A Panel Discussion was held on ‘Creating Infinite Worlds using Animation’ on Day 1 of Shanghai Cooperation Organization Film Festival today. Munjal Shroff, Director & COO of Graphiti Multimedia and Jayakumar Prabhakaran, CEO of Toonz Animation shared both their experience in working in the Indian animation industry and their visions for its growth.
Munjal Shroff discussed the popularity of his own creation, ‘Deepa & Anoop’. Connecting International Audience with the Indian Context was the prime motivation behind making this series, he stated. He also described how he ensured the series was not limited to just Indian representations by bringing in Lisa Goldman to add some ‘American flavor’.
Jayakumar Prabhakaran took the opportunity to shed light on social dimensions of animation content. He discussed how children pick up habits and entire ways of being from cartoons. Cinema and television therefore play a leading role in cultural invention, he added.
The session also witnessed discussions on how Indian folkore has grabbed attention of audiences worldwide. Characters such as Tenali Raman and Akbar-Birbal have captured the imagination of multiple generations. Panelists also talked about the challenges they faced early in their careers to promote local content as partnerships with leading global brands and distributors had proved economically unviable.
Moderated by Chaitanya Chinchilkar, Vice President at Whistling Woods International, the discussion also traced the growth of the Indian Animation industry and its future roadmap.
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