Animaster Academy, a Bangalore-based college that provides education and training in animation, VFX, gaming and graphic design, has a new industry partner in Sporedust Media, a leading animation and design studio based out of Nigeria. This association is being seen as an amalgamation of two rapidly developing animation industries.
Animaster Academy has a good number of students from Nigeria enrolled in its university degree and diploma programs. “The students from Nigeria are very talented and are enthused about animation. However, they face a lot of issues with visa and work permits that make it hard for them to continue their studies or find jobs in India. Our partnership with Sporedust is very encouraging for our Nigerian students, who can now get assistance, along with good animation and design jobs in a great studio in their homeland. Indian students can also get an outlook on the Nigerian animation scene”, says Animaster
Academy director Veena Pratap. “Even in India, we are one of the few animation colleges that have collaborated with a reputed university, making our program a genuine university higher education program in animation. The program also offers specialisation in gaming, VFX and graphic design. This is part of our efforts to encourage higher education in vocational fields such as animation”, she adds.
Sporedust Media is a young animation studio that is an ensemble of sincere animation enthusiasts and is best known for it’s internationally acclaimed short film Chicken Core: The Rise of the Kings. Since then, Sporedust has extended its expertise to mobile apps and computer animation used in production of PSquare’s music video, “Unlimited” in collaboration with Square Records & P-Classic. The studio’s work has achieved global acclaim and its team aspires to make it the Pixar of Africa.
Sporedust recognises the importance of education and training in animation in achieving this vision. “It’s an incredibly exciting and rare opportunity to collaborate with Animaster in supporting our vision towards capacity development and building the Nigerian animation industry. This alliance provides an avenue for cross-cultural integration and exchange of both Nigeria’s and India’s rich cultural heritage. We are delighted to have Animaster as an industry partner in developing our indigenous talent and exploring advancements in animation”, expounds Sporedust Media CEO Shina Ajulo.
The Indian animation industry is growing at a phenomenal rate. The industry, once known as the sweatshop of the animation world, is now focused on producing local content and creating its own intellectual property. Likewise, the Nigerian animation industry, although nascent, is booming and showing immense potential. Studios such as Sporedust are eager to create their own content and popularise the African context of animation. “Our association with Sporedust would engage and mobilise talent, technology and craft from the two creative industries. We hope to have a fruitful collaboration based on mutual learning, sharing, and growth”, concludes Pratap.