Monday, March 19, 2007 RP animators can earn $100M
WHILE the Philippines’ animation industry has the potential to attract major international players, the lack of support for the sector has hindered what could have been a probable niche.
“We have large untapped potential. The problem why we can’t live up to our potential is we don’t train enough animators,” said Dennis Cruz, Enchanted Kingdom vice president for marketing services and business development.
While neighboring countries like China and Malaysia produce approximately 100,000 animators annually, the Philippines supplies only about 12,000 to 15,000 yearly, he told a press conference at the Bo’s Coffee shop in SM City Cebu last Friday.
According to Cruz, revenues generated by 23 animation houses in the country total about $40 million every year. But he said the total revenue could go up to as much as $100 million.
Special interest zone
Foreseeing the need to sustain and further develop the country’s animation industry, Cruz said Enchanted Kingdom will spearhead the move to declare its property a “Special Interest Economic Zone.”
In line with this, Enchanted Kingdom will expand its existing 16-hectare property to 25 hectares, which will include an animation center located beside the theme park.
The center will house an animation studio, a film back lot and a school “geared to develop a creative industry,” Cruz said.
Once established, the company will be inviting other animation companies to relocate so they are able to enjoy certain incentives, Cruz said.
“We are now actively coordinating with other lot owners for the expansion,” Cruz said, adding that the master plan, which is to be completed within the next 10 years, will be patterned after the Walt Disney Studios in the United States.
Optimistic
He is optimistic this development will catapult the Philippines as the animation hub of Asia.
“The Philippines used to do a big share in hand-drawn animation all over the world but it was overtaken by China and Vietnam,” Cebu Animators Society for Talent (Cast) producer Gary Forbes earlier said. But he added that the country remains to be a “hub of world-class animators.”
Cast, a Cebu-based cooperative society that aims to develop animation talents, encourages self-study and cooperative learning to promote homegrown, hand-drawn and 3D animation movies.
Meanwhile, Cruz said Enchanted Kingdom is looking at viable investors for their planned expansion in Cebu.
“We already have the expertise but we want an investor whose (idea of) service centers on putting up an international theme park,” Cruz said, adding that it may be a semi-franchised arrangement that is estimated to cost about P1.8 billion.
Enchanted Kingdom, which has established its presence for more than 10 years, is the country’s first and leading world-class theme park.
It has 23 international-class rides and seven theme zones like Victoria Park, Xtreme Paintball, 4D Discovery Theater, Brooklyn Place, Jungle Outpost, Midway Boardwalk and Boulderville. (MMM)
