Firms, gov't out to make Philippines leader in animation

PHILIPPINE animation companies have partnered with government agencies in an effort to make the Philippines the animation capital of the world, said Joy Bacon, executive director of the Animation Council of the Philippines Inc. (ACPI). Bacon said the group was working with the Department of Trade and Industry's regional offices and educational institutions to encourage young people to take up a career in animation. Founded in 2000 to promote the local animation industry, the ACPI groups together 22 companies that specialize in 2D and 3D animation. "There is enough business for everybody and we aim at training and producing some 25,000 new animators over a four-year period through 2010," Bacon said. She said lack of work was never a problem for Philippine animation studios since the 1980s, when the Philippines supplied globally 90 percent of outsourced animation work. However, the sector's strong performance spawned rival companies in other countries, which lured Filipino talent with better pay. "Boosting the industry's workforce with fresh animators to enable the studios to meet global demand is the most formidable challenge the industry faces," Bacon said. Some of the famous cartoons and animations made by Filipinos for foreign clients are Scooby Doo, Tom and Jerry, Addams Family, The Mask, The Jetsons, Dragon Ball Z, and Captain Planet. Philippine animation companies have been getting assignments from global animation studios such as Walt Disney Pictures, Hanna Barbera, Dreamworks, and Cartoon Network. In its drive to institutionalize animation education and the promise of lucrative careers in the industry, Bacon said, the ACPI has launched a series of programs to promote animation courses in more schools. Aside from the studios that offer short courses, there are so far only three major schools offering animation courses -- Ateneo de Naga, College of St. Benilde, and Mapua IT Center, Bacon said. "More than having the number of such schools increase, we are also taking steps to ensure that graduates of animation courses are ready to meet industry needs," she said. The ACPI has tied up with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority to provide industry-relevant regulatory standards for academic requirements associated with animation courses of two-years or less. INQ7.NET