Good News!!! Global Animation Stalwart Mike Young (Co-CEO, Moonsccop) is all set for a two week visit to India, where he is giving Keynotes and attending two conferences – Lumi?re Digitale (organized by DSK Supinfocom) in Pune on December 2,3,4 and Infocom 2011 (organized by ABP & Assocham) in Kolkata on December 8-10.
In a career spanning more than 30 years and dozens of globally super successful animated properties, Mike Young is not only a major force to reckon with in the world of animation globally, but with his Midas touch he has also brought success and prosperity to many animation studios that have partnered with/or provided production services to his projects.
He has particularly played a key role during the early days of 3D Animation in India when his conviction in Indian animation and Indian studios such as Crest, led the way and set the template and pace for the Great Indian Animation Industry story globally.
AnimationXpress.com CoFounder Anand Gurnani, who is co-ordinating with Mike Young for his presence at the Lumi?re Digitale at DSK Supinfocom, Pune and Infocom 2011 conferences, got a chance to get some insights from the Stalwart recently and though these are good enough to be a formidable peak, they are in fact, just the tip of the Iceberg…
Here are some excerpts …and to hear the Stalwart speak himself, see you at Lumi?re Digitale on 3rd & 4th December 2011.
The Indian Animation Ecosystem is very excited about your upcoming visit to India. What’s on the cards with your India visit?
A packed two weeks with two Conferences, visits to Prana, Crest, Laughing Lion and Xentrix where we are currently producing shows as well as visiting a couple of new studios who we are very interested in. I do not think I have an hour off in the two weeks there so look forward to the road trip to Pune as a way of seeing some of the country.
I am sure your diary must be choc-a-bloc hopefully you have kept a window of time to meet new, upcoming studios and content creators during the 2 events (Lumi?re Digitale in Pune and Infocom 2011 at Kolkata) where you are giving Keynotes.
I will have time around the duties of the conferences to meet old friends and new. And yes, I would be delighted to spend time with delegates.
Studios want to pitch their new global IPs to you, studios want to discuss coproduction and co-finance with you… what‘s your message to them?
My basic message is that only the very best will survive in the current market place and India needs more creators of IP content that work on the world wide stage. There are more than enough studios and now smaller studios are well advised to work with others almost like co-operatives rather than building huge work plants. The ability to expand and contract is an essential part of being a producer.
It was around 12 years ago that you got India its first major 3D TV series and then several successful shows, partnerships and years hence, what‘s your perspective on the growth of Indian animation?
There has been staggering growth from that first series “Jakers” produced at Crest. With brand leaders such as Prana, Crest and DQ leading the way others are snapping at their heels. DQ has shown that recognizing titles and brands that work all over the world as well as learning the ability to package financing and co-producers is essential for a sophisticated market place. They have been extremely aggressive in this field and now need to break into the North American markets which are still responsible for 70% of the world’s incomes from ancillary products and rights. Now Disney, Dreamworks, Nickelodeon and other US studios have come on board taking advantage of English speaking crews and tapping into quality creative resources. The work Prana has done on our shows such as Zhu Zhu Pets, Xentrix on Care Bears and Crest on Gloe-E is there for all to see.
What do you think that Indian Animation as a whole needs to have now, how does it compare to China and South Asia?
India has creative talent in depth as well as an educational pipeline that produces a conveyer belt of new talent but with one or two exceptions it still needs to develop production management teams with the ability to deliver on schedule without excuses. The Chinese and South Asia studios have this ability to spare!
Sir, could you share with us about how it was when you made your first hit show Super Ted?
Next year sees the thirtieth anniversary of SuperTed’s launch on TV. He was actually created in 1978. Goodness it makes me feel old; no wonder you called me a “Stalwart” in your title. He came from me telling stories to my three year old Stepson Richard who now heads up our studio’s Post Production unit and can never quite live down being “the little boy who was afraid of the dark”. We managed to self publish some books, based on their success a major London Publisher took on the rights and over one hundred books were published. We then had the very lucky break of the Welsh Television Channel S4C being formed to promote the Welsh Language (I am Welsh not English, a big distinction that Americans never seem to quite get). We formed a studio in Wales named Siriol Animation (Siriol means‘sunny’ in Welsh and we do not get much of that there… sun that is) and we produced “SuperTed” which won a British Academy Award and became the first animated show bought by Disney from an outside studio. Disney marketed the title on Video in America and it ran on the then newly formed Disney Channel. Later we made a series with Hanna Barbera. Other shows such as “Fantastic Max”, “Sleepy Kids”, “Wil Cwac Cwac” and the movie “Once Upon a Forest” followed. Siriol Animation continued long after I left and produced other great shows.
And when did you migrate to Los Angeles?
I moved to LA in October 1989 and my family in the winter of 1990. It was a crazy chance that I took and when I look back it seems inconceivable that I would have made that decision. The first years were fraught as we tried to break into the entertainment business in an extremely nepotistic town, in its own way the USA is one of the most insular countries. Things have changed but in those days the prospect of a studio or network in the US producing shows overseas would have been unthinkable. The longer I live here the more I realize that I live in a foreign country very different from the one I come from despite (sort of) sharing a language (Indian English is much closer to British English than American English). However the bare fact is that the US is geared in such a way that if you work hard you will be rewarded. Despite economic slow downs it is still the most vibrant place on earth! The entertainment industry is a constant and continues on an even keel whereas in the UK for instance the same business suffers from ‘feast and famine’ syndromes. It’s up or down and you cannot rely on it. In common with India the US does not hand out subsidies in the same way that Canada, France, Australia, Singapore and others do. Projects have to live or die by their commerciality. Nothing gets produced just because it can.
We‘d love to know about the major milestone shows in your swashbuckling animation saga.
These are the main titles so apologies if I leave out some: SuperTed, Fantastic Max, Wil Cwac Cwac, One Upon a Forest, (all at Siriol), Little Engine that Could (our first US co-production), The Secret Garden (movie), The Life and Adventure of Santa Claus (movie), Hot Rod Dogs (co-pro), The Prince of Atlantis (the first ever entirely digital TV series), Face for Nickelodeon (the first digital 2D animated intersticials) Clifford the Big Red Dog and Puppy Days (over twenty Emmy nominations), “Jakers the Adventures of Piggley Winks (seven Emmy wins, British Academy Award winner and many other awards), Pet Alien (our co-production introduction to Moonscoop), He-Man Masters of the Universe (Emmy winner), Bratz, Growing Up Creepy,(Emmy and Pulcinella winner) Dive Olly Dive. (Parents Choice award and adopted by as a spokesperson on the environment by UNESCO) Moonscoop bought 51% of our shareholding in 2006 and we changed our companies name from the ‘august’ Mike Young Productions to Moonscoop LLC in 2009. Under this name we have produced or are producing Chloe’s Closet, Hero 108, Wildgrinders, DiVincibles, Quantum Ray (Pulcinella Award) Strawberry Shortcake.
Could you share about some of the shows you are producing currently?
Current productions include Care Bears, Zhu Zhu Pets (three stereoscopic movies) and twenty webisodes, DaGedar and Lalaloopsy. Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Little Archie’s are in advanced development and pilot’s under way. They were massively well received at the recent MIPCOM show.
What is Kabillion?
Our Free on-demand TV network that reaches nearly six million children a month on television. I need to keep some of my powder dry for the lectures so intend bringing some footage presenting how Kabillion works. It is a peculiar American format so will need detailed explanation.
How will multiple screens and fragmentation of media affect the prevalent co-production models in animation?
I take the Fifth Amendment on this on the basis that now you have milked all the above out of me I need something fresh for the Lumi?re Digitale and Infocom 2011 conferences!
I know this is an interview about your perspectives on animation, but even as a last question, I can‘t help asking you to tell us a bit about your love for cricket and curry?
Both are a passion only second and third to my beloved Cardiff City Football team. I sponsor and support them from LA where my production staff have been brain washed into thinking they are the greatest team in football the world has ever seen! I played cricket and support Glamorgan. Unlike Football (or ‘soccer’ as Americans refer to it) Cricket has virtually no coverage in the US so thank goodness for Cricket Highlights.com a very recent love of my life. Curry is as British as it is Indian and the most popular establishments there. In the US less so but massively growing in the major urban area however the best curry my wife Liz (who runs all the productions through the studio) and I have enjoyed was in Hyderabad as guest of Tapaas. We ate in a small family style restaurant. It was fantastic!
Additional Comments.
I am greatly looking forward to visiting India once again and will no doubt meet many old friends (or should I call them “stalwarts”?)
* Mike Young will be giving Keynote Addresses at the 1st Ever International Indian Buyers and Producers Summit powered by AnimationXpress.com at the Lumi?re Digitale Festival organized by DSK Supinfocom (at the DSK Supinfocom Campus) in Pune, Dec 2-4 and will be giving a Keynote Address at the Animation Conference at Infocom 2011 Conference in Kolkata, Dec 8-10, organized by Anand Bazar Patrika and Assocham.