“Maya Entertainment Ltd ( MEL ) is in the process of unlocking it’s real potential in all three business verticals, i.e (i) Education, (ii) Animation Service Outsourcing and (iii) Own Content.”
MEL is undergoing change as an organisation, I‘d request you to throw some light on the new focus and functioning style of the company?
Maya Entertainment Ltd ( MEL ) is in the process of unlocking it’s real potential in all three business verticals, i.e (i) Education, (ii) Animation Service Outsourcing and (iii) Own Content. We have restructured the organisation recently to ensure that each of these verticals are suitably empowered in terms of technical, management and operational talent and each of these verticals are headed by an independent team. In the process of restructuring the organisation and making it professional enough for maintenance of best standards of practice amongst our employees and business associates, we also have recently eliminated some conflict of interest positions held by certain ex- employees of the Company in the Education vertical. MEL has one of the best studio infrastructures in India which can occupy about 400 animation production talent at it’s set up in Malad, Mumbai and MEL’s education business Maya Academy (MAAC) has 58 centres spread across India, U.A.E., Sri-lanka and Nepal with about 10000 students enrolled for various courses offered by MAAC in animation and VFX. MAAC has an exclusive association with Cambridge University, London for validation of its diploma courses.
Could you speak a bit about the projects underway at MEL?
MEL studio is working on an order book comprising of a TV series to be telecast on BBC, character animation for a new online universe to be launched by one of the leading international online portals, a US$ 3 million order book comprising TV series and long form features for Mike Young Productions of US and game cinematic, animation and character design work for various international and Indian clients. MEL is also producing 60 minute animation for the forthcoming Bollywood film � Toonpur Ka Superhero� featuring Kajol and Ajay Devgan.
On the Own content segment, MEL has already green-lit a long form feature film based on a mythology plot which is under production at MEL studio. We are also developing some TV series concepts for future development including adaptation of some overseas formats and concepts for Indian television. MEL intends to become a full fledged content company in the years to come and soon we will have an enlarged team covering all areas of content creation. MEL has also ventured into it’s first international co-production by participating in the production of a 26 episode animation TV series for international market called � Cosmic Quantum Ray� alongwith a consortium of international co-producers. The series will be premiered on multiple TV stations in US and Europe during 2008 and MEL will have share of revenues from all international exploitations while it maintains exclusive rights for the property in India.
On the Education side, we would like to expand from our present strength of 58 centers to about 125 centres in India by 2009 as well as expand our presence in other overseas locations. While strengthening and expanding our mainstream individual education business, we will also focus on other related activities in the animation and VFX segment that would further expand our services to students, studios and public at large. For example, Animation Reporter, a by-product of MEL education business, will be soon aligned with a group of established publishers in India and abroad to make it a truly Asia/ South East Asia magazine targeted at new media enthusiasts. We are also working on some other initiatives using our asset of vast franchise network and increasing student base which will be announced as and when they mature to commercial commencement.
What is strategy 2008 for both MEL & MAAC?
As said earlier, MEL wishes to excel in all its three verticals. Clear focus, empowered teams and a complete professional environment is what we are setting up under which our business leaders and technical teams will thrive. We are also working towards forging some Indian and international alliances to accelerate our growth curve in all three verticals.
What growth drivers do you see for the Animation business in the coming two years?
I see animation industry for India comprising of three parts – firstly the �much hyped� service outsourcing industry and secondly the international co-productions by Indian producers and thirdly the fast emerging � domestic animation content� industry. I personally see the second and third driving huge momentum of growth for the industry in the longer run while the service outsourcing business will keep the clock ticking for the studios. With Indian population demographics where large part of our population skewed towards younger generation, the entertainment habits of this techno savvy Indian population will also be skewed towards more digital, animation and visual effect genre. Our studios with international ambitions will also explore co sharing of property rights with international producers rather than just being service providers to third party producers.
While talking about animation business, you can’t ignore the vast animation talent that India is producing or will produce in the future years. Indian animation talent which is mostly absorbed by Indian studios thus far, will also be much sought after by international studios when our talent matures to the levels of quality and imagination that international studios operate in. This has been proven by Indian IT talent and there is no reason why Indian animation talent cannot do so as well.
So to me, from all counts, be it animation services, international co-productions, domestic content and animation talent, what we see today is the tip of the iceberg of what we will see in the future.
What according to you are the challenges that the Industry faces currently and any suggestions / perspectives you want to share regarding the same?
With the opening of multiple horizons and the potential big picture, it is quite easy for us to get into comfort zone and assume growth will happen irrespective of what we do. While the potential is visible and large, it is we, the players in the industry, who need to understand and move up various steps of the ladder to climb the top rather than hop and jump to the top.
Indian studios haven’t been the �most admired� amongst overseas clients for our quality and deadlines of delivery and this is the basic lesson we need to understand and improve on.
While it is very encouraging to think big and think in terms of own content and IP’s we need to guard ourselves from over-investment and over-exposure. Being in the hype and hoopla media industry it is easy to feel �accomplished� but the real accomplishment will only come by well measured efforts. The industry has also been working on some element of �talent rat race� and as a result what started few years back as a �economical� destination for animation production, we have made ourselves as expensive destination as some of the other international animation production destinations. It is important that the industry associations while exploring the potential of industry and seeking government support, does some internal industry initiatives where certain standards and measures are followed by the industry players to ensure that the full potential of the industry is achieved.