Trivandrum: From creating edutainment content for older age groups to developing DIY, cooking and other hobby-based shows, kids’ entertainment industry leaders discussed a host of innovative strategies for content development at the five-day Animation Masters Summit 2020 that concluded here on Friday.
The virtual Summit hosted by Toonz Media Group began on Monday, July 20 by paying tribute to late animation master Arnab Chaudhuri, who was posthumously awarded the Legend of Indian Animation Award. Toonz Media Group CEO P. Jayakumar, Anuradha Aggarwal – Head of Infotainment and Kids cluster at Disney-Star India, and Biren Ghosh – Country Head of Technicolour were present at the inaugural session. Arnab Chaudhuri’s wife Ashima Chaudhuri and his brother Sudeep Chaudhuri accepted the Award on behalf of the late master at the inaugural session.
As many as 1800 attendees registered for the virtual Summit from around the world. The content remained the center of focus at the event, which included two-panel discussions and six master sessions by renowned artists from diverse fields of entertainment. The masters in this edition included:
Writer, Story Artist and Animation Director Cinzia Angelini (Despicable Me 3, The Grinch, Abominable, Spider-man 2 and Prince of Egypt, etc), who spoke about the techniques of story-boarding and the secrets of making the perfect movie pitch with simple sketches.
ACE Eddie Award-winning animation editor Fabienne Rawley (Zootopia, Monster House, Ralph Breaks the Internet, etc) shared her experience of editing the super hit animation projects she had worked on.
Quentin Staes-Polet, Gaming expert and General Manager (India & South East Asia) of Epic Gamesdelved on the latest technology that is used to create the surreal world of gaming.
Renowned Indian cinematographer Ravi K Chandran ISC (Virasat, DilChahta Hai, BlackKannathilMuthamittal) detailed about the stark technological changes that the field of cinematography witnessed in the last two decades. He also shared inside stories about some of the biggest Indian movies that he has worked on.
National Award-winning music composer Shantanu Moitra (Parineeta, Hazaaron Lage Raho Munnabhai and 3 Idiots) spoke about why creators need to invest into themselves and tap into their souls to come up with their best, as creative arts can have an unimaginable impact on the audience.
Academy Award-winning character animator Sajan Skaria (Inside Out, Finding Nemo, Wall-E, Cars, and Ratatouille) emphasized on how art and science intersect in his line of work and how physics and geometry are as equally important for a character supervisor as sketching.
The panel discussions at the Summit included industry stalwarts who deliberated on key business and artistic challenges faced by the entertainment industry in the post-pandemic scenario.
The first-panel discussion, organized in association with Animation Magazine, was around the topic ‘Creating Relevant Toons in Turbulent Times’. Panelists included Animator, Screenwriter, Producer & Voice Actor Carl Harvey Greenblatt; Oscar-nominated and BAFTA-winning producer Jinko Gotoh; director, writer, character designer, and voice actor Jorge R. Gutiérrez; an Emmy-nominated executive producer Sascha Paladino and Editor-in-Chief of Animation Magazine Ramin Zahed.
The second panel delved into how the kids’ entertainment industry should innovate and sustain in a post-pandemic scenario. It was moderated by Ashish Kulkarni, Chairman of FICCI for Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics Forum. The panelists included Anu Sikka, Head of Content – Kids Entertainment Cluster, Viacom 18; Don Anderson – Head of Family and Learning Partnership, YouTube APAC region; Sujoy Roy Bardhan – Head of Marketing and OAP at Sony Yay!; and Uttam Pal Singh – Head – Discovery Kids, Discovery Communications India.
Animation Masters Summit 2020–Digital concluded today with the festival director Hiranmayi Narayanan offering felicitation to the masters, speakers, partners, and audience who made the event a grand success.
