V I D E O • A G E JU N E 2 0 11 20 (Continued on Page 22) (Continued from Page 18) Bollywood For Hollywood government. Home office is in Mumbai, with offices in eight additional countries. Sanjay Shama runs the company. Tata Communications (TC), a U.S.$2.45 billion a year telco that also operatesTata Sky, a joint venture between Tata Sons, which owns 80 percent and Rupert Murdoch’s Star Group, which owns 20 percent. Reportedly, Singaporebased Temasek Holdings picked up a 10 percent stake in Tata Sky from Tata Sons, diluting Tata’s stake in the venture to 70 percent. However, the Group would not confirm it. Tata Sky, a direct-to-home satellite platform, covers more than 4,500 towns in India. Tata did not divulge the number of subscribers. Vikram Kaushik runs it, while Ratan Tata himself runs TC from Mumbai. TataElxsiLtd(TEL), aU.S.$84million a year engineering company publicly traded on the Indian stock exchanges. The “Elxsi” part of the company’s name came from an acquired company. Under the label “Visual Computing Labs,” it operates a division called Mediaworks, which is involved in animation, visual effects and commercials production. TEL maintains its headquarters in Bangalore, India and in seven other countries, with multiple offices in the U.S. including studios in Los Angeles, which were opened last year. Subramanian Ramadorai runs the company. With Hayward’s A Squared Entertainment, Tata Elxsi Ltd will produce and distribute children’s series for television, the Web, mobile devices and video games. Under the deal, TEL has agreed to finance the productions and supply the animation workforce from its studio in Bangalore, India, while A Squared will provide the creative direction for the projects, using its contacts in Hollywood. Financial terms for this and other deals were not disclosed. Tata Elxsi’s credits include its 3D animation services for Walt Disney’s first Indian animation feature, 2008’s Roadside Romeo, co-producedwith veteran Bollywood banner Yash Raj Films. In addition, the company has worked on such Sony Pictures’ films as Spider-Man 3 and Ghost Rider with Nicolas Cage. Tata Elxsi’s CEO, Subramanian Ramadorai was recently in Cannes to participate in MIP and to attend Arnold Schwarzenegger’s inaugural dinner for The Governator, the action-movie star and former California Governor’s vehicle that was supposed to be his re-enter into show biz with an animated series produced by A Squared, but which was later cancelled due to Schwarzenegger’s confessing to having fathered an illegitimate son. A product of New York City, where he lived in the ’70s, and Los Angeles, where he earned a Masters in Computer Science at UCLA, up until recently the 67-year-old Indian-born Ramadorai was the chairman of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). Today, Ramadorai is TEL chairman and also TCS vice chairman in addition to other chairmanships such as that of the Bombay Stock Exchange and Tata Technologies. LastFebruaryRamadoraiwasappointed advisor to India’s Prime Minister with the rank of cabinet minister for the National Skill Development Council. VideoAge first met with Ramadorai at MIP and he subsequently agreed to answer the following questions: VideoAge: Are there sufficient animators in India? Reportedly there was a need for 10,000 animators. Subramanian Ramadorai: The Indian animation industry is still at a nascent stage. The animation industry in India was formally recognized just over a decade ago. Lack of exposure, inadequate resources, investments and government support are some of the key challenges faced by the sector. Though it is witnessing a constant growth, it still requires nurturing and focused development. As per the NASSCOM [animation association] report, the manpower requirement for animation and VFX industries in India is expected to grow from 17,500 in 2009 to 29,500 by 2012. VideoAge: Costs of animation in India are estimated to be 40 percent lower than in Western countries, but is the quality comparable? In the past there were complaints about the low quality. S. Ramadorai: The animation industry in India has gained significance as an outsourcing destination for animation work due to low cost skilled labor. Some of the leading Indian animation studios have worked on international projects and feature films and delivered international quality. For instance Roadside Romeo, a full-length feature film that was co-produced by Disney Pictures and YRF, was fully animated in 3D by Tata Elxsi where we were responsible for both the creative and technical aspects of production. Roadside Romeo was nominated among the final set of five finalists for the “Best Animated Movie” by the VES awards alongside internationally acclaimed movies like Wall- E and Kung Fu Panda. While the cost factor is a significant attraction for considering outsourcing of animation work, we need to ensure some key aspects to scale the quality to a level of consistency expected by the internationalmarket.TheIndianindustry has to assimilate high quality technology and tools, enable more international exposure for creative personnel and inculcate a knowledge sharing platform for international experts to come and share their learnings. The IT sector also faced similar challenges 20 years back. Today India is considered a preferred IT destination. The Indian animation sector needs to borrow some for the successful IT practices and also institute better project management skills to become more competent internationally. Tata Elxsi for example, has deputed about 20 of its creative staff from the VCL studios in Mumbai to UCLA to get trained by international experts. VCL has an established studio in Los Angeles with highly acclaimed creative staff from Hollywood, and regularly arranges for key international talent to support projects. We also leverage our software teams to help develop and innovate more efficient workflows, specific tools and plug-ins for ourwork. At a national level, we have taken a key role in representing the industry with the government and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and helped develop a national agenda that aims to foster and grow this industry in a sustained manner. This includes creating accredited animation courses, developing a comprehensive curriculum and enabling greater recognition for this industry through national awards. VideoAge: Is Tata’s long-term strategy to focus on outsourcing or on being a producer? S. Ramadorai: We believe that it is important for us to focus on a portfolio right from simple outsourcing to co-production and production. This is beneficial from a business and creative perspective as it provides a synergy and opportunity for concept incubation, design, styles, business trends, risk amortization and mitigation. VideoAge: Is television Tata’s main business or it is movies? S. Ramadorai: Though we provide graphics/VFX for television commercials and VFX/CG for TV shows, our larger involvement has been in features (movies). Recently, Tata Elxsi signed a Memorandum of Understanding to form a joint venture with A Squared Entertainment, which envisions exciting properties. This tie-up intends to create, develop and distribute original brands, including animated entertainment and digital gaming. With this agreement we expect significant participation in the television segment too. VideoAge:Since Tata operates in different sectors, will Elxsi be taking advantage of their services and financial support? Can you give us some examples? S. Ramador ai: Tata Elxsi is a profitable, zero-debt company with access to funds both internally and externally if required. We do leverage otherTata companieswhere relevant. For example, we have utilized the computer infrastructure of CRL that hosts one of India’s fastest supercomputers for rendering and animation projects. We have executed some exciting projects for other Tata companies, including advertisements, new product launches and custom content, which are redefining how automotive and other B2C companies can use technology and animation more effectively to position and sell their products. For example, we have developed stereoscopic 3D content to showcase the global truck being launched byTataMotors. A Squared Entertainment’s Andrew Berman, Tata Elxsi’s chairman Subramanian Ramadorai; regional manager North America, Bhaskar Dutt “ The Tata Group is said to be the largest private conglomerate in India with interests in communications, information technology (IT) and entertainment, among other areas. Of Tata’s 90 operating companies, 27 are publicly listed.
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