ET BureauAnimation industry in India is no longer kids' affair. Given the scale, technological innovation and stark improvement in content, India's animation industry today is the most self-sufficient in terms of providing interesting films which also appeal to mature viewers. Maya Digital Studios, which is well-known for producing serial brands such as Kisna and Eena Meena Deeka, is one such studio which is making its presence felt in India's animation industry. The company's recent offering The Adventures of Motu Patlu is an animation film and is releasing this Friday. ET caught up with Anish J S Mehta, CEO of Cosmos Maya to get a sense of the size and potential of India's animation industry and the company's new offering The Adventures of Motu Patlu. Edited excerpts:
After a long time an animation film is releasing. Could you tell us about your new film The Adventures of Motu Patlu? What can the viewers expect from the film?
Motu Patlu- King of Kings is a complete family entertainer, it’s a fun film for the entire family. Motu and Patlu are to animation what SRK and Salman are to Hindi films, so viewers can expect full value- for –money experience. It is filled with gags, humour, action, songs by Gulzar and Vishal Bhardwaj and it gives an overall wonderful family entertainment experience, something that Indian animation hasn't been able to deliver to the extent that the western animation films do so far. From mythology to mainstream entertainment, Indian animation has indeed come a long way and Motu Patlu King of Kings is a significant step in the evolution of the industry rather than just a film. It is a really the first time that kids will take their parents out for a film featuring their heroes Motu and Patlu.
Could you take us through the journey of Maya Digital Studios? What are the prominent films the studio has been associated with?
Maya has actually pioneered the art and technology of animation in India, in 1996. From laying the foundation of the entire animation ecosystem to then working on many a global shows like Octonauts, Noddy among others and then creating a string of highly popular Indian animation IPs starting with our flagship show, Motu Patlu; Maya is a studio that has constantly evolved its business model to suit the macro realities of this highly volatile industry and stayed relevant. In effect we have evolved as a brand and Motu Patlu King of Kings is a shining testimony to that persistence and success of Maya. Internationally, the show Motu Patlu also does phenomenally well within the Indian sub continent, Indonesia, Singapore, pockets of the Middle East where Syndication deals have happened. The cumulative revenue is over a few million USD there which is a bonus and also a proof of what good content can do to the business.
Going forward, we will continue to focus on the TV market and also branch out into global TV shows and high quality feature films. Both the new initiatives have already been taken. Our first global co-production series, Captain Cactus with legendary French animation Guru, Olivier Jean Marie launches next week at MIPCOM and we have already begun work on the next Motu Patlu feature film. We are in talks with some of the biggest International animation distribution networks to make the brand stronger in Asia, Middle East and Europe with a strong focus on merchandising.
What distinguishes Maya Digital Studios from other studios such as Prime Focus?
Maya is a creatively-led, Intellectual Property (IP) focussed studio that has moved beyond the service work that we begun our journey with. Today we are sitting with an IP bank of over 10 shows, over 14,000 minutes of animation content that comprises of almost 650 half hours of content. All of this has been accomplished merely in the last four years. We produce around 25 half hours of content on a month on month between all our shows.
While we wouldn't want to compare with another studio, ours is a different success story as we are an IP driven company where we are looking at a 360 degree monetization. To give you an example, we have our own digital channel on YouTube that garners over 2 million views per day, with merely 6.5% of our content bank being live in the primary market, India. 93.5% of the content is geo-blocked in India because of our broadcaster deals and yet we do so many views consistently. That proves the popularity of our content globally and I believe that for our studio, this is the beginning. With the global partnerships and new business models of Euro - Asian cooperation that we are in the process of implementation at this stage, there will be further dramatic growth for us.
From providing animation services, now, Maya Digital Studios is producing animation films. Was this a natural progression? What is the strategy for the company in the coming years?
We have evolved our business models with the times and the needs of the market. When we worked on service project, the India market virtually didn't exist as channels relied on internationally acquired content. Today there is a dedicated focus on Indian content. Motu Patlu is driving the viewership for the channel and other channels want these sort of channel driving shows. We are working on that. Then there is the focus on global co-productions that I spoke about and also the feature films. These are creative aspects.
Additionally, business wise, there is a dedicated focus on the digital content production. Creation of original shows for various digital platforms is the key. This medium will bring in the new paradigm shift in this industry. We have already begun production of digital content for two of the existing Video On Demand (VOD) platforms and have also taken the initial steps for a dedicated business division for only digital content production. Besides that, there are initial steps for merchandising of our IP bank and also the virtual reality space. So there is indeed a lot happening at our end.
How has India's animation industry grown in the past one decade? What is the size of India's animation industry and what rate the industry is going? Could you give us future growth prospects of the industry?
One of the major changes in India's animation industry is focus on original Indian shows. This is the foundation of the new business model as everything is now about the characters. E-commerce is bringing in more viability for merchandising and thereby adding that much more diversification and monetization to the industry. The future will be about more intellectual properties(IPs) and their effective monetisation and brand consolidation. Our merchandising industry size is lesser than the merchandising sales of one Disney Movie, Frozen. So there is a huge scope the industry. Newer business models like Co-Productions, limited license windows among others will evolve as the industry evolves. Motu Patlu King of Kings is a tiny step in that direction and we are hopeful that the journey ahead would be even more exciting.
Do you think animation films are no longer restricted to kids? What is the range of age group it has expanded to? Also what factors make an animation film for an adult?
Animation films today are representatives of pure family entertainment. While American films have been there for a while, our content is getting there. It is all about a good story with great visuals. Entertainment is the key and layering that with a message is what makes animation films special. These are stories of human triumph conveyed with conviction. Our film Motu Patlu King of Kings is for everyone, as it has humour, entertainment, emotions and a message. It is a story of friendship that kids will love to show to their parents. From an audience standpoint, this is taking the pester power in a more assertive and proactive fashion to create new benchmarks in storytelling and animation production. The box office for animated films has been abysmal thus far and with Motu Patlu King of Kings we want to break that jinx to pave the way for this all encompassing form of pure entertainment for the whole family.
After a long time an animation film is releasing. Could you tell us about your new film The Adventures of Motu Patlu? What can the viewers expect from the film?
Motu Patlu- King of Kings is a complete family entertainer, it’s a fun film for the entire family. Motu and Patlu are to animation what SRK and Salman are to Hindi films, so viewers can expect full value- for –money experience. It is filled with gags, humour, action, songs by Gulzar and Vishal Bhardwaj and it gives an overall wonderful family entertainment experience, something that Indian animation hasn't been able to deliver to the extent that the western animation films do so far. From mythology to mainstream entertainment, Indian animation has indeed come a long way and Motu Patlu King of Kings is a significant step in the evolution of the industry rather than just a film. It is a really the first time that kids will take their parents out for a film featuring their heroes Motu and Patlu.
Could you take us through the journey of Maya Digital Studios? What are the prominent films the studio has been associated with?
Maya has actually pioneered the art and technology of animation in India, in 1996. From laying the foundation of the entire animation ecosystem to then working on many a global shows like Octonauts, Noddy among others and then creating a string of highly popular Indian animation IPs starting with our flagship show, Motu Patlu; Maya is a studio that has constantly evolved its business model to suit the macro realities of this highly volatile industry and stayed relevant. In effect we have evolved as a brand and Motu Patlu King of Kings is a shining testimony to that persistence and success of Maya. Internationally, the show Motu Patlu also does phenomenally well within the Indian sub continent, Indonesia, Singapore, pockets of the Middle East where Syndication deals have happened. The cumulative revenue is over a few million USD there which is a bonus and also a proof of what good content can do to the business.
Going forward, we will continue to focus on the TV market and also branch out into global TV shows and high quality feature films. Both the new initiatives have already been taken. Our first global co-production series, Captain Cactus with legendary French animation Guru, Olivier Jean Marie launches next week at MIPCOM and we have already begun work on the next Motu Patlu feature film. We are in talks with some of the biggest International animation distribution networks to make the brand stronger in Asia, Middle East and Europe with a strong focus on merchandising.
What distinguishes Maya Digital Studios from other studios such as Prime Focus?
Maya is a creatively-led, Intellectual Property (IP) focussed studio that has moved beyond the service work that we begun our journey with. Today we are sitting with an IP bank of over 10 shows, over 14,000 minutes of animation content that comprises of almost 650 half hours of content. All of this has been accomplished merely in the last four years. We produce around 25 half hours of content on a month on month between all our shows.
While we wouldn't want to compare with another studio, ours is a different success story as we are an IP driven company where we are looking at a 360 degree monetization. To give you an example, we have our own digital channel on YouTube that garners over 2 million views per day, with merely 6.5% of our content bank being live in the primary market, India. 93.5% of the content is geo-blocked in India because of our broadcaster deals and yet we do so many views consistently. That proves the popularity of our content globally and I believe that for our studio, this is the beginning. With the global partnerships and new business models of Euro - Asian cooperation that we are in the process of implementation at this stage, there will be further dramatic growth for us.
From providing animation services, now, Maya Digital Studios is producing animation films. Was this a natural progression? What is the strategy for the company in the coming years?
We have evolved our business models with the times and the needs of the market. When we worked on service project, the India market virtually didn't exist as channels relied on internationally acquired content. Today there is a dedicated focus on Indian content. Motu Patlu is driving the viewership for the channel and other channels want these sort of channel driving shows. We are working on that. Then there is the focus on global co-productions that I spoke about and also the feature films. These are creative aspects.
Additionally, business wise, there is a dedicated focus on the digital content production. Creation of original shows for various digital platforms is the key. This medium will bring in the new paradigm shift in this industry. We have already begun production of digital content for two of the existing Video On Demand (VOD) platforms and have also taken the initial steps for a dedicated business division for only digital content production. Besides that, there are initial steps for merchandising of our IP bank and also the virtual reality space. So there is indeed a lot happening at our end.
How has India's animation industry grown in the past one decade? What is the size of India's animation industry and what rate the industry is going? Could you give us future growth prospects of the industry?
One of the major changes in India's animation industry is focus on original Indian shows. This is the foundation of the new business model as everything is now about the characters. E-commerce is bringing in more viability for merchandising and thereby adding that much more diversification and monetization to the industry. The future will be about more intellectual properties(IPs) and their effective monetisation and brand consolidation. Our merchandising industry size is lesser than the merchandising sales of one Disney Movie, Frozen. So there is a huge scope the industry. Newer business models like Co-Productions, limited license windows among others will evolve as the industry evolves. Motu Patlu King of Kings is a tiny step in that direction and we are hopeful that the journey ahead would be even more exciting.
Do you think animation films are no longer restricted to kids? What is the range of age group it has expanded to? Also what factors make an animation film for an adult?
Animation films today are representatives of pure family entertainment. While American films have been there for a while, our content is getting there. It is all about a good story with great visuals. Entertainment is the key and layering that with a message is what makes animation films special. These are stories of human triumph conveyed with conviction. Our film Motu Patlu King of Kings is for everyone, as it has humour, entertainment, emotions and a message. It is a story of friendship that kids will love to show to their parents. From an audience standpoint, this is taking the pester power in a more assertive and proactive fashion to create new benchmarks in storytelling and animation production. The box office for animated films has been abysmal thus far and with Motu Patlu King of Kings we want to break that jinx to pave the way for this all encompassing form of pure entertainment for the whole family.
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