THE Animation Council of the Philippines Inc. (Acpi) on Monday, Sept. 27, 2021, reiterated its support for Cebu’s local animation sector and urged stakeholders to develop Cebu into a major source of animation content and services for the global market.
Juan Miguel del Rosario, president of Acpi as well as animation studio Toon City Animation Inc., said the animation industry has been able to post positive growth despite the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
However, he said the Philippines has captured only $20 million to $30 million a year, a very small share of the US$261-billion global animation and visual effects market.
Of this amount, about 75 percent is made by only five animation studios including Toon City. These studios serve clients in Canada, United States, Japan, Germany, United Kingdom and France.
“Why can’t Cebu be part of this? All of this is 100 percent export. All our revenues are in dollars or euros, so we are very fairly edged,” Del Rosario said at the virtual launching of the Cebu Creative Entertainment Week Monday by the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
He said the revenues generated by the Philippines comprise “a very tiny fraction of the global market.”
“I would like to say that there is tremendous opportunity for the Philippines to be a major player. And I can say that with confidence because we have been around for 27 years and we are a go-to studio... That alone is a testament to the capability of the Filipino artist,” he added.
The Filipino animation sector has come up with original content such as “Trese”, “Barangay 143”, “Saving Sally” and “RPG Metanoia”.
“The first three are streaming in Netflix, again another proof that we are able to make content and we only have upwards to go from hereon,” Del Rosario said.
An industry roadmap in 2020 estimated annual growth of the Philippine animation sector at 5.5 percent.
“Not many industries can boast of that given the present situation...I am proud to say that we are practically pandemic-proof because we’re all 100 percent digital,” he said.
The Philippine animation industry currently deals only with production, just one of the four areas of the entire animation process. Others are development, pre-production and post-production.
Del Rosario said they’re looking forward to the passage of a bill creating a government agency that could provide the industry with the necessary support for its further development.
“Once that’s done, we’re very optimistic that we could tackle into the other areas of animation,” he said.
Acpi is composed of animation studios, schools and animation services providers. The group aims to harness Filipino talent in animation and transform the Philippines into a major supplier of animation content in Southeast Asia. (MVI)