Eduspark Summit 2022 Archives -

EduSpark Summit 2022: Experts talk about how AVGC industry is making best use of online learning

The first day of the EduSpark Summit witnessed the panel discussion on ‘AVGC making best use of online learning’, where the speakers highlighted various points on how online learning brought revolution in the field of AVGC education, and virtual education made it possible to reach diverse students with good quality teachers.

The eminent speakers included Aptech president and executive director Dr. Anuj Kacker, Ri8brain (Part of Toonz Academy) founder and CEO P.Jayakumar, Pearl Edge academic director CB Arun Kumar, UtSide co-founder and managing director Puneet Sharma, Safalta chief revenue officer Shajan Samuel and was moderated by AnimationXpress founder, chairman and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari.

Kickstarting the discussion, Kacker shared how during pandemic people were forced to adopt the online session. He shared, “The online learning concept was not new, it had its limitations and had a very specific target focus, but the pandemic had broadened the system and people were forced to adapt to online learning. We have more than 800 centers located in more than 30 countries. All these centers use technology to deliver the learning process. For example all our books are available in augmented reality and are dispensed in pdf formats. Learning by visualisation is very effective and today augmented reality paves way for the students to enhance their learning.”

He also added how the online revolution made the recruiting process very simple. Aptech has a platform named Creosouls where the students can upload their works, and it can be accessed by the recruiters. It is very beneficial for the students to benchmark their work and gives them an opportunity to compare with other students from similar backgrounds. Aptech consists of about 30,000 to 40,000 students and more than three lakh work is listed on the portal.

Jayakumar talked about the skill gap in the industry and also about how Toonz ventured into online education to reach a diverse group of students. He said, “We have more than two decades of experience in offline training, and we have tried to expand this model and switched to franchise but we are not happy with the outcome because of the quality. The major problem we faced in physical training is lack of skilled trainers. But when the pandemic occurred, as a studio we worked remotely and delivered our projects timely. So if working remotely is possible then delivery of education is also possible. This made us expand our venture and reach students with good quality teachers.”

He also mentioned how the online learning technology has raised the standard of AVGC education by connecting students to highly skilled industry professionals and trainers. There are numerous seminars, webinars, and master classes happening, which gives the flexibility to students to attend it from any corner of the world.

The panelists also highlighted that certain courses need face-to-face interaction and physical training which cannot be replaced by online training anytime.

Highlighting the success of Safalta, Samuel shared, “Safalta has started as a brick and mortar training program, but we quickly pivoted to online during April 2020, during covid. We have three segments: test prep, academics and skills. We have started skills training in graphic design, digital marketing and more. Our programs are economically priced and we cater to the bottom of the pyramid. We conduct 100 per cent live interactive classes and not self paced learning. And the students have lifetime access to the course content.”

Safalta aims to harness the existing talent and bridge the employability gap through affordable and accessible education and it is available in Hindi to cater to the vernacular crowd.

The speakers also mentioned how the industry is switching to the hybrid model, and the challenges faced in online training. Kumar said, “Online learning enables us to reach more students with really few quality skilled teachers. Online learning clearly depends on the courses which students prefer to learn. Fundamental courses, designing and creative courses can be learnt online, but courses like virtual production needs hands-on training, so it can’t be delivered online. EDGE provides bootcamp courses on basics of Unreal Engine which can be learnt online, but production needs physical training.”

On asking if metaverse is the next step in online training, he shared, “We are now training students how to design the metaverse, but teaching in metaverse is something different. If it happens then it will bring revolution in the education system.”

Adding to what Kumar said, Sharma added, “If metaverse is the future of online education, and if it adds value to the whole education system and if the quality of education raises then we definitely welcome such a move. I think any revolution that brings a positive change to the system should be welcomed by all.”

Further talking about UtSide, Sharma said, “We are catering to the very exclusive segment as of now, we need more professionals who are passionate about training. In the coming years the major challenge we will face is skill gap, so we are looking for many studio partners and professionals who can mentor the coming generations.”

Overall the session highlighted the challenges and possibilities of online learning in the AVGC education sector.

EduSpark Summit 2022: Day 2 saw expert professionals and young leaders discuss AVGC industry nitty-gritties with respect to metaverse, gaming, education, and hiring

The first edition EduSpark Summit organised by AnimationXpress witnessed some amazing panel discussions on the second day of the two-day virtual sessions. On 14 May, schools, universities and presenters from AVGC studios will gather at The Lalit, Mumbai for the on-ground version of the summit.

Get yourself registered for the on-ground event here: https://www.animationxpress.com/events/eduspark2022/event-platform/registration.php

Leading animation filmmakers, Metaverse experts, hiring experts and young talents who made it big in the industry enlightened the audience on day two of the summit.

The event raised its curtains with the first session titled as the ‘Balancing Art and Commerce’. This session mainly focused on how to choose projects which will benefit commercially without compromising on the artistry/creativity of the studio. The speakers spoke about the importance of being driven, enthusiastic and passionate about their creativity which will eventually lead to commercial success.

The panel included Vaibhav More Films founder Vaibhav More, 88 Pictures co-founder & chief operating officer Aby John, Studio Eeksaurus founder E Suresh, Paperboat Design Studios Pvt. Ltd co-founder Soumitra Ranade and Vaibhav Studios director Vaibhav Kumaresh. The session was moderated by Abhijeet Kini Studios founder Abhijeet Kini.

The panellists laid emphasis on the need for artists to be excited about their work, nurture their creativity and learn how to make themselves visible in this era.

The next session was on ‘Growing need for gaming, esports and metaverse learning/course‘. The eminent speakers of the panel were Boolien NFT behavioral designer Simran Bahal, Gamitronics founder Rajat Ojha, Whistling Woods International vice president and business head, CTO and head of emerging media Chaitanya Chinchlikar, GuardianLink Analyst – Office at CEO Tanmay Kanth and the session was moderated by AnimationXpress founder, chairman and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari.

The panelist shared how metaverse will completely shift the entire landscape and how the value of NFT can shift with the community preference. The worth of NFT which is in millions today can be double digit too going forward. Lot of awareness and knowledge is required around NFT and Metaverse.

The basic understanding of Metaverse and Web3 should be there so that users could understand whether they are interested in pursuing the metaverse as a career or not. The institutes should be open for the students to select their topics that they want to have in their curriculum so that they can choose the future direction that they want to opt for.

Day two of the Eduspark Summit included a bunch of interesting panel discussions. One of them targeted at ‘understanding the hiring process at the AVGC studios’, which saw HR professionals from various fields spanning across the AVGC sectors share insights into what it takes to be hired!

The HRs from the well-known studios also shed light on how challenging hiring the right candidate for the right position is. They went in-depth in discussing the required skill sets they look for before fixing on a potential candidate. The prolific speakers were: HR professional Aditya Pillai, Famulus Media & Entertainment HR manager Geeta Khatwani, ACK group art director Savio Mascarenhas, Technicolor Creative Studios talent acquisition manager Ashok Rajavel, Gamitronics operations manager Astha, and Games 24×7, VP U-Games Avin Sharma. The session was moderated by AnimationXpress founder, chairman, and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari.

Every speaker on the panel could not stress enough on the fact that being a team player goes a long way in ensuring a potential employee’s longevity within the same organisation. Collaboration within a group can help solve difficult problems. Brainstorming is a good opportunity for the team to exchange ideas and come up with creative ways of doing things. By working together, teams can find the solutions that work best.

Despite being bright, sometimes fresh graduates lack vision and are less patient. The sense of entitlement and disconnect with reality makes them set unrealistic goals. HR experts recommend that they should invest more time in making themselves better suited to the dynamic world. Undeniably, over the past couple of years, the number of skilled talents are increasing but there’s still a need for a lot more talent.

The day two of the EduSpark Summit concluded with an engaging panel discussion titled ‘The Young Leaders’, where the young creative minds shared about their creative journey and how they are going to pursue their career in AVGC industry.

The panel included young and enthusiastic speakers like GamerGage Studio LLP founder and CEO Kushal Baid, Agarthian Games co-founder, leader, developer, designer, director Saksham Dwivedi, Thrissur government college of fine arts student and freelance animator Deepak Kumar EP, Podar International School (IBDP) student Armaan DadyBurjor and the session was moderated by Toon Club founder Tehzeeb Khurana.

The creative minds shared about their love for creative arts and how they started their content creation journey from their childhood. They also highlighted the lack of facilities and courses for digital arts, animation and game creation in India.

The session threw light about the work being produced in India; be it games, animated content, comic books or VFX and how they are inspiring the young minds in pursuing their career in AVGC industry. The panellists shared their work experience while creating the games and animated contents and how they became self taught gamers and creators.

~ See you on ground on 14 May and do wait for EduSpark Summit’s second edition!

EduSpark Summit 2022: Understanding the hiring process at the AVGC studios; here it is from the best in business

Day two of the EduSpark Summit included a bunch of interesting panel discussions. One of them targeted at ‘understanding the hiring process at the AVGC studios’, which saw HR professionals from various fields spanning across the AVGC sector share insights into what it takes to be hired!

The HRs from the well-known brands and studios also shed light on how challenging hiring the right candidate for the right position is. They went in-depth in discussing the required skill sets they look for before fixing on a potential candidate. The prolific speakers were: HR professional Aditya Pillai, Famulus Media & Entertainment HR manager Geeta Khatwani, ACK group art director Savio Mascarenhas, Technicolor Creative Studios talent acquisition manager Ashok Rajavel, Gamitronics operations manager Astha, and Games 24×7, VP, U-Games Avin Sharma. The session was moderated by AnimationXpress founder, chairman, and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari.

Kickstarting the discussion, Khatwani shared what her company looks for when hiring. She said, “When I am hiring new talent, the first thing I look into is the work portfolio; the hardwork a student has already put in before applying for a studio, the knowledge-base of the software, and the hunger to learn.” Unlike education, life is not compartmentalised into classes, subjects, exams, and ranks. Candidates must be prepared that it is not just one exam but an ongoing performance at a functional and team level that matters.

Collaboration within a group can help solve difficult problems. Brainstorming is a good opportunity for the team to exchange ideas and come up with creative ways of doing things. By working together, teams can find the solutions that work best. Commenting on this, Sharma added, “Skilled proficiencies is the foremost quality that we look at while hiring. But we don’t stop there, because we need a team that works well together. In the end, we bet on people.”

Technicolor Creative Studios cater to multiple sectors. Being leaders in three industry sectors: VFX and creative services, broadband and TV video solutions, and packaged media, Rajavel shared from his personal experience, “We look for different qualities and a multiple variety of skill sets since we work for different business units like VFX, gaming, cartoons, and CG. But most importantly, we look for candidates who really want to learn and grow in their careers.” Continuing from there, Mascarenhas, whose company ACK has been a veteran and pioneer in the comics domain, added, “Comics is a completely different medium. So while hiring, the drawing skills are the most important factor. Which school a particular candidate has graduated from does not matter, what matters is the portfolio.”

It goes without saying that different roles require different skill sets. While being a jack of all trades works in most professions, some niche jobs require very specific skills and it is only apt to choose the potential candidate who matches the exact criteria. Voicing her thoughts on the same, Astha said, “For hiring artists, we see a person’s attention to details and their ability to adapt and for hiring programmers, we look for fundamentals as the basics should be right.” She also asserted that in the present day situation, it is quite essential to make your presence felt. Sharing some tips on the same, Astha continued, “As an aspirant, you must make yourself visible on social media, be active on blogs, create your portfolio, and share your showreel.” Well, you have to be visible in order to get observed and absorbed; and we are not denying it!

Employees can add tremendous value by impacting the bottom line and by striving to be an irreplaceable spoke in the wheel of an organisation’s success. Pillai shared the key to sustain. He commented, “In this industry, the patience level is important, so is the thought process; it has to be on point. Apart from this, he/she has to be a good team player, that plays a major role.” Every speaker on the panel could not stress enough on the fact that being a team player goes a long way in ensuring a potential employee’s longevity within the same organisation.

EduSpark Summit 2022: ‘Balancing Art and Commerce’ panelists believe enthusiasm and skill will bring in money

On its second day, EduSpark Summit witnessed an enriching panel discussion touching upon various aspects of the commercial viability of creative content. The panel elaborated upon the need to train the artists first, lay the foundation and give importance to the creativity which will automatically help them earn good money. One should also master the game of delivering for the audience.

The main aim of the ‘Balancing Art and Commerce’ was to throw light on how the creative artists need to ensure their creativity amidst updating themselves with the ever-changing technology and learning new types of software and understanding how to make content creation commercially viable.

The panel included Vaibhav More Films founder Vaibhav More, 88 Pictures co-founder, chief operating officer Aby John, Studio Eeksaurus founder E Suresh, Paperboat Design Studios co-founder Soumitra Ranade and Vaibhav Studios director Vaibhav Kumaresh. The session was moderated by Abhijeet Kini Studios founder Abhijeet Kini.

National Film Award winning animation filmmaker E Suresh stresses on the fact that while at the institute one should focus on learning, experimenting and failing before coming to the industry as at work, failure can cost one’s job.

“The only place where one can explore, experiment and fail is the institute,” E Suresh said.

Recalling his days at the National Institute of Design (NID) he pointed out how getting exposed to multiple things like furniture and textile design helped in giving a rich exposure to the students. He is in favour of a holistic approach, giving an overview of everything and then getting to the specificity of work. The doyen in this field suggests being a generalist first and then being specialist by choice and skill later on.

Taking ahead from here Ranade pointed out that there are two kinds of institutes catering to AVGC industry, one being similar to NID and IDC School of Design while others in the category of Aptech and MAAC. According to him, NID and IDC train students to become directors while MAAC and Arena provide the other majority of the workforce.

“I think both these kinds of education have certain kinds of gaps which need to be filled up,” said Ranade, known for his work Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyun Aata Hai.

Touching upon the point that students coming out from these institutes are not industry-ready, John said, “I think the market and ecosystem needs to foster a learning curve where each of the studios create an environment where they are able to work on different kinds of projects.”

Even he feels that starting as a generalist; the students should be passionate about filmmaking and not just consider it as a job. John whose studio caters to giants like Warner Bros, Netflix appreciates the Indian talent pool and also the kind of projects that are coming to India in terms of visual effects and animation.

Talking about the current situation in the creative industry, More said, “I think there is a lack of enthusiasm on the teaching side and also on the learning side.” He points out that the students have so many options these days; YouTube can teach so many things starting from Gayatri mantra to animation. More mentions that he himself is still in the process of learning.

He also seconded Ranade’s view on the existing gap in education and that there is no benchmark in the selection of faculty members in vocational institutes.

More also spoke about how software has become a part of the ecosystem and is a necessary tool. Clients no longer want to see work on paper, or acetate sheets and they will want digital clay animation instead of actual clay animation.

E Suresh rightly pointed out that wherever a student is coming from be it a design school or training institutes; he or she should have some artistic inclination.

“I think aptitude has an important part (in ensuring creativity). Aptitude has always been one of the main driving points,” Kini pointed out during the discussion at EduSpark Summit.

Talking about maintaining balance while choosing quality projects and making money, More pointed out that he avoids taking projects simply to make money as it can be a downward spiral for the studio. He encourages his team to keep researching, find out new things and explore more new technology.

Asked about tips and tricks on blending artistic skills, technology and commerce, Ranade said, “There are no tricks. It is all about the balance.” He feels that the studio is responsible for the workforce for which money is required. He says that since the studio is able to self sustain, they also get to work on creative projects like Goopi Gawaiya Bagha Bajaiya.

“Animation is not an individual play, it’s a team play. It’s like hundreds of artists coming together and specialising disciplines and trying to make sure that all these mesh together. I believe if you do cutting-edge work, money will flow. If you just focus on the craft and core skill, money is just a by-product of that,” John said.

Suresh who has been running Famous House of Animation since 1998 believes in pushing beyond the scope. The creative ethos in the environment where he leads has always been to push and come up with something better. They take niche work while taking care of the sustainability of the studio.

“For me the fun thing is a story. I am the storyteller. For me, it is very important. Working with multiple storytellers in the studio is so much fun. We try to facilitate that. I personally feel if a story excites me, it should excite a larger audience,” Kumaresh said.

He feels one should truthfully nurture their story, but if one cannot sell it, there is something missing.

In this context, the panellists agree that some knowledge of production management will be helpful for the artists. The doyens of the industry who lead amazing studios do depend on freelancers depending on the need of the project. Most of them stress on the need for artists to be excited about their work, nurture their creativity and learn how to make themselves visible in this era.

EduSpark Summit 2022: National Education Policy a welcome change to help re-write curriculum for new-age learning

The three day EduSpark Summit’s first panel discussion was called re-writing curriculum for new-age learning. The eminent speakers were: Atlas SkillTech University dean – Atlas School of Film and Animation Jitendra Arora, NID Andhra Pradesh director prof Sekhar Mukherjee, Jagran Lakecity University dean of journalism and creative studies Diwakar Shukla, Vishwakarma University vice-chancellor Siddharth Jabade, and phantomFX CEO, MD and VFX supervisor Bejoy Arputharaj. The session was moderated by business partner- Arena Animation, Geeta bhawan, Indore, Asifa India Core Committee Member, and Horizon Institute of Design founder Sanjay Khimesara.

The session shared insights on how new institutes are setting up with the rising demand of AVGC content; as well as how it has opened opportunities for students to pursue as a career option. Kickstarting the discussion, Arora shared his thoughts about the National Education Policy. He said, “NEP is a welcome change. One of the biggest contributions of NEP is that it stresses on multi-disciplinarity. Multi-disciplinarity is something that has been encouraged by premier institutions like the NIDs and the IITs. When the government stresses on it, it almost becomes a mandate.” Well, the introduction of such mandates has definitely been a boon for the AVGC and the education sector!

The session also discussed that since the AVGC niche is comparatively new and slightly offbeat when compared to the conventional career options, there is a shortage of well-trained teachers. Mukherjee added, “The crisis of good educators and trainers is quite evident. What makes a teacher good is that they first have to practice and then be participatory with the students. Working together to produce something good is important.” Surely, there is a growing demand for skilled professionals in the sector.

Jabade’s Vishwakarma University is setting the right example of how to lead the way. Ensuring that the students get holistic training instead of only aiming to get a job after the course completion is wrong on multiple fronts. He asserted, “We prepare students for life and livelihood and ‘placement’ is a part of it. If you ask me how a candidate is selected for a job, I would say the most important thing to have is the right mindset and the right attitude.” They focus on strengthening academic practices in terms of curriculum, pedagogy, assessment and faculty competence.

The incredible growth of the AVGC sector in the last few years has thrown up massive opportunities as new sources of value have been unlocked in the AVGC Industry. But, it also poses a major challenge in terms of the existing skill-gap in this sector that could potentially blunt its growth over the next five years. The solution to this looming skill-gap crisis is to provide students with focused short-term creative technology courses of an international standard. This will ensure world-class training can be imparted quickly to fresh students and existing manpower can be upskilled to tackle the new challenges faced by the AVGC industry like the advent of virtual production or the development of the metaverse. Commenting on this, Arputharaj added, “We are running out of skilled talents and the talent availability in India is very low. The reason behind this is lack of awareness among students. Awareness about the AVGC industry should start from the school stage itself and go on to the colleges.”

Considering the present day situation, it is crucial for media professionals to be all-rounders or atleast have an interest in fields beyond their niche. Reinstating the thought, Shukla added, “It is very important for any media professional to be connected to different disciplines; not just for their career but also for intellectual perspective. Media professionals require all kinds of skills in either teaching, practising, or learning.”

Lack of quality education being imparted to professionals is leading to lack of trained manpower for outsourcing work. Lack of standardised and quality curriculum also poses a big challenge to this industry. There are only a handful of institutes which are known for quality teaching. Thus, the curriculum needs to be of international standard to ensure that world-class training is being imparted and well-trained manpower is being produced.

Keeping in view this analysis, industry experts have been setting up Centre of Excellence, which will augment the supply of graduates in the AVGC sector.

Eduspark Summit: Educators from specialized creative institutions talk about the sector’s scope and opportunities

The first edition of EduSpark Summit: Freeing the Education Genie, by AnimationXpress.com brought together industry leaders, veteran educators and other stakeholders from the edu-tech ecosystem. The speakers of the ‘Growth of Creative Arts, Media, AVGC-XR and Entertainment career pathways through specialized Institutions’ panel highlighted creativity, convergence, practice, audience sensitivity, revenue sensitivity, technology proficiency, blended learning and project-based learning. They jointly spoke about the awareness that is required to understand the scopes and opportunities in this sector.

The panel discussion mainly tried to highlight how specialized education institutions have been measuring up to the changing situations and coped up post-pandemic, how realistic is the training, how employability is being focused on and much more.

The esteemed speakers included managing director Ramesh Sippy Academy of Cinema and Entertainment (RSACE) and director Ramesh Sippy Entertainment Pvt Ltd Kiran Sippy, Whistling Woods International vice president & business head, CTO & head of emerging media Chaitanya Chinchlikar, MIT Design HOD animation Binoj John and SRFTI HOD animation cinema A S Krishna Swamy. The session was moderated by Global Media Education Council secretary and Daffodil International University, Dhaka strategic adviser & professor Prof Ujjwal K Chowdhury.

Churning out from his elaborate research, Chowdhury pointed out that the AVGC segment of entertainment has been around two billion dollars before the pandemic, which is now close to three and a half billion dollars and will be crossing four billion dollars in 2023. The growth of the sector being phenomenal despite economic hardships is something that excited the panelists.

“Boston Consulting Group says Indian AVGC is almost nine to 10 per cent of the global AVGC market and the potential is to grow beyond 20 per cent and upto 25 per cent by 2025,” Chowdhury said. Based on his own research, he shared that Indian AVGC has hired 50,000 new recruits during the pandemic phase.

He also pointed out that there is a serious resource crunch in talent availability.

“We really need to bring awareness, that there is a lot of work available in AVGC sector. The parents need to be aware of the available job opportunities,” Sippy mentioned during the Eduspark Summit.

According to her, it is still new for the parents to understand the industry. When a child joins these specialized courses he or she is very raw and they just know about visual effects and animation. But they need to know about the entire industry. In Ramesh Sippy Academy of Cinema and Entertainment, they do interviews and counselling to find out their true calling as they don’t want the student to waste years. They are taught about being job-ready and how they can use their creativity to become good filmmakers.

“There is so much need for talents that we can double our intake and still be running short,” she said.

Asked about how are the institutes looking at creating talents in this domain keeping in mind the changes that have been taking place, Swamy who heads the animation department at SRFTI said, “Our institution, unlike the other institutions, produces more filmmakers and our course of education itself is to create filmmakers rather that animators for the industry. We want people who are well versed in all the aspects of filmmaking.”

They try to find people who can be good content creators for the industry. Animation is a new subject for SRFTI and so far two batches have convocated. Even before they completed their course they were hired by companies in Mumbai.

The module at RSACE also trains students to think creatively and become filmmakers rather than just technicians. They learn every aspect of filmmaking while at the institute. When they start practicing different types of software, learn VFX, animation and other things, they actually learn where their talent and interest lie.

As for Binoj John, he said that he doesn’t like the term “industry-ready curriculum”. He prefers calling it “future-ready”, as the future is unpredictable. MIT Design had also started its animation curriculum on similar lines as SRFTI and they have understood the current trend.

“Indian curriculums are mostly rigid and structured. But today children are exposed to social media and whatnot. Considering that, we need to make our universities future-ready,” he said.

John appreciated the new guidelines of UGC which allows institutes offering online classes to source around 40 per cent of course content externally. This allows students to learn from international faculty. MIT Design will take a lead in providing a flexible curriculum to the stakeholders. His inputs made Chowdhury point out the importance of blended learning with hands-on training as well online methodologies.

Asked what WWI is doing differently for the AVGC education, Chinchlikar who is a veteran in the AVGC industry said, “If you look at the 16-year journey of WWI, three years before that when we were planning our academics we started off approaching animation as another tool pipeline for audio-visual narrative storytelling. So you have live-action and animation, just the tools are different.

Just like you have skill-set development in a live-action film, we have a similar skillset developing in animation, whether it is lighting, production design, etc.”

He pointed out that everyone must start talking about gaming as well. If one looks at the US gaming market, it is larger than Hollywood, the American television and music industry put together. Indian gaming industry also has a similar kind of potential.

He said that in order to understand the multidisciplinary aspect of gaming, it is important to borrow from the field of cognitive science. We are an industry that sells to the mind, hence need to know about it.

Moving further during the discussion of Eduspark Summit 2022, Chinchlikar said that pre-visualisation is a huge area of expertise and there are plenty of opportunities in India and the world. Looking at the evolution of the AVGC industry in India, he feels that the task force that has been set up should have been set up 10 years ago.

Dwelling upon the quality of design thinking and technical soundness, John said that when it comes to animation, according to him, storytelling and technology goes hand in hand. He pointed out the importance of research to understand the audience for whom they are generating the content.

AnimationXpress presents the first edition of Eduspark Summit; here’s what you need to know

AnimationXpress.com presents the first edition of Eduspark: Freeing the Education Genie. The summit spans across three days with the first two days being online and the final day concluding on-ground at The Lalit Mumbai on 14 May. Eduspark Summit will explore, aggregate and engage with the stakeholders and drivers of change with an aim to identify the trends, strategies and pedagogies that will define and dominate the next level of education.

The education sphere has witnessed a flurry of innovations to address the current demands of this generation. With concepts like gamification, remote learning, online courses and personalised learning, the education engine is roaring with new possibilities. With technological innovations, evolved mindsets and acceptance of new career options in the world, the world is swiftly undergoing a transformation in the education sphere. Right from new education policies to market forces to platforms to tech-innovators to academicians, the ecosystem has collectively felt the need to rethink the way we educate in the new age.

There are four key themes throughout the course of the summit. They are Gamification Of Education, New Education Policy, Remote Learning, and Education Trends. Through keynote sessions, dialogues, panel discussions, and fireside chats, Eduspark aims to contribute to the education renaissance of the 21st century.

In a first of its kind event, Eduspark aims to be the largest gathering of the entire edu-tech ecosystem under one roof. A promising line-up of speakers and delegates interspersed with an interesting mix of sessions brings in the prospect of excellent knowledge sharing that you would not want to miss out on.

Some of the prolific speakers include: UtSide co-founder and MD Puneet Sharma, Ramesh Sippy Academy of Cinema & Entertainment MD Kiran Sippy, Aptech president & executive director Dr. Anuj Kacker, Toonz Media Group CEO P Jayakumar, Vaibhav More Films founder and director Vaibhav More, phantomFX CEO MD and VFX Supervisor Bejoy Arputharaj, Gamitronics CEO Rajat Ojha, Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute professor animation cinema A S Krishna Swamy, Pearl Edge academic director C B Arun Kumar, Creative Galileo founder Prerna Jhunjhunwala, Vaibhav Studios director Vaibhav Kumaresh, 88 Pictures co-founder & COO Aby John, Vishwakarma University vice-chancellor Siddharth Jabade, Quizbee founder and CTO Abhinav Anand, MIT Institute of Design head of animation design dept. prof- Binoj V John, Toon Club founder Tehzeeb Khurana, and GameEon Studios founder and CEO Nikhil Malankar; among many others.

UtSide, an EdTech initiative by Paperboat Design Studios is the presenting partner for the Eduspark Summit. The associate parterners are Cosmos Creative Academy and Wacom India Pvt. Ltd, while Asifa India and Huion are on board as industry partners for the event.

“Eduspark Summit is providing a wealth of opportunity and putting the world of education at your fingertips, as well as strengthening India’s online education ecosystem,” said Eduspark Associate partner Cosmos Creative Academy Dean Ram Dhumne.

Our other associate partner Wacom India Pvt. Ltd. marketing manager Alok Kumar Sharma said, “After the pandemic situations, we all are witnessing of revolutionary moment in education system & Wacom also presenting itself as a best solution provider for digital education after the participation in EduSpark summit.”

“I am excited to be part of this amazing event by AnimationXpress.com, Eduspark, where we would get the opportunity to meet and listen to fantastic speakers in a great line up of awesome sessions. A must-attend event both online and offline,” summit’s presenting partner UtSide co-founder & managing director Puneet Sharma said.

With multiple sessions lined up on all days, the summit has something for everyone. Some of the sessions that you can look forward to are: Re-writing curriculum for new-age learning, Gamified learning: the way forward?, Growing need for Gaming, esports and Metaverse learning/courses, Balancing Art and Commerce, Understanding the hiring process at the AVGC studios. There is a special session where young leaders are going to share their prospects; you must not miss out on that too!

So, what are you waiting for? Catch the edu-tech stakeholders from the country share insights into the process of creating some of the best works, ask questions and connect with them. The Eduspark Summit 2022 is an excellent opportunity to meet the creme de la creme of the AVGC industry who are all set to not only accelerate the education space of their own ecosystem but also add engines to the mainstream pedagogy by way of gamification, animation and effects.

See you around!

Free Registration for Summit (Hybrid): https://www.animationxpress.com/events/eduspark2022/event-platform/registration.php