Animation potential exists

Chief Executive Officer of a local company engaged in the production of animated digital media content is confident that in as little as a year, players in the local animation industry could vie for and be awarded overseas contracts.

 

“There is a new golden age in animation driven by mobile screens; there is so much screen content now that animation has a lot more distribution… That means more content needing to be produced, more work is on the table and Canada has reduced some of their incentives, so there are more opportunities to have more work filtered outside of Canada to new entrants to the market like Barbados and the Caribbean,” said CEO and Co-Founder of West Toonz, Curtis Padmore.

 

Padmore, whose firm together with the Barbados Institute of Productivity and Management (BIMAP) have been carrying out the Barbados Animation Partnership through which they are awarding students National Vocational Qualifications in Animation, told the media on Friday that once these students can enhance their skills through local projects, then an overseas contract is the next step.

 

“I would want our people to be transitioning in terms of their speed and work quality so that they get better, rather than rush to market and then underperform. Let’s get our quality levels up; we can do some local work at enough scale to provide that and everyone gets several months of practice in real production work before cementing a real contract, which I am hopeful can happen early next year,” he said.

 

He added, “Our quality standards need to be at global standard, if not you will not get the business overseas. The business is overseas, but they will go to where the quality and production are at a good price. The animation industry is heavily incentivised, so lots of countries will create different incentives. I think Barbados does not have a specific incentive sales proposition re animation, but we have our offshore framework that I think is attractive to make companies want to structure their businesses with us.”

 

With that in mind, he suggested that any animation company set up here has to be structured as an international business company. His comments came as he suggested that the real work opportunities are through TV series contracts, which if a company here is able to secure, they will be able to earn significant revenue to help grow.

 

“We just need the first contract. The industry is very relationship driven, so if you have a good relationship with one studio then you get more, because you have proven yourself that you can 

deliver to time and to quality,” he said. (JRT)