Thomson unit ties up with DreamWorks Animation

Mumbai: The Technicolor Services division of French technology firm Thomson has partnered with DreamWorks Animation SKG to develop capabilities for production of animation films in India.

“It is a strategic alliance in which we will be providing the infrastructure while Dreamworks will initially help us in recruiting and training talent in India. In the next 6-12 months, we expect to start production for Dreamwork’s movies,” Mr Thierry Pasquet, Vice-President, Thomson – India, told Business Line. Both the parties intend to bring to India “as much production work as possible”, added Mr Pasquet.

DreamWorks is an independent American animation studio, which roughly produces two feature animated films a year. Some of the well-known movies from the DreamWorks stable include Shrek, Shark Tale and Madagascar. The companies will also focus on partnering for TV programming, commercials and video games, with a strong focus on 3D content. The alliance leverages Thomson’s recent investment in Paprikaas Animation Studios, an animation and game content provider in Bangalore, said a company communication. The 200-people-strong Paprikaas offers creative, technical and production capabilities to design and produce computer-generated animation for feature films, television programming, commercials and video games.

Paprikaas’ operations have recently been relocated to Thomson’s new 100,000-sq-ft digital content production facility in Bangalore.

“In the next 12 months, we will more than double the headcount at Paprikaas to fuel our growth plans,” added Mr Pasquet.

Market potential

The growth of the animation feature film market has spurred demand for animation design outsourcing from geographies such as India.

According to Nasscom, the global animation development market is expected to grow 9 per cent yearly through 2009, to become a $26-billion market. Nasscom projects that in India, the animation development market will grow 34 per cent yearly through 2009, to become a $950-million market.