Animators queing up for Anifest at the registration desks

In what was one of the most heartwarming responses in recent times, more than 200 animators from cities all over India collected for Anifest05.

The festival tagline 'of animators, for animators' seemed truly appropriate as the animators' crowd at the registration desks began to swell even as the gates to Anifest were being thrown open.

Colorful Balloons strewn atop the path to the main area added to the festive ambience and one was greeted with the 'Do Doodle Doo' doodling wall just as one got in. Add to that the caricature corner, scrap book area, the pop corn and candy floss and one instantly felt that here was a celebration.

As the evening unfurled, the TASI president Ram Mohan welcomed the audience informing them about how the idea of Anifest originated when at the last International Day celebrations animators from the audience expressed their feelings about so much of animation being spoken about but so less of animators doing the talking. "It was then that we decided that TASI and ASIFA India should come together and hold an event for animators and that's what Anifest is all about"

"We will be back with more" - Anifest organisers

Next to wield the mike was TASI spokesperson Ranjit Singh who made a bid to enthuse the crowd asking them to leave aside formalities and let loose.

Taking guard next was ASIFA India President Bill Dennis who after a short address kickstarted the panel discussion. The panelists included R&H art director Debbie Pashkoff, Abby award winner Gitanjali Rao, Technical Director and supervisor Jai Natarajan, Futurethought Art Director Neelesh Gore, NID graduate and FICCI BAF Award winner Prashant Kadkol (whose pudchya varshi laukar ya was the toast of the screenings later in the evening), Maya creative director Priyam Chaterjee, and the young Sameer kulavoor who's just completed the latest pentagram animated music video.

Moderating the panel discussion Bill rolled over some tough ones but to the panelists credit even they did not mince words.

"How big a burden is it for animators when large studios suddenly close down?" asked Bill.

Prashant Kadkol who was formerly with Jadooworks said that,"None of the management looked after us 150 people. Its been 6 months and I haven't collected my check till date"

Sharing his perspective Jai Natarajan said that "From where I see it we are in an industry thats growing and things do look to be very optimistic in India today. We should still think of ourselves as a blue collar industry. I think the time has come when we should consider things like unionising and health insurance etc. At least let's start thinking on those lines"

The panel discussion

MEL creative director Priyam Chaterjee quipped,"How comfortable and productive can a creative person be when I have to constantly think about a change of job at the back of my mind"

Debbie from R&H reassured that they faced the same problems back in the US 10-15 yrs ago."If you have to be in the industry then you have to be thick skinned. Productions will scale up and down but the bottom line is that good people and hardworking people will always have work" Futurethought's Neelesh had quite a cheerful view, "If you love animation then join the gang. I am loving it in the animation industry"

Bill's next was about whether Indian artists were desirous of working abroad or were they happy working where they were? To this Gitanjali quipped that "10 years back things were different but now they have changed. There are a lot of opportunities today and besides being artists we dont want to leave our culture and inspirations. If we cultivate a universal perspective then we can produce content that caters to a global audience from within the country "

Prashant expressed ,"I personally feel like going out and getting exposure and experience. And whatever experience and resources I would gather from abroad I would like to come back and do something in India" The young Sameer Kulavoor echoed Prashant's sentiments.

Jai Natarajan who has worked at ILM and Sony spoke from personal experience."There is no place like here." he said. "I have stopped aging since I returned here" he added.

"I certainly benefited from the experience by absorbing from the brilliant work being done around me But you will have that same kind of exposure in India within the next 5 years. I am sure Starwars 10 will be done in Goa. We will have to work incredibly hard." He continued.

The audience was interactive and on the topic of whether artists desire going abroad, quite a few from the audience quipped that with creative directors flying in from abroad helping to create production pipelines and with case studies being available on the internet(here's a link) Indian artists were not missing out much.

Priyam Chaterjee speaking on creativity

What about personal projects? asked Bill...
MEL's Priyam shared,"There is a rift between managing money and staying creative at the same time. Today if I were to walk out and face the industry looking for funding, I am sure that I would have to go through hell"

Debbie again pointed out that "This was something similar we faced in the US 10-15 yrs ago. Back then a lot of the artists worked with the studios and used the studio resources at night for pursuing their personal projects. I am sure there are a lot of studios out here which would be willing to share their resources in the same manner"

The optimistic Prashant stated,"Its not only production studios but also organisations like ASIFA and TASI that should start funding such films"

The audience response to this topic was uniform and they all felt that there was need of a strong body to unionize animation and also finance such films.

If you could ask your employee to give you one thing that would enhance your productivity and satisfaction what would it be? asked Bill

The panelists had similar views on this, and the majority voted for More Time, Better Stories to work on and of course ... better money.

Jai Natrajan also opined that,"While we make our wishlists it would do us better if we did our home work. We all have our dream concepts and projects and while they are still just in our minds lets at least start using paper and pen and get started, sometimes there's going to be PC's free at the studio, sometimes the renderfarm might be free, lets at least put in our efforts"

2D foundation. Is it needed?

A glowing evening - Anifest 05

"I can't draw at all, however I belive that if you can observe well, you can animate" quipped Jai. Maya's Priyam opined I dont think you need to have any formal training at all for any art form and animation is an art form" Debbie however stressed on the benefits of a strong training.

Veering from the topic of 2D Jai pointed out that,'The biggest challenge that Indian studios will face in the coming years is that of retaining core talent. Salaries are one part of the solution, the other is extra facilities such as access to resources and training that would help improve skills, A good canteen, and also the chance (after 2-3 yrs of deicated service) of making my own short film"

The discussion over, next up was the screening. More than 35 entries had been sent in for Anifest and the AIFA India and TASI members had selected the best 45 minutes for screening. The screening recieved an enthusiastic response from the crowd and one film that had the crowd on its feet was Prashant Kadkol's Pudchya Varshi Lavkar yaa.... which was truly amazing. A technical glitch however interrupted the screening and Ranjit Singh utilised that gap with the JAM sessions where the audience took turns about speaking 60 seconds on what they felt about animation.

Quite a few from the audience put in a strong demand for an online community (We at Animation 'xpress have taken note... and shortly are going to announce our dream project that will enable artists from all over to collaborate and communicate in an easy hassle free manner)

JAM sessions - The audience gets heard

Bhavika from R&H INDIA said that "I think drawing is a very important aspect of animation and even though I am from the texturing and technical team, I think drawing helps one understand details and that is very important."

Veterans Bhimsen Khurana and Bill Dennis stressed on the need for passion to stay in animation. "I personally feel that motivation is one and passion is another thing. Motivation naturally comes from money and the work which you do for bread and all the good things in life, but passion is that which can go without money also and passion is to be observed in ourselves and which we should keep alive. If we do everything that we do with passion, it would being results" said the senior Khurana.

Bill echoed Khurana's sentiments saying "If you do not have the passion, you shouldn't be in this business. If you are here to be wealthy, then remember that there are no wealthy animators or the wealthy ones can be counted on fingers, but there are a lot of satisfied animators and thats the point."

Jagdish from Pune based Thumbnail studio and 2D institute made a very valid and important point. He lamented ,"There are very few experienced faculty available to institutes. I request the ASIFA & TASI members and the industry in general to come forth and contribute their time and expertise either on a consultancy basis or as a visiting faculty. This will help us improve the quality of our training."

Rock n roll with Reckless

After the serious discussion and the screenings and JAM session, it was time to get Reckless. Led by senior animator Suhel who was also the lead singer, Reckless was undoubtedly the highlight of Anifest, that which really made the crowd go wild with joy.

The rock n roll band had the entire audience mass migrate to the Concord Rooms and did they have a good time? That also springs up a thought.... probably Rock n roll truly inspires art. To add to the evening's frenzy were Biren Ghose who proved that whether it be making presentations or singing rock n roll, he was equally at home with both and the microphone his tool and the stage his dome. Veteran Bhimsen Khurana in a golden moment came on stage and rendered a melodious soulful number from his 1976 superhit production Gharonda. The crowd swayed and sashayed to this different track.

Lady luck smiles on R&H India's Mike

As the evening glowed and the drinks flowed... yet another high point was to come. The lucky draw. With prizes from Toonboom, Rahul Commerce, Softimage and Animation 'xpress. Winners included Mike and Mehul from R&H India and Aman from Maya.

T'was past 1.30 and the evening showed no signs of fading.... however as with all good things.. Anifest too came to an end. But not for long, the organisers promised to come back with more events like these and better.

Anifest 05 was organised by TASI & ASIFA India in association with Indiantelevision.com's Animation 'xpress. The sponsors for the show included Rhythm & Hues India, Maya Entertainment Limited, Rahul Commerce, Toonboom Studios, Studio Systems, Animation Magazine, Workstation and Softimage. The art and design courtesy wasindia.com.