The second day of IndiaJoy witnessed interesting and insightful panel discussions and one of them was Policy intervention in the VFX industry – Need for introducing state and central policies to develop the industry.
The panel discussion moderated by Animation Xpress chairman and co-founder Anil Wanvari included DNEG India head of studio A R Seshaprasad, Famulus Media and Entertainment CEO Suchit Mukherjee along with Punnaryug Artvision Pvt. Ltd founder and FICCI AVGC forum chairman Ashish Kulkarni.
The very question that Wanvari posed to the panellists was what are the challenges faced by the AVGC industry, especially VFX, to which Seshaprasad answered that there are different challenges at different times and they have been dealt accordingly. He also pointed out that in difficult times, talent has played an important role. According to him, in the last eight to 10 years the business has grown and is booming but the amount of talent that is produced is very short. In Mukherjee’s opinion, there is a need to re-negotiate the commercial terms to build domestic capacity in terms of the talent.
Another question asked by Wanvari was whether there is a need for government intervention in the industry to grow, to which Mukherjee answered that there is a need. The government would be the aggregator and developer in creating infrastructure driven facilities that would eventually help the industry. For Seshaprasad, the government intervention was necessary at the education level and on the business front. In his opinion, the government should curate courses and specialisations related to the AVGC sector at the graduation and post-graduation level.
Finally Kulkarni answered all the queries and doubts of the panellists. He said that policy making is not easy, it takes years for policy makers to understand the industry well and create a policy that would be helpful. He pointed to the fact that as opposed to some countries, India is doing great so far without the government’s support. As VFX has become an integral part of the Indian movies now, Kulkarni is in support of it having a status from the government. He also said that it is time to bring artists and studios to the forefront and that AVGC will be a gift from India to the world as India is a powerhouse in the service and content provided.
He further said that they are going to launch the mission, Create in India, just like the Indian government’s mission Make in India. The policy makers are also working on creating a permanent regulatory body which will look after the VFX industry, and it will include veterans from the industry as its board of members. Kulkarni concluded the session by claiming that India will be less about manpower and more about its value by 2023.