Local animation industry seen to expand rapidly, will need 30,000 animators by 2010
Posted December 03, 2008THE domestic animation industry will continue to expand rapidly as it eyes the need for almost 30,000 animators by 2010, the Animation Council of the Philippines Inc. (ACPI) said on Tuesday.
Avic Ilagan, executive director of the 45-member organization, said at the sidelines of BPO Summit Philippines 2008 that there is already a “proliferating interest among animation houses and independent animators in creating original content.”
She said original content is the way to go for animation houses, calling and attracting more graduating students to build career in the animation industry.
ACPI is now collaborating with Ateneo de Naga, Ateneo de Zamboanga, Academy in Makati and Mapua Institute of Technology, among other schools, to train students.
At present, there are about 50 small and medium-size animation studios in the country, providing jobs to 8,000 workers doing 2D and 3D animation, digital ink and paint service, flash animation for animated series, web animation, gaming and 4D animation.
This $105-million industry is now exploring markets outside the US to guard itself from the looming recession.
It has teamed up with the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines to permeate Europe.
According to the Business Process Association of the Philippines (BPAP), the Philippines has been a major producer of animation in the Asia-Pacific region since the 1980s.
It has been creating projects for American, European and Japanese markets, especially for global companies like Walt Disney, Warner Brothers, Cartoon Network, HBO, Hanna Barbera, Nelvana and Toei Japan.
“The Philippines has intrinsic [characteristics] to compete in several emerging nonvoice areas—particularly in the animation sector—but will need to take actions to capture opportunities,” said BPAP chief executive officer Oscar Sañez.
He said there is an exciting movement among First World buyers of animated content—there is an increasing interest in content from outside the US or Europe, especially from Asian countries.
Industry records showed that it has been consistently growing by 20 percent every year, but it has been limited because of the insufficient supply of animators.
Source: BusinessMirror.com.ph, December 2, 2008
by Jesse Edep
