and strong planning to face this pandemic, we successfully delivered all projects and did not have to deduct anyone’s salary. Yes, the expenses on infrastructure like the rent were an extra, but we considered unexpected expenses of at least six months so we were in a better position as the “Show must go on”, she further added.
Massive Pictures has additionally entered the VFX domain, and just completed its first project, a web series for an OTT platform. They’re planning to expand this vertical, post the successful delivery of the first project, and will start a VFX wing after the pandemic is over.
