Thailand to take advantage of Asian animation boom

The animation industry is apparently one of the few markets to remain unaffected by the political turmoil in Thailand.

Boasting plenty of potential and a portfolio of successful projects, Thai animation entrepreneurs are reporting skyrocketing growth.

A number of successful stories came out of the MIPTV 2010 industry event in Cannes, France, in April, in both co-production and licensing sales, with 10 Thai companies attracting business worth at least 860 baht.

Thai delegates who attended the event did so with the support of the Department of Export Promotion and the Software Industry Promotion Agency (Sipa).

Thai animation and related industries are still in the formative stages, though, but expect strong growth next year as they pave the way for a major presence in the global market, said Dr Jirayuth Chusanachoti, Executive Producer and Director at Shellhut Entertainment, owner of animated TV series Shelldon.

The company has already signed a contract with Singaporean counterpart Tiny Island to co-produce Shelldon in stereoscopic 3D, which can display 3D without wearing glasses. The project is worth 650 million baht and is expected to be finished in 2012.

In this agreement, the Singapore partner will cover production and Shellhut will be responsible for content, story, design and project management.

The Thai company is also on the lookout for media partners to expand into Japan and China by offering a profit-sharing model.

Dr Jirayuth argues that the company's productions should foresee technological trends and preparing content to suit rising markets, for example mobile internet, social media and 3D TV.

"At MIPTV, we displayed Shelldon in 3D TV, which attract an audience and may have secured us a potential technology partner in France which is research the 3D field," he said.

"We have always intended to make this TV series for the global market, but start with the domestic market," Dr Jirayuth continued.

"We expected this show to generate only 0.6 percent of our overall revenue, but sponsorship has pushed it up to 20 percent.

"However, 80 percent [of this show's revenue] comes from outside Thailand, with licensed broadcasting in 109 countries, including the US and France."

Dr Jirayuth continued that the company is aiming to complete Seasons 3 and 4 of Shelldon with Channel 3 by the end of next year and will expand to launch short video clips on mobile phones, which will be promoted over social networks, to generate extra revenue.

Despite the fame of its flagship show, Shellhut is not a big team, with just 20 employees covering the core work and production and distribution being outsourced.

Dr Jirayuth espoused the value of not trying to do everything in-house so as to cut costs, because the long-term strategy must be taken into consideration; in other words, one must think of the animation's potential as a package - not just as a TV series but also as an opportunity to produce spin-off films, games, merchandise, and so on. The more diverse the markets an animation can be applied to, the greater the chance of success.

To read more...