Are we missing the keyframe?

We have a look at the status of animation in the country.

KARACHI:

An industry that combines the arts and technology would be expected to go from strength to strength, but, in Pakistan, it seems to be the opposite. Despite the fact that the animation industry has maintained its presence in the country for more than two decades, there has been a dearth of quality content being churned out from local organisations.

Recently, filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy announced the release of the first-ever feature-length animated movie 3 Bahadur in Pakistan. Although the news about such a film merits excitement, there seems to be a feeling that it is happening a little too late.

Irfan Kheiri, animation instructor at the Media Sciences department, Shaheed ZulfiKar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (Szabist), spoke about the status of the animation industry in Pakistan. “It would be wrong to think that the animation industry in Pakistan doesn’t exist as there have been several companies, such as Lucid Studios and Sharp Image, which have been creating animated content for both local and foreign agencies for a while now,” he said.

Commander Safeguard

Contrarily, Haroon, the director-producer behind the internationally-acclaimed children’s animated show Burka Avenger, which has been produced by his multimedia company Black Unicorn, opined, “Two or three start-ups, such as Lucid and Black Unicorn, do not count as an industry.”

Despite this, one thing that almost all major stakeholders of the industry in Pakistan seem to agree over is the fact that a lack of investment seems to be hurting them the most. One common criticism by audiences is how the content and animations being made for local agencies is mediocre in comparison with the quality of animation being done for foreign production houses.

Kheiri echoed this sentiment, saying that investors were impatient with regards to animation as a business model. He shared how he and a few fellow animation enthusiasts were approached by an expatriate, who was willing to fund an animated film but when informed about the amount of time and finances they would require, he seemed ‘hesitant’ to pursue the project.

Ammar Baig, director of operations at Jutt Studios, explained that this difference in quality of content is mainly due to the lack of art directors. “Art direction plays a major role in deciding the nature of content in animation. Unfortunately, we have a shortage of such people in Pakistan, which is why there seems to be lack of direction,” he commented. Kheiri, who has experience managing his own animation company by the name of Pixel Grafx, said animation requires a lot of “attention to detail,” a trait that is missing in animators in the country.

He noted how animators focus on animation of organic objects, such as characters, but won’t give equal amount of importance to non-organic objects, such as the setting and surrounding. Haroon, on the other hand, feels that for an industry to flourish, the demand for such content needs to increase and lamented over how people haven’t yet realised the potential of animation in Pakistan.

3 Bahadur

“Animation is happening on television most of the time. Most television commercials contain at least some form of animation. It is a simple case of demand and supply. The lack of demand from audiences for such content is why there are only two or three animated television shows, such as Commander Safeguard, Burka Avenger and the Milkateers,” said Haroon.

He used the example of how animated movies, such as Frozen, Shrek and other Disney animations, are billion-dollar franchises. Even in Pakistan, animated movies have managed to do great business at the box office, with the 2011 film Rio becoming the second highest-grossing film in Pakistan after Bol.

Despite all this, members of the industry had mixed opinions about the future of animation as a form of visual entertainment in Pakistan. Kheiri believes that this is a case of “too little, too late,” while Haroon and Baig remain optimistic. “We need to have more animation schools in Pakistan. Only then will more trained individuals become a part of the industry,” stated Haroon. “As for the future, Pakistan will release its first feature-length animated film this year and even had one of its animated shows (Burka Avenger) nominated for an Emmy Award. So, there is much to be hopeful for.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 12^th,  2015.

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