Can you imagine Cebu City in the future, hobnobbing with the likes of top world entertainment icons like Disney, Warner Bros. and Universal Studios?
The future is not that far, considering ToonCity Cebu is opening its doors next month.
Just what is ToonCity? According to its top executives, Manila-based Juan Miguel del Rosario and Rene de Guzman, and our very own Cebuano VIP, Mario Panganiban, Manila-based ToonCity—one of the top Animation studios in the country and the world—is eyeing Cebu as a main source of animators.
“Cebuanos possess great talent, and we would like to expand our reach, by asking them to join the Academy as animators. Developing Cebu as a major hub for animators could also boost the industry’s goal of increasing its earnings to one percent of the $270 billion total global revenues for animation,” said De Guzman, president of ToonCity Academy (TCA).
President Del Rosario invites Cebuanos to grab the chance, as the demand for animators is huge, due to the rising need from global entertainment companies. Further, the job pays well, and provides earnings even to non-four-year course graduates. To add more spice, he announced that 60 percent of their animators are non-college graduates.
ToonCity-Cebu president Panganiban has great faith and confidence in Cebuano creativity, and stressed that animators earn as much as P25,000 monthly, which could even reach P100,000 for some.
Trainings are conducted at the Academy and ToonCity will be providing jobs, but not compete with local studios, as it needs more personnel to cope with projects.
Even if ToonCity caters to the entertainment industry, Cebu might also consider tapping into the Gaming Sector as the global gaming market was valued at $162.32 billion in 2020 and still counting!
The Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry recently presented a Virtual Animation Career Fair and Webinar in cooperation with ToonCity and TCA, to raise Cebuanos’ creativity level to a higher and more competitive degree in this field. Sponsors for this event included WACOM, a global company based in Japan, ASUS and Seagate Technology.
ToonCity, which ranked 22nd best in the world, is working with good companies: Disney, Warner Bros. and Universal Studios. And ToonCity also believes that Cebu can become the Animation and Creative hotspot in the Visayas!
Need we say more?
JUAN MIGUEL DEL ROSARIO. President of Animation Council of the Philippines and president of ToonCity Animation.
RENE DE GUZMAN. Vice president of ToonCity Animation and chief operating officer of ToonCity Academy Inc.
MARIO PANGANIBAN. President of ToonCity Academy, Cebu
ART. ToonCity sample works.
LESSONS. Various trainings conducted at ToonCity Academy Inc.