At a panel discussion organised on recent gaming and animation conclave 'Chakravyuh' held during IIM Lucknow's Manfest 2010, CEOs of four companies launched into a whirlwind discussion on Machinima, Farmville, moms and games, Avatar and 3D animation movies, Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and the current scenario of the Indian gaming and animation sectors as they sought to entice budding managers at the B-school to join the industry. Both the animation and gaming industries in India are not new - they have been around for over 5 years and as the panelists agreed, are not still by definition a "market" but remain a "space" with just 7 animation movies released per year in India now. So what has prevented the two sectors from success? 50% Success Rate For Animated Movies, The Multiplex Matter, Merchandising Opportunities There are many challenges, issues and lessons learnt by entrepreneurs, and the panelists did well to bring them out in the open and discuss them. In our previous report of NASSCOM's forum, we heard India was not ready yet for animation, about the high costs involved in developing an animation film compared to a camera based one and the low returns. At Chakravyuh, Jai Maroo, Director, Shemaroo Entertainment, however said, "The success rate of Hollywood movies is 30-35% whereas the success rate of animations is 50%." He informed the audience that Avatar had been scripted 12 years ago but was shelved for lack of sufficient funding and also because the technology to make a…
