News Hub for Indian Animation VFX Comics Gaming Merchandising Applications Ecosystem
The Ann Awards 2024 brought together the entire Indian animation industry for a spectacular celebration of artistry, innovation, and peer recognition, ending on a high note.
The fifth edition of the Animation & More (AM) Summit, held on 3 and 4 September 2024 at NESCO, Mumbai, culminated in a grand gala with the prestigious Ann Awards on the second day of the conference. The event honoured excellence in animation, shining a spotlight on the brilliant creative minds shaping the industry.
As India’s premier animation awards, the Ann Awards continues to raise the bar, serving as a vital platform for recognising outstanding talent and elevating the animation industry.
Click here for images of Ann Awards 2024
AnimationXpress had instituted two special “In Memoriam” awards to pay tribute to the industry stalwarts. The first is the Ram Mohan Award for Excellence in Animation, introduced in 2022, in collaboration with Graphiti Multimedia, to honour the late Padma Shri Ram Mohan, widely regarded as the father of Indian animation. The second, the Arnab Chaudhuri Director’s Award, was introduced in 2021 to commemorate the late Arnab Chaudhuri, a visionary who placed Indian animation on the global map.
Continuing the tradition, like previous editions, this year, Graphiti Multimedia COO & co-founder Munjal Shroff, AVGC-XR Forum – FICCI chairman & Punnaryug Artvision Ashish Kulkarni and AnimationXpress founder, chairman & editor-in-chief Anil NM Wanvari felicitated Nina Sabnani with Ram Mohan Award For Excellence for her significant contributions to the Indian animation industry.
The Arnab Chaudhuri Director’s Awards has two subcategories – the first one was ‘The Arnab Chaudhuri Animation ACE Award’ for directors and professionals who are making their mark with their brilliant boundary-pushing work that has its own unique creative voice. The winner of this category was Shaheen Sheriff who received a cash prize of Rs 50,000 jointly contributed by Ashima Avasthi, Vaibhav Kumaresh, and Animation Xpress. Along with the cash prize, he also got the licence of TVPaint Animation 12 Professional which is worth 1.5 lakh rupees.
In the second category “The Arnab Chaudhuri Young Ace Award,” Kartik Mahajan emerged as the winner. Mahajan is a recent graduate of the National Institute of Design, Madhya Pradesh (NID MP). He was awarded a cash prize of Rs 30,000 along with a tablet from Huion.
Here’s the complete list of the nominees and the winners of Ann Awards 2024:
Best Animated Digital Series – 2D
Best Animated Digital Series – 3D
Best Use of Animation in a Music Video
Best 3D Content Acquired
Pre-School
Best Animated Short Film
Best Animated Full-Length Feature Film
Best Licensed Animated Series Programme
Best Use of Leveraging a Character for Brand Marketing
Best Animated Character Merchandise
Best Animated Series Merchandise
Best Digital Campaign for an Animated Series
Best Channel Packaging
Best Brand Collaboration
Best Experiential Marketing
Best Innovative Campaign
Best Promo
Best Use of Animated Character in a Brand TVC
Best Animated Brand Film
Best 2D Animated Series
Best 3D Animated Series
Best Preschool Show
Best Live Action Kids
Best Animated Full-length Feature Film
Best Reel with the use of Animation
Best Social Media presence by an Animation platform/ studio
Best social media content – Animated
Best Student 2D film
Best Student 3D Film
Best Software used in animation
Best use of AI
For the first time, AnimationXpress and Women in Cloud introduced the ICONS Award for “Outstanding achievement in animation by a woman.” With Icons Awards, AnimationXpress and Women in Cloud aim to recognise and honour the achievements of women in animation, celebrating their creativity, leadership, and impact in the industry.
Best Title Song
Best Preschool show
Best Character Design
Best Animated Digital Series
Best animated series
Best animated TVC
Best Animated Full length Feature Film
Best Storyboard artist
Best Concept artist
Best Lightning artist
Best Producer
Best Art director
Best Animator – Male
Best Animator – Female
Best Partnered Animation Work
Best Screenplay writer
Best Dialogue writer
Best Production Coordinator
Best Modeller
Best Music Composer
Best Background designer (Pre-production)
Best Director of an animated film
Best use of animation in a public service message
Best Syndicated Content
India’s most loved animated character
Popular Character (Global)
Best Indian cinema-inspired animated IP
Best Showrunner
Young Animator of the Year
Personality of the year
Contribution to the Animation industry
Best Indie Studio
Studio of the Year
The AM Summit and Ann Awards 2024 proudly partnered with AMD as the knowledge partner and were co-powered by Hungama, 88 Pictures, and ElevenLabs. Maxon served as the networking partner, while the associate partners included Autodesk and Zebu Animation Studios. PowerKids Entertainment was the lanyard and badges partner. The event was further supported by country partners JETRO and MDEC, along with Kerala IT and the Centre for Development of Imaging Technology (CDIT) as the state partners.
Industry partners included Huion, Micro Star International (MSI), Reliance Animation, Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah Rhymes, Wackytoon Studio, Women in Cloud, TVPaint, Tron School of Animation, and XP-Pen. Bright Outdoor Media served as the outdoor partner, with Asifa India as the community partner, MESC (Media and Entertainment Skills Council) as the skill partner, and DigiCon6 Asia as the festival partner. The event execution was handled by ITV 2.0.
