'Animation India', the Annual animation & gaming industry event held by NASSCOM has been scheduled for 12-13 January 2006 in Hyderabad.

The conference line up looks holistic and is power packed, what with several Power Panel discussions lined up on topics like 'Animated Theatrical Movies' , 'Building audiences & brands in India', 'Gaming Industry in India', 'Mobile Gaming', 'Financing Animation & Gaming', 'TV Animation-India on the world map', 'Visual Special Effects' , 'Animation & gaming as a part of corporate communication & promotion', 'Future of Indian content' and 'Skilled Human Resources'

The event has also increased its international focus considerably and has a dash of global flavor to it. Amongst international speakers this year are Sony Online Entertainment Inc. VP Cindy Armstrong, Vibrant Animation President Terry Thoren, International Hobo Founder & CEO Chris Bateman, IN-FUSIO Asia VP Chris Boden, Toon Boom Animation CEO Joan Vogelsang, TIGA Experience’ Nikkan Woodhouse, Plumtrees TV Managing Director Theresa Plummer Andrew, Copenhagen Business School Chief Mark Lorenzen.

Following is the program schedule

Inaugural Session
09:00 a.m. to 09:30 a.m. Welcome by Mr. Kiran Karnik, President NASSCOM
Inaugural Address by Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, Honble Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh
Release of NASSCOM's Report on 'Animation & Gaming Industry in India'
Vote of Thanks by Mr.Saurabh Srivastava, Chairman Organizing Committee and Chairman Emeritus, NASSCOM

09:30 a.m. to 09:45 a.m. Tea / Coffee Break

Session 1
09:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. 2006 Conference Curtain Raiser Mr. Biren Ghose, CEO, Animation Bridge
NASSCOM Report on 'Animation & Gaming Industry in India'

Session 2
10:45 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. Keynote Address on 'How to build world class animation company' by Mr. Terry Thoren, CEO & President, Vibrant Animation, USA

Session 3
11:15 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Power Panel 'Animated Theatrical Movies'
Mr. A.K. Madhavan, CEO, Crest Communication Limited
Mr. Atul Rao, Vice President-Creative Affairs, Toonz Animation India
Dr. Nandish Domlur, Managing Director, Paprikaas Animation Studios
Mr. V.G. Samant, Director, Silvertoons

Session 4 A
12:00 p.m. to 12:20 p.m. Power Panel 'Building audiences & brands in India- Business Perspective'
* Mr. Anshuman Mishra, Managing Director, Cartoon Network
Ms. Hema Govindan, Country Head, Nickelodeon India
* Mr. Rajat Jain, Managing Director, Walt Disney TV International, India

Session 4 B
12:20 p.m. to 12:45 p.m. Power Panel 'Building audiences & brands in India- Creative Perspective'
Mr. Ben Richardson, Director, Creative & Content, Nickelodeon India
Mr. Nachiket Pantvaidya, Director Production & Programming, Walt Disney TV International, India
Ms. Sylvia Schmoeller, Programming & Brand Consultant, MTV Networks Asia
Ms. Zarina Mehta, Creative Director, UTV Software Communications

12:45 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Lunch

Session 5
1:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Keynote Address on 'Games Design' by Mr. Chris Bateman, Founder & CEO, International Hobo

Session 6
2:00 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. Power Panel on 'Gaming Industry in India'
Mr. Ninad Chhaya, Executive Producer, Paradox Studios
Mr. Rajesh Rao, CEO, Dhruva Interactive
Mr. Tony Garcia, CEO, FXLabs Studios
Mr. Vishal Gondal, Director, Indiagames

2:45 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. Special Talk on 'How to Build Superhit Game for India' by Ms. Cindy Armstrong, Vice President, Sony Online Entertainment Inc.

3:15 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tea / Coffee break

Session 7
3:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Keynote Address on 'How Asia leads the growth in the wireless content' by Mr. Chris Boden, Vice President, IN-FUSIO Asia

Session 8
4:00 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. Power Panel on Mobile gaming
Mr. Ashish Thomas, CSMP Lead-MSN India, Microsoft
Mr. Kaustav Ghosh, Country Manager, Mobile 365
Mr. Paul Huetz, Country Head, Gameloft
Mr. Rajiv Hiranadani, Country Head-India, Mobile2win

Session 9
4:45 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. Power Panel on 'Financing Animation & Gaming'
Ms. Cindy Armstrong, Vice President, Sony Online Entertainment Inc.
Mr. George Gilbert, Founder, Jivanta
Dr. Kumar Shiralagi, Managing Director, Intel Capital India
Mr. Rajesh Jog, Managing Director, Waygate Capital, India

7:30 p.m. onwards Gala Dinner

13 January 2006

Session 1
09:15 a.m. to 09:45 a.m. Keynote Address on 'Development strategies in children's entertainment & content: Challenges and Trends' by Ms. Theresa Plummer Andrew, Managing Director, Plumtrees TV

Session 2
09:45 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Power Panel on 'TV Animation-India on the world map'
Mr. A K Madhavan, CEO, Crest Communication
Mr. Jayakumar, CEO, Toonz Animation
Mr. Jyotirmoy Saha, General Manager-Animation & Non-Fiction, UTV Software Communication
Mr. Rajesh Turakhia, CEO, Maya Entertainment
Dr. Sudhish Rambhotla, Chairman & Managing Director, Color Chips
Mr. Tapaas Chakravarti, Managing Director, DQ Entertainment

10:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Tea / Coffee break
Session 3
11:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Keynote Address on 'Building & scaling creative industries - the IMAGINE initiative' by Mr. Mark Lorenzen, Copenhagen Business School

Session 4
11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Power Panel on 'Visual Special Effects'
Mr. Namit Malhotra, Managing Director, Prime Focus
Mr. N Madhusudhanan, Chief Creative Officer, FrameFlow India*.
Ms. Phillipa Timmins, Technical Sales Specialist, Vicon Peak
Mr. Sai Prasad, Director, Prasad EFX *

Session 5
12:15 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Special feature:
'Strategies for start ups in animation industry' by Mr.Zac Boon, Managing Partner, Maclean Watson *
'Presenting local industry in International Market - TIGA Experience' Nikkan Woodhouse, TIGA

1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Lunch

Session 6
2:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Keynote Address on 'Recommendations from a well wisher on animation & gaming' by Ms. Joan Vogelsang, President & CEO, Toon Boom Animation

Session 7
2:30 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. Power Panel on 'Animation & gaming as a part of corporate communication & promotion'
Mr. Alok Kejriwal, CEO, Contest2win.com
Mr. Mahendra Swarup, Managing Director, Indiatimes.com (Times Internet Limited)
Mr. Neeraj Roy, CEO, Hungama.com

3:15 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tea / Coffee Break

Session 8
3:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Power Panel on 'Future of Indian content'
Mr. Munjal Shroff, Director & COO, Graphiti Multimedia
Mr. Rajesh Rao, CEO, Dhruva Interactive
Mr. Rajiv C, Director, Green Gold Animation
Mr. V.C.Bhalotia, CEO, Dawsen Infotech

Session 9
4:00 p.m. to 4:20 p.m. Power Panel 'Skilled Human Resources'
Mr. Ashish Kulkarni, Anirights Infomedia Pvt. Ltd
Mr.Sanjay Mistry, Electronic Arts

4.20 p.m. to 4.40 p.m. Special Presentation on 'Hollywood vis a vis India-HR Gaps' by Mr. Manu Ittina, Managing Director, Ittina Animation Studios

Session 10
4:40 p.m. to 5:20 p.m. Guests of Honor "Key take away" moderated panel responses