Indian animation is on the ascent. The past few years have been very favourable for our animation industry, with several small-time studios having grown into larger, successful brands. With the scope and reach of home-grown content growing rapidly, Indian studios have begun to focus on building successful intellectual properties-IPs.
The Indian animation industry is growing at a rate of 20 per cent y-o-y. To maintain this momentum, the creation of successful IPs through partnerships is the way forward because retention of IPs has been a major focus area across all the key partners in the value chain. Shows like Motu Patlu, Chhota Bheem, Little Singham and more have been trendsetters in this regard. Motu Patlu, Cosmos-Maya’s first IP, is a classic case study wherein an Indian IP based in the heartland has become a phenomenon that drives the viewership for a major channel.
A unique situation is at play in the entertainment ecosystem. The uniqueness lies in the simultaneous growth of linear television alongside VOD platforms. The exponential rise of the digital medium in the past years is going to continue well in the current year.
With digital, Indian IPs have been able to travel across territories that would otherwise have been difficult. Finding a partner in Vietnam and getting Cosmos-Maya’s content dubbed in Vietnamese is only possible because of the digital revolution today. We have got our content dubbed in a diverse range of languages such as Indonesian (Bahasa), Spanish and Arabic for our international audiences. With digital distribution, we can make our content native and relative to different regions. This will have many benefits.
Digital gives you real time updates in terms of which audiences from which geographies are spending how much time on which episode of which IP. This data is very helpful from the perspective of planning the programming strategy of our content. The increase in distribution platforms has also proved to be very beneficial to content creators, as they have been given a license to create disruptive storylines that can be aired on several platforms.
With IPs garnering the kind of viewership that they do, a revolution in the licensing and merchandising business is the next step towards holistic growth.
(This article has been contributed by Cosmos-Maya CEO Anish Mehta and AnimationXpress.com doesn’t necessarily subscribe to these views)