The International Animation Day celebration organised by ASIFA India – the renowned professional body recognised by UNESCO – in partnership with Bengal AVGC-XR Association was marked by the presence of industry stalwarts, receiving an overwhelming response from students.
The event was powered by Asifa India and Bengal AVGC-XR Association, in association with skill partners Webel (A government of West Bengal Undertaking) and MESC. The academic partners were Frameboxx 2.0, MAAC Girish Park, Webel Animation Academy, Moople, Monarch College of Arts and Technology, and George Animatrix School of Animation; the industry partners were Hi-Tech Animation, Wackytoon, Octbot Animation Studio, Ssoftoons, Green CAD, Aviaty Entertainment and Roy Holdings along with Huion as the supporting partner.
The celebration began with lamp lighting by the event’s dignitaries – West Bengal IT & Electronics minister Babul Supriyo, FICCI AVGC-XR Forum chairman Ashish Kulkarni, Webel MD Sanjay Kr Das, Asifa India head Sanjay Khimesara, Bengal AVGC-XR Association president Subrata Roy and and vice president Niloy Kanti Biswas. Post the lamp lighting, Kulkarni handed West Bengal’s AVGC-XR sector’s Vision Document policy to the honourable minister, who in his special address, congratulated the members of the association. Supriyo, who believes in the power of storytelling, shared how he recently worked on a song where he drew cartoons which were animated by young artists. Citing examples of blockbuster films like Finding Nemo, Lion King, and Avatar, he stressed the power of animated characters portraying strong emotions on screen.
Noting the importance of AVGC education, the minister revealed that work is in progress to include diploma courses in 3D and VFX training in Webel’s curriculum. “I encourage the youth to explore the fields of animation and visual effects where the job opportunities are immense,” he said. Echoing the sentiment, Webel chairman Sutirtha Bhattacharya emphasised on synergetic efforts to ensure that educational courses match the industry’s requirement, catering also to fields like precision engineering design and others.
In other opening addresses of the International Animation Day event, the speakers threw light on how the plan to devise an AVGC policy for West Bengal has been in works since the state’s current chief minister Mamata Banerjee came to power, but somehow never came to fruition. But now, after years of deliberations, the industry stakeholders have united to push for a separate policy for this sector in the state. Expressing his gratitude towards industry leaders who helped form the AVGC association in Bengal, Webel MD Sanjay Kr Das noted that the efforts in churning out the policy must yield results through its implementation. Khimesara suggested bringing big studios to Bengal as a step towards building an AVGC ecosystem.
Emphasising the need for creating digital content, Kulkarni pointed out, “These days, everyone wants to consume information in the form of videos.” The future is videos, and belongs to the AVGC artists who can create them, he said.
Moving ahead, the first knowledge session of the day targeting the budding talents was Story Hunting by national award-winning animation veteran Suresh Eriyat. The filmmaker gave a glimpse of the amazing works he has created using various styles of animation. Sharing the instance of Satyajit Ray who worked on his father Sukumar Ray’s stories, Eriyat highlighted the importance of telling local stories.
The next panel discussion International Co-Productions & Practices for Creative Content Creation, powered by Moople Institute of Animation and Design, included speakers Kulkarni, Powerkids Entertainment CEO Manoj Mishra and Shaftesbury development executive Awani Kulkarni. The session was moderated by Bengal AVGC-XR Association member Sukankan Roy. The discussion touched upon the nuances of international co-productions, the ways to expand the geography of content distribution and government aids in enabling Indian creators to make their own place in the world animation co-productions.
The students of Arena Park Street raised the energy level inside the auditorium with the Cosplay Competition. Showcasing their love and passion for manga and anime, participants recreated popular characters amidst loud applause and cheer.
In the next session, Folks VFX head of learning & development Jayanti Mahapatra shared important career knowledge while delving on the topic Making The Transition – Academic Learning to Thriving Career in Animation & VFX. She meticulously noted the importance of emotional intelligence alongside skills, talent, passion, social skills in order to ensure a thriving career. The students must try to work on their employability skills, she added.
During another interesting session Bringing The Fantastic to Life, Framestore CG supervisor Prashant Nair kept the youngsters glued as he explained the making of the creature “Bennus” from Rebel Moon and the character “little orange man” from the film Wonka.
In Unleashing Virtual Production Gaming Tech & Film Making Synergy, Aptech executive vice president Abir Aich explained the need and importance of virtual production. Pointing out the concept of rear projections used in earlier films like Casablanca, The Birds, Seven Psychopaths, Aich stated how virtual production is a similar concept used in an advanced manner.
In the panel discussion titled Game Art : What Are Studios Looking at From Students, speakers shed light on the qualities they look for in job aspirants. The speakers were Createon Games CEO & co-founder Somneel Saha, Red Apple Technology’s Suparna Das and Craft Production Group co-founder & COO Rishav Goyal. GodSpeed Games co-founder & director Druhin Mukherjee moderated the discussion. Panellists spoke about the importance of storytelling, the ability to tell original and authentic stories, adapting to changing technologies, learning and unlearning.
In another session State of Comics in Bengal/India and How This Medium of Storytelling is Relevant Today, the speakers spoke about the need of giving visibility to the artists, and the dire need of funding the segment. The panellists included talented illustrators and comic artists like Avik Kumar Maitra, Charbak Dipta, Sourav Dutta, Partha Pratim Sarkar, and Sankha Banerjee. Harsho Mohan Chattoraj moderated the session. Despite having immensely talented artists, the comic industry has not been able to sustain itself in the state mostly due to lack of awareness, they said. Bengal had a rich comic culture, with small comic strips in various newspapers but with time, the Bengali comics could not reach a larger audience and the artists had to rely on getting works from outside the state. With the formation of the association, the speakers expressed hope for the state’s rich comics culture.
An exciting part of the event was a competition for students – Mascot Designing for Bengal AVGC-XR Association – powered by Huion. A young student from Webel, Chandrayee Das, won the competition and was awarded a Huion tablet for her art work.
The event concluded with a prize distribution, Bengal AVGC-XR Association member recognition, and the acknowledgement of the volunteers who helped put the mega event together. The successful endeavour in the city paved the way for future events and activities catering to the AVGC-XR industry.