Globalization, globalization, and more globalization. DreamWorks goes to the subcontinent:
France's Thomson SA said on Thursday its Technicolor Services division had sealed a strategic alliance with DreamWorks Animation ... to develop in the fast-growing Indian entertainment industry...
According to India's National Association of Software and Service Companies, the global animation development market is expected to grow 9 percent yearly through 2009, to become a $26 billion industry. NASSCOM also projects that in India, animation development will grow 34 percent yearly through 2009 to become a $950 million market...
The Indian film business is large and robust, and animation -- long a laggard on the subcontinent -- is now beginning to take off. It doesn't surprise me that American animation studios are looking to jump into India's fledgling animation industry. It's potentially a two-billion eyeballs business.
As part of the alliance and in collaboration with Thomson's Technicolor Services division, DreamWorks Animation will assist Technicolor in the recruitment, training and development of top-tier animation talent to the Paprikaas facility in India.
And there you go.
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13 comments:
shouldnt be long before all the big LA feature anim studios no longer do the animation in LA. :(
Just saw on another site that NYU's Tisch school has just opened a satellite campus for animation in Singapore...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAEjCwCHars
not by Paprika, this is by Prana.
R.
Rather than complaining about jobs going overseas and taking a protectionist point of view everyone needs to face-the-facts that the world is flat and embrace globalism.
Talent exists worldwide folks. Not just in the U.S. Talent oversees is getting better and better. In VFX, Rhythm & Hues studios in India are doing all tasks in VFX not just roto and dustbusting but animation, lighting etc. The quality of Animation is better as well.
India is one of the world's emerging countries. Check out the internet and look examples of Advertising, Motion Graphics, Motion Pictures and other creative industries. The production values are getting better.
Folks who live oversees are very exposed to western culture and captialism. Believe me salaries will increase alot in India and China.
It not just about the studios saving money is also about good quality.
People who are afraid about their jobs usually are not performing to their best ability. Looks like you better step up your game.
In the early 90's when CG was young there were very few people with good skills so the salaries where high (supply vs. demand). Over the years the talent pool has increased dramatically which means that salaries should by all rights have gone down since there is more supply to meet the demand, however U.S. salaries remain pretty high.
When studios complain that labor is the most expensive cost in VFX and Animation they only have themselves to blame by not adjusting the level of salaries to the increased amount of talent over the years. In the early 90's high salaries made sense. Nowadays there is an artificial salary bubble.
I know that we all live in a capitalistic society which means capital (money) and we all want to keep our salaries however industry salaries in the U.S. are not follow ing the rule of supply vs. demand.
The reason for this is that Capitalism also means free market enterprise aka competition. U.S. studios engage in free market enterprise which keeps salary levels high.
Seems like there is a little hypocrisy. Studios complain about costs yet they are the ones to blame. Its not our fault. We don't hold guns to their heads when negotiating our contracts.
So embrace globalism, stop complaining, step up your game and you should be able to have longevity in the industry.
The amount of creative work to be done will never go away. In fact with India, Asia and the Middle East emerging there will be even more work. Do the math there simply isn't enough talent oversees. India, Asia and the Middle East have alot of work and alot of positions to fill. Talent in the U.S. is needed. I think folks in the U.S. will be quite busy in the years to come.
BTW - The trailer of Tinkberll by Prana Studios seems to look not to shabby
>>Rather than complaining about jobs going overseas and taking a protectionist point of view everyone needs to face-the-facts that the world is flat and embrace globalism.<<
And yet, here we are on a UNION BLOG based in LOS ANGELES.
What do you expect to hear on this thing? Glowing praise that work goes elsewhere?
A simple non combative comment always drags out the folks that feel like they need to write 2 pages of globalization theory.
"It not just about the studios saving money is also about good quality."
No, it really is all about the studios saving money.
The studios are just chasing the "cheaper" dollar oversees.
However the quality is getting better not because of the studios but because of people's experience. The more you do the more you grow.
The costs will go up as the economies of India and China continue to emerge.
China's GDP has been at a rate of 10% for the last couple of years and it projected to continue at that rate. Thats incedible growth.
The Chinese government is starting to get concerned about inflation and have tried measures to slow down the growth but have been unsuccessful. I think the momemtum is just too huge right now especially with the Olympics.
India's GDP has been between 8-9%. There's no stopping the Asia economic boom.
The economic boom is already leading to increased wages. Mind you they will not grow to be as high in the U.S. but its not going to be bargain basement either as it is has been.
Aside from work for the U.S. there is a ton of work form their respective native countries. There is a ton work. If wages were to continue to be suppressed they will have trouble attracting people. IN an emerging economy there is a ton of opportunity and there are alot of other industries for folks to choose from. The opportunites for the Media industry in India and China are huge. In order for the industry to flourish, wages will go up.
It's a good time to be in animation. :-)
Kevin -
Its is a good time to be in Animation, VFX or Motion Graphics. If you live outside of the U.S that is.
With the U.S. dollar having fallen dramatically over the last two years companies oversees should start outsourcing to the U.S. We are now the cheap labor.
Even Canada is more expensive.
The U.S. is pathetic.
It's a good time to be in animation no matter where in the world you live.
We exist within a global economy and that economy continues to equalize every year. As the nation which has historically lived "high on the hog" at the expense of the rest of the world (consuming far more than our fair share of resources in support of a lifestyle unsustainable were everyone to share it) we should expect that this equalization will bring us down a peg financially, rather than raise us up.
Nevertheless, prospects for interesting & challenging work have never been as varied and widespread as they are now. For the nimble, the proactive and the willing, times have truly never been better. For those who cling to the status quo, times may be truly miserable.
>>we should expect that this equalization will bring us down a peg financially, rather than raise us up.<<
Kevin, you sound like Al qaeda. I hear they are hiring.
Dear anonymous,
If you're going to make an ignorant comment such as this, please have the courage to attach your name to it.
At the very least, you can identify yourself to me personally at: kevingeiger@animationoptions.com
I would be happy to correspond with you further on the topic, once I know to whom I am speaking.
When you and your family lose their job because a corporation found cheaper labor overseas, you'll feel the pain too.
When you start outsourcing upper management, you're going to find that companies (the people in charge) are willing to pay even more for the outsourcing. The hand that feeds is the same hand that eats in that case.
Take the small example of the automotive industry and Chrystler for example. Chrystler was once a booming automotive company, they began outsourcing much of their engineering to germany, where they expected higher quality and cheaper labor. What ended up happening is they found themselves working for German based engineers and eventually getting bought out by a European car maker. Daimler ended up taking much of Chrystlers technology and leaving the company behind. Chrystler gave up the keys to the car so to speak and they ended up getting driven out of the market.
Look at software companies like Microsoft today. Their top managers are heading up divisions from India and running the show (Soma Somasegar), while the major share holders take the profits and buy their fancy Mercedes and cocaine.(Developers! Developers! Developers! Crack Head!)
There are a few folks at the top that could care less about whether america maintains its intellectual capitol or shares the wealth with the globe at the cost of a few million american jobs. Why get an education and work hard to develop unique ideas for our own country when the end game is just giving the property to the company heads so they can sell it to the highest bidder (or lowest charging engineers, artists, or animators).
Warren Buffet said it best:
http://rationalangle.blogspot.com/2007/12/warren-buffett-and-hillary-clinton-at.html
"Q: Your views on the US Dollar?
A: The most important question to ask in economics is "X happens, and then what?". We are living prosperously but every day we are sending 2 Billion dollars overseas because we consume more than we purchase. It is similar to if we owned say a large farm in Texas. We are extremely wealthy, but every year we mortgage a little bit of that farm in order to enjoy more of the present. And it is gradual, but then at some point you have to spend an hour or maybe 2 hours a week of your work to go towards servicing this debt. The problem is at some point either foreign investors will stop financing our consumption, or our future generation will be burdened with a debt and have to work some X hours towards servicing the debt of the earlier generation. But the present over-consumption is unsustainable."
"The almighty dollar, aint what it used to be. Muther F***ers used to ask me for a dollar and now they try to ask me for 3."
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