The first day of the Animation and More (AM) Summit 2024 started on a high note. The gathering of notable players from the animation industry celebrated the unstoppable growth of the sector on 3 and 4 September at the NESCO Exhibition Centre, Mumbai.
The summit started off with the ceremonial lamp lighting with the presence of all the dignitaries and a welcome note by AnimationXpress founder, chairman and editor-in-chief Anil NM Wanvari. This year, the summit explored the new technologies, works from independent artists and the success of anime in the country.
The first keynote address Crafting the Future: Where Innovation Meets Imagination was delivered by Maxon CEO David McGavran. McGavran played a showreel highlighting the company’s software like Cinema 4D, ZBrush, Red Giant, Redshift that provide users with high-end tools to realise their creative ideas. He stated, ”Tools are nothing but a paintbrush that the artist uses.” He announced ZBrush for iPad which is slated to officially launch soon. The company stated its commitment to allow people to create and work on the devices they want to build upon accessibility. He said, ”Wherever you are, you can create magical things and bring your visions to life.”
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The summit progressed forward with an exciting panel discussion Global Animation Trends: Navigating the International Market to explore the workings of the international animation industry. The discussion delved deep into emerging trends, successful genres and the dynamics of the global audience preferences. Moderated by Wanvari, the panel included Powerkids Entertainment founder and CEO Manoj Mishra, Toonz Media Group partner relations head Rejy Jose, DNEG India head of studio AR Seshaprasad, Technicolor Group Asia Pacific managing director & global excom member Biren Ghose and 88 Pictures founder and CEO Milind D. Shinde. The speakers touched upon how India has become a global hub for outsourcing larger animated projects at a competitive price, shared the growth of the service studio model and how they help merge their creations under one roof, highlighted how ‘Create in India’, for India has been a phenomenal initiative for the industry, explored how opportunities in the global market are ever expanding and how India will be highly in demand for the artistry it provides. Shinde said, “Stay small, stay humble and stay focused.” Jose mentioned that co-productions are their success mantra and advised forging relationships and investing in them to stay successful.
The next session Unleashing Creativity with Next Gen Workstations by AMD explored how its latest Thread Ripper Pro, Radeon Pro and Ryzen powered mobile workstations are evolving the creative pipeline. This presentation detailed their advanced features and highlighted how they enable professionals to push boundaries and enhance their creative potential. This presentation featured AMD national sales manager Ramesh Babu Pyla, followed by a fireside chat between AMD head of inside sales, strategy and value business Chetan Hingu and Wanvari. The session delved upon how workstations are essential for production, featured an in-depth look into the company’s Threadripper CPUs and Radeon Pro Graphics cards. The speakers also revealed that an AMD workstation saves up to 27 minutes for every hour of productivity. The speakers revealed that the Indian film Bahubali: The Beginning was produced with an AMD workstation and how the company’s workstation aims to deliver stunning output for animated content. Hingu said, “With AMD workstations, you get your money’s value back.”
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The summit highlighted the role that service studios play in the animation industry in the session Animation’s Hidden Heroes: The Role of Service Studios. This panel included Artha Animation founder and CEO Gaurav Malhotra, Waackytoon Studio CEO Niloy Kanti Biswas, Kayra Animation CEO Arpit Dubey, and Prayan Animation Studio CEO/Co-founder Vinayan V. This session was moderated by philmCGI co-founder and managing director Anand Bhanushali. The audience learned about the studios’ contribution to major animation projects, the challenges they face and the solutions they provide. The session also touched upon the dynamics of international collaboration, quality control and the future of outsourcing in animation. The speakers revealed how they navigated the writers strike in the industry and found their way back on track. The session explored how international clients are as demanding as domestic clients, and how service studios have to find the right balance between client work and their own IP production. Biswas said, “Having a right balance between servicing and creation of IP is very crucial.” The speakers explained how creation of IP helps a studio gain recognition and discussed how government initiatives help drive the industry forward.
To shed light on works of independent artists and studios, the session Creator’s World: Showcase by Independent Artists and Studios brought immensely talented indie artists together. The speakers for this panel were Bisbo founder and chief storyteller Shakir Ebrahim, Totem Creative co-founder and creative director Arvind Singh Jeena and Ekabhuya Animation co-founder and producer Shivangi Ranawat. Totem Creative’s Jeena showcased the trailer for the studio’s horror short Crossing as well as another animated project Paperplanes. Jeena highlighted, “We are living in a renaissance of 2D animation.” Ranawat showcased the studio’s portfolio with a show reel which included cinematics of the well-known video game Raji: An Ancient Epic. She stated, “For us the most impactful thing is to get the story, the feeling and the emotions out.”
Moving further, the audience were treated to Coffee Conversation by Autodesk, a candid conversation between the speakers with a dash of coffee. The speakers were Zebu Animation Studios founder/creative director Veerendra Patil, Ssoftoons COO Hansa Mondal, philmCGI’s Bhanushali and 88 Pictures co-founder and global vice president production Rakesh Patil in conversation with Autodesk India and SAARC technical solutions manager – M&E Samit Shetty. The session focused on creative and production aspects catering to a wide range of audiences from technical artists to project managers. The audience discovered how various tools can enhance their animation projects from concept to the final delivery, touched upon beloved fictional characters, personal stories and experiences, carbon footprints and sustainability and handling daily stress.
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In the session Innovation in the Entertainment Industry with ElevenLabs’ AI Audio Platform and Dubbing Studio, ElevenLabs VP – revenue Carles Reina shared how his company’s text to speech audio tool works and provides high quality dubbing to the user. The audience got to know how the AI tool converts text into believable speech and dubs. Reina mentioned how AI dubs need to be natural, engaging and have to present believable dialogues and narration, highlighted how his company’s various AI services like texts to speech, speech to speech, voice cloning, AI dubbing, voice isolator provide the user with a high quality and believable lingual output. He showed that the company’s AI tools now support 22 languages and touched upon upcoming features like text to voice, interactive characters and interactive voice agents. The company also plans to work on real time voice translation in the near future.
A crucial session for the day IP Rights in AI: Protecting Creativity in the Digital Age was led by ANM Global partner head of media & entertainment practice Anushree Rauta. This session was a deep dive into the implications of AI on intellectual property rights in animation, the legal challenges and best practices for protecting creative works in an age of evolving technology, and the various classifications of AI intelligence and its ownership regulations in India and around the world. Rauta revealed that while some countries still debate upon the ownership of the AI generated contents, giants like OpenAI permit the ownership of the output to the user. She insisted that creators and the regulators should adhere to the IP loss, respect the third parties and compensate the creators. The session provided much needed insight to the often controversial and mind-boggling issue related to AI generated content.
This was followed by one of the most awaited panel of the day, Anime: The Sleeping Giant. The speakers for this session included Muse Communication India director and business development & content distribution head Julia Cheng; McDonald’s India – south and west associate director of marketing Priya Rege Jaggi and Sony YAY! marketing, OAP, licensing and merchandising head Sujoy Roy Bardhan. The discussion was moderated by Whistling Woods International vice president and CTO Chaintanya Chinchlikar. The session was a deep dive into the ever-growing popularity of anime and how various platforms, theatres and brands are exploiting its potential. The audience learned about the factors boosting anime’s growth and made it a mainstream phenomenon in the country. The speakers stated that India has contributed around 60 per cent of the growth in the anime industry. Jaggi from McDonalds highlighted how the fast-food chain’s venture into the anime fandom was a huge success for the company. Bardhan explained how Sony YAY!’s expansion into anime shows like Naruto, Black Clover and Naruto: Shippuden increased the channel’s total viewership and helped them expand into products merchandising. Cheng said, “Anime is a niche market but has a wide flexibility.” She revealed that 30 per cent consumption of Muse Communication’s content consists of anime. The speakers also shared how anime’s art style proves to be timeless and provides strength to the medium and how the anime industry could be a successful venture for Indian distributors.
The AM Summit kept building upon the excitement with the masterclass titled The Garfield Movie by DNEG Animation exploring the production of the beloved comic strip character’s first theatrical adventure. The speakers – DNEG Animation India creative director Phillipe Gluckmann, head of feature animation India Anand Baid and DNEG lighting supervisor Arun P A – gave the audience an exclusive behind the scenes look at The Garfield Movie, captivating them with DNEG’s visual mastery. The speakers said that the majority of the film was produced in India. The session featured an in depth into the renderings of various characters like Garfield, Jon, Baby Garfield and Jinx. The speakers also touched upon the challenges they faced while producing the film like fur simulation, creating the mono eyes of the characters and translating the comic strip characters into feature film format. The speakers explained the director Mark Dindal’s melted candle approach towards creating believable and emotive characters.
The day ended with a masterclass on imaginative drawing – Whimsical Ink With Venky – by Zebu Animation Studios co-founder/art director Venkatramanan Koteeswaran (Venky) and Patil. The masterclass gave a unique approach to drawing characters, making it easier for students and professionals to bring their imagination to life. This session featured beginners’ tutorials into drawing fun and over the top characters. Venky gave the audience insightful tips about creating a complicated yet expressive character, and addressed the lack of artistry in the current animation scenario. “One of the challenges we face is that there are very few artists in the art industry.” He highlighted the importance of curves in a sketch and how the human eye perceives curves slower than the parallel lines. This helped the audience get a better understanding of Venky’s creative process that they can utilise to bring their own ideas to life.
The first day of the AM Summit saw the launch of Maharashtra Immersive and Digital Content Creator Association (MIDCCA). This association is aimed to position Maharashtra into a global hub for the AVGCE-XR industry. The association was officially launched by Deependra Singh Kushwah, IAS, Development Commissioner (Industries) & Chairman (MAITRI), in the presence of other notable dignitaries from the state.
With a wide array of insightful sessions and masterclasses, the first day of the summit concluded on high note. The attendees also got to interact with the experts, industry professionals and artists and were looking forward to the second day of the summit full of a myriad of exciting sessions and Ann Awards 2024.
The AM Summit and Ann Awards 2024 proudly partnered with AMD as the knowledge partner and were co-powered by Hungama, 88 Pictures, and ElevenLabs. Maxon served as the networking partner, while the associate partners included Autodesk and Zebu Animation Studios. PowerKids Entertainment was the lanyard and badges partner. The event was further supported by country partners JETRO and MDEC, along with Kerala IT and the Centre for Development of Imaging Technology (CDIT) as the state partners.
Industry partners included Huion, Micro Star International (MSI), Reliance Animation, Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah Rhymes, Wackytoon Studio, Women in Cloud, TVPaint, Tron School of Animation, and XP-Pen. Bright Outdoor Media served as the outdoor partner, with Asifa India as the community partner, MESC (Media and Entertainment Skills Council) as the skill partner, and DigiCon6 Asia as the festival partner. The event execution was handled by ITV 2.0.
