In the world where animation industry has been the frontrunner over the past year in the entertainment domain, it has become increasingly imperative to evaluate the ingredients that make an animated content a hit amongst the viewers.
AnimationXpress in association with Cosmos Animation Academy held a definitive session on how to develop a successful IP; a question that has engulfed the entire entertainment industry. Moderated by Cosmos Maya VP, New Businesses Priti Karandikar, the session featured Cosmos Maya creative director Nilesh Nevgi and Tarit Nath.
Traversing down the memory lane, speakers talked about their experience of being a part of the development of successful IPs like Motu Patalu, Selfie with Bajrangi, Bapu etc.
Outlining the process of development of an IP starting from the conceptualisation to managing the broadcaster’s expectation and analysing the key factors that attribute to the success of the IP, the session touched upon every aspect of IP creation.
Elaborating on the significance of an Intellectual Property, Nath shared, “Singing, talents, poetry, drawing; all that is talent and it comes from practice. We can go one step further and talk about intellect. Everyday, everyone thinks something new. The pagalpan (madness) of wanting to do extraordinary things should be there. Thinking something intellectual. An intellectual property is completely yours.”
Echoing the same point, Nevgi explained that one must have that unique prism through which one can view the world differently. He shared, “Why do we share a whatsapp message? Because we feel good that we are sharing something of value and its a good piece of content. At the end of the day, we are storytellers. Je na dekhe ravi te dekh kavi. Poets view the world differently. Do you have that extraordinary prism through which you look at this world?”
Nath equated creating an IP to doing something for the country and that should be the reigning sentiment behind the intent of creating an intellectual property. He shared, “Developing an IP is important. Three aspects: copyright, trademark and patent. It is mostly made for the country. Your thought is being communicated to 135 crore Indians.”
Speaking about the conceptualisation of an animated IP, Nevgi took the viewers though all the stages. He shared, “If you have a story that you need to tell the world, I will illustrate it though images. Some idea clicked in your mind and it is in an abstract from. Then we discuss it. Then you write it and it is in the text format. Then we move on to storyboarding mode. From the abstract to visual form, that journey is putting our experience through a pipeline and presenting it to the world exactly what we felt.”
Elaborating further as to what drives a story, “What are the possibilities? How does he view the world? What is his desire?” The journey of achieving it becomes a story. Then comes the obstacle and how he overcomes the difficulty. We need a character with complexity. We need a hook point.
Then we need a location. For example:- Anaconda Forest. Even a location hooks the audience so they wonder how this location is going to play into the story. There is a synopsis in the script. You describe the scene. And then write the dialogues. You break it up in the script.”
Nath expounded on what creators need to bear in mind before weaving a story. He explained, “Whenever you’re thinking of a story, think of the character. Think of the purpose of the concept. Do you want to entertain through this story? There are various genres. We need to lock what we’re going to show. We need to show at the end of the day that there is a fantastical world with beautiful characters. So our designs need to be different. We need characters where audiences can relate and say this is me. Their flaws, strengths and goals we need to finalise. Where does that character live?”
Panelists observed that the success of an IP indeed lies in the ability to touch the hearts of millions of people.
It is crucial to lock in and secure your intellectual property. Nath suggested, “Draw the picture and your logo. Submit your drawing and logo and everything and get a stamp and copyright and take the patent also. Register it at the government’s organisation.”
The roundtable ended on a high note with a flurry of insights edifying the viewers present in the live audience.