Animation Industry in the UK - Dissertation Example

Animation Industry in the UK Is it advisable to start an independent animation company in UK? Contents Is it advisable to start an independent animation company in UK? In this dissertation,I have focused on the question “is it advisable to start an independent animation company in UK?” Being a student of animation, my answer did not purely concentrate on the business aspects, though the subject sounds more like one, instead, I tried to get an even keel answer that would meet an animator’s need form the artistic point of view and also provide some clue on the entrepreneurial aspects of the subject. Therefore, to get a holistic view of the answer tothis question, I first tried to find out the current state of the animation industry from various sources such as journals, newspapers, websites, academic research papers and books. Thereafter, I tried to gather first-hand views of a few independent entrepreneurs already established in this business. In addition, Ialso gathered views of some of the young aspiring and established animators who work for various animation companies.Based on all these inputs, I have drawn conclusions and made recommendations. I consider this subject will be of interest to the animator fraternity and benefit those who are aspiring to start an independent animation company in UK. Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Current State of Animation Industry My first requirement was to find out the current state of animation industry both locally and also to gain some ideas on how the industry is doing on a global scale. I felt the later would be especially important because of the globalisation and lot of animation works are being done in developing countries on outsourcing basis.My initial research pointed to the insight that there is seldom any other type of film or television which has more global acceptance than animation. As Wilson (2010) wrote in his article, “Time to stop treating animation industry like a Mickey Mouse outfit” I found out that the global animation industry is a £ 200 billion dollar industry, of which the size of the UK industry is valued at £120 million, which is but a small fraction of about 0.06 percent. This figure made me to feel both sad and happy at the same time. Sad, because I wonder how much miniscule is our part of the industry in UK comparing to the global standards; and happy because, there is so much scope for us to grow. I was also happy to note that British animation arts are well appreciated both domestically and in many parts of the world as well. The UK animation industry now employs about 5000 people directly, of which more than fifty percent of these professionals are young and are under 35 years age. It is interesting to note that about 70 percent of these jobs are based outside London (Wilson, 2010). Having found out the basic status of the animation industry, I tried to figure out whether there are enough opportunities to work, and, if yes, in which areas in general opportunities are available. This was an important consideration,specifically in the current recessionary conditions, when people in many industries have lost their jobs and many established business have folded their shops. I thought this knowledge would be important to animators in particular and business people in general, because, they will be able to align their animation skill in the areas where opportunities exists. As David Wood, reported in www.television.com/news (2010) and I quote, “Animation worldwide has been growing even through the recession. Many governments have recognised this and have put in place tax breaks and incentives to encourage business to flow through their studios. We have now reached a point where in a global economy, where everyone is offering these incentives; we in the UK simply cannot compete” (David Wood; www.television.com/news, 2010). Broadcasters around the world want to buy UK product, producers want to make UK product and distributors what to sell UK product. However, with companies in most of the world being able to access 25% - 50% of their budgets in the form of a tax break, what do we have to offer – nothing - and our talent is leaving the country” (David Wood; www.television.com/news, 2010). Chapter 2: Opportunities Unlimited 1.1 The Good News Animation is a creative industry and has been once has been the pride of Britain; London particularly has been home to it. My desk research pointed to some of the opportunities available in the following creative areas. I collected information on four creative areas as: stereoscopic content for children anaglyptic content standard stereoscopic content technical products technical and professional category To corroborate the facts I collected from these studies, I will later try to confirm the facts from some of the entrepreneurs I interviewed. Stereoscopic Content for Children My studies led me to the good news, that the British animation films for children are widely appreciated throughout the world. The market for stereoscopic content created for children is likely to grow further with the new technology. Companies producing such children products as breakfast cereals, chocolates, children’s toys now prefer advertisement through action mixed animation and even pure animation products. One of the biggest contributors to this is the new technology. For some time now, the 3D animation with its technological superiority has been producing visual stereoscopic content. For instance, the Lego advertising campaign has been encouraging children to use toy products and convey them effectively the USP of the products with unbelievable clarity. In fact, all type of formats such the anaglyptic (red and blue), (green and magenta), shutter glasses, polarised systems, 3D TV’s, handheld viewers are witnessing demand surge across media types. Moreover, with the announcement of Adobe’s to introduction of their new flash player for making stereoscopic effect compatible with 3D TV’s, monitors and shutter glasses is bound to drive demand for 3D animation further north. Anaglyptic Contents There is good news as far as anaglyptic contents area too. The reason being this year, 3D TVs will be commercially available. This will unleash fresh demand for both stereoscopic and3D animation contents as well. Moreover, the advertising industry which has been one of the most promising order generator for animators, too has promising future due to the fact that “companies, that already use stereoscopic advertising to promote their products through cinema and anaglyptic content for the web are Wrigley with their product 5 gum” (www.colinperrett.co.uk, n.d.). Before the stereoscopic films and internet attraction, the anaglyptic content has been a popular cinema advertising format. Stereoscopic Contents The popularity of internet cite such as Viemeo, and of the cinema formats of stereoscopic adverts released by Coca cola and Haribo, which now show at all the major cinemas on the new Disney technology would contribute towards generating further demand. In addition, the hugely popular foreign advertisement in the anaglyptic format on the web for Ice Pod (the German ice cream maker) produced by studios in Norway show clear indication for demand for animation in general and 3D animation in particular (www.colinperrett.co.uk, n.d.). Technical Products Another area in which there is considerable demand at this moment is in the product promotion category, particularly promotion of technical products using new formats. Already innovative design companies such as Braun and Dyson are advertising their product using mono 3D to demonstrate the unique selling propositions of their products (www.colinperrett.co.uk, n.d.). Technical and Professional Sector Another important emerging category that is now vying for the advertising space is the advertisements for cellular phones, computer spare parts and applications. Some of these companies are already using advanced graphical animations for promotions of their products which are helping them to explain and visualising the components no matter how small they are. The amount of detail and the level of clarity in bringing out the USPs of these products the 3D animation can provide cannot be done with other formats of advertisement including the traditional monoscopic format (www.colinperrett.co.uk, n.d.). 1.2 The Bad News As it always happens in life and in profession, there are two sides to everything - the bright side and the dark side. As Mark Twain wrote in Pudd’nhead (1894), “Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody” Mark Twain, Pudd'nhead Wilson, 1894 The animation industry too has a dark side. Fortunately, its dark side is revealed to us by veterans who have spent a lot of time in the industry. Some of the views I gathered from my research I have placed below. “Animation production in this country, once the envy of the world, has been decreasing at an alarming rate. In England we have lost over 50% of our children’s animation production in a little underfive years, losing jobs, Intellectual Property and money paid in taxes to the government” Stephen Adams, Arts Correspondent of The Telegraph(2009) quoted this statement while airing the concerns of Animation , Greg Boulton and others in their letter to the Deputy Prime Minister, UK. Another view was by David Wood from www.television.com/news, who paints a similar picture of the animation industry. “Rapidly increasing foreign competition coupled with rise of domestic competition is shrinking the pie every year. Especially, revenue consolidation by the large players and new large players entering into the foray such as BBC’s plan to start its own animation studio are enough to wipe out a considerable number of already struggling animation studios.” (David Wood; www.television.com/news, 2010). Given these diverging views I gathered from my desk research, I tried to find out the ground truth; what people in the animation industry think about it. Is the opportunities in the animation industry are real or surreal like the animation job itself? Chapter 3: Idea Circus 3.1 The Ground Truth I tried to find out the truth about the industry from two different sources. These are (1) from the independent entrepreneurs, who run the show; and (2) form the animators who are the actors in the show. I purposefully did not try to approach the big players, as for them the business is a game, it is not an art. I thought the small and medium entrepreneurs are the right people who have risen from ground zero and felt most of the animation industries heat and dust would be more suited for my study than the white coloured executives, for whom this just another money making business, in which passion plays an insignificant role. 3.2 What entrepreneurs think about the industry I prepared a structured set of 10 questions and contacted CEO’s of several Independent animation companies around London. The questions contained a variety of issues such as: 1. Why have you set up an animation company? 2. What were the reasons that you decided to face the animation industry with your own company, instead of joining another? 3. Before you started your company, did you work for another company? And what could be the reasons for leaving it? 4. The animation industry is not like what it used to be 10 years ago. More and more independent companies are being created each day. How competitive do you find the animation industry today for your company? 5. What would you suggest student after graduate to do if they want to set up an animation company? 6. What strategies will you take to make a success of opening an animation company in a recession? 7. Why London? 8. Could you give me your view on independent companies in the animation industry? Do you think it's a field worth going into if other animators were thinking of doing it themselves? 9. Do you think it is the right time to start an animation company in London? 10. Do you think by hiring young talents and then grooming them will be useful? Please elaborate. Three people responded to my requests and replied to me by E-mail. The respondents are Lee Bryan, from _____, Layla Atkinson from ______ and Julia Pott from _____. I have tried to keep the text of their replies intact so that their views is not interpreted or altered in any way. But I tried to group their replies under each questions so that the resemblances and differences in their views about the issues I asked would be discernible. Here are the proceedings of the interviews. Why have you set up an animation company? Julia Pott said, We set up Treat in 2008 because we were finding that when we pitched on projects as a group we were more likely to win the job as we had more people behind us to create animation tests, character stills etc. and when we had a team of people available when we did win the job that we trusted and were comfortable working with to help us realise the film. Lee Bryan said, The opportunity to set up an animation company was there for me in Feb 2009 due to the support of a number of Animation Directors who were willing to continue to be represented for commercial work. Feb 2009 economically wasn’t a great time. The fallout had begun in September 2008, after a slight decline from Feb 2008. It seemed a good idea to continue to represent Directors for commercial and broadcast work at that time, but clearly technology has changed even since this time, and the industry for which we cater for has also gone through radical changes. Layla Atkinson said, I set up Trunk with 2 friends Steve Smith and Siri Melchior. We all studied for masters degrees in animation at the Royal College of Art in London (this is also how I know Susi). Steve and Siri were in the year above me but we knew each other and worked as freelancers in the same places once we’d graduated so we kept in touch. We decided to set up a company together because we wanted to do more original work and to be involved in designing and directing rather than just working as jobbing freelance animators. What were the reasons that you decided to face the animation industry with your own company, instead of joining another? Julia Pott said, Our company is made up of 6 members, most of whom work for or are signed to other companies. I am signed to Picasso Pictures as well as being in Treat and work for both. Alex robinson is represented by Sherbet, both robin and I have worked for passion pictures etc. We did not create the company to rule out working for other companies, it is really just a safety net and a friendly atmosphere to create work. Lee Bryan said, I would have joined another at the time, if it wasn’t for the support of the 9 Director’s that wanted to continue working with us. Layla Atkinson said, We were each reppeddirectors at large animation companies. Steve and I were at Sherbet and Siri was at Passion. These are both great companies but their rosters of more established directors meant that we seldom got the chance to work on our own directing jobs. So we decided to leave and set up a new company where getting our own work would be the priority. Before you started your company, did you work for another company? And what could be the reasons for leaving it? Julia Pott said, I did not leave picasso pictures to work for create treat. When treat was created Picasso pictures brought me in and discussed what would and would not be allowed in terms of my contract and forming my own company. I can basically no direct for a rival production company through treat studios, but I can design characters and work on the animations. Lee Bryan said, I was MD at Bermuda Shorts, an animation company that had been trading for 16 years prior to me joining. It hadn’t been run financially correctly, and was £500,000 in debt when I took over running the company. It started to get back on it’s feet throughout 2007,08 but sadly the recession kicked in, and the debt became to great to pay back. Layla Atkinson said, My answer above answers this I think. Also, if you are picked up as a director at a big company it doesn’t really mean anything, you are just another item in their shop window, the chances that you’ll get directing work are slightly higher but the world definitely isn’t handed to you on a plate and you’d be lucky to get more than a couple of jobs a year. The animation industry is not like what it used to be 10 years ago. More and more independent companies are being created each day. How competitive do you find the animation industry today for your company? Julia Pott said, Its fairly competitive. Often you don’t know how many people you are pitching against, and you find out later through discussion with friends and companies that most other companies were pitching on the same job. It’s tough but a good learning experience. If you don’t win the pitch often it was because the job just wasn’t for you or you weren’t quite at the right ability to realise the project. Lee Bryan said, Good question, and in fact you will see continued growth in Director’s representing themselves by having their own web presence and developing contacts with freelance producers. The production company model in the next two year will begin to diminish, and only the very large ones with some financial support will continue to operate. The production company that you have seen in the past 10 years, will become a th1ng of the past in the next 10. Layla Atkinson said, It is very competitive and we are expected to do more and more work in order to win a pitch for example creating moving tests/animatics etc. before the job is actually won. This is annoying but everyone is fighting for the jobs so you have to try to stand out from everyone else. What would you suggest student after graduate to do if they want to set up an animation company? Julia Pott said, We are really just feeling our way. We created a viral animation to launch our company, ‘Halloween Treat’, sent out emails to people in the industry that we knew with a link to the animation and thankfully work started to come in from that. Through our website and word of mouth people found us and offered us work or representation. We’ve been really lucky. Lee Bryan said, Think twice about it. If it’s small, sole owned and there are maybe two of you that can work from a bedroom, go for it, but make sure that you are web savvy and marketing yourself – but more importantly, doing new and exciting fresh work that no one has seen before – they’ll come looking for you then. Layla Atkinson said, Because I’ve always wanted to be an animator. It’s a great field to work in. Jobs are unpredictable and varied which makes it very interesting. At trunk we work on commercials, pop videos, short films, tour projections, title sequences, interactive websites, all kinds of things, it’s great. What strategies will you take to make a success of opening an animation company in a recession? Julia Pott said, You just have to be dedicated and don’t give up. A lot of us work mainly on our own projects and bring in treat to help when we feel we cannot do it on our own. Lee Bryan said, I clearly wouldn’t know – there is not enough profit within jobs at this point to sustain a company (being an office, employees etc. etc.) Layla Atkinson said, We’ve been established for 7 years. Why London? Julia Pott said, Actually Robin is moving to berlin in march, will crook now lives in zurich and I am moving to new york in October, we’re all ready for a change of scenery from London. But London is great for the animation industry, there’s so many great production houses. Lee Bryan said, It is where I live. I wouldn’t necessarily relocate. If you are passionate about anything you will go anywhere, but the web is your biggest presence, and therefore you can be anywhere to achieve this. Layla Atkinson said, There are lots of great animators based here so it’s easy to assemble teams of top people to work on particular jobs. Who are the target customers and what are the ways to approach them? Julia Pott said, We don’t really have a target customer, we just tend to pursue the jobs we find the most interesting and challenging. Lee Bryan said, Mainly advertising agencies, digital agencies, broadcast companies and any company requiring moving image. There are a number of ways to approach them but the general way of getting work even in these tough times is to have a contact within an organisation that commissions work. This takes time, a lot of leg work, and not upsetting anyone on the way. Layla Atkinson said, I don’t really understand what you’re asking. What are the main difficulties in the industry? Julia Pott said, The competition I suppose. Also having to take criticism and changes from people higher up in the industry who sometimes don’t have much creative experience. It can be quite demoralising at times and sometimes they make sweeping changes to a piece of work without realising quite how much work is entails. Lee Bryan said, The lack of understanding about the difference between broadcast and digital. Sadly digital still doesn’t have a price, and this is 50% of the reason why people are struggling – the other 50% is down to the recession. You may also wish at this stage to consider technology. The home PC user is 5 years away from filming themselves and pressing render to create themselves as an animation. As soon as this happens there will be content everywhere, and skilled labour will become worthless. Layla Atkinson said, Yeah, why not if you’re good enough and are prepared to work extremely hard and long hours with little financial reward. Have a realistic idea of your level of talent though if you’re no good then you won’t get any work and it’ll be a big waste of time and effort. Do you think by hiring young talents and then grooming them will be useful? Please elaborate. Julia Pott said, We like to get in touch with our tutors from Kingston when we need an extra pair of hands on a project, so that we can use current or recently graduated students so that they can gain experience in the industry and get paid work. They always turn out to be great animators and when we need help in the future we go to them first. Lee Bryan said, Young talent have to develop themselves from this point on. All the greats did it, so why can’t you? Anyone who has had a definitive style will get noticed and approached – those merely trying to get a job in the industry from this point will struggle and will have to rely on luck. The monies available in the jobs now aren’t there to be paying someone to develop their creative – you have to do that yourself. There will always be a need though for fresh creative work, but the younger generation are becoming used to seeing film that has been badly shot, not edited properly and has less of a message, so the skills that are being employed at the moment may reduce in the years to come as our language changes. Most importantly, follow your dream. You’ll meet people on the way that share your enthusiasm and purely out of this, things will happen for you and you will come good. Embrace the changes that are occurring every day. Layla Atkinson said, There are definitely more people wanting to work in animation these days and high quality animation is quicker and less complicated to produce but the actual amount of talent out there is the same as it always was, not everyone is cut out to be an animator. I am sent work from students every single day looking for work placements and it’s a rarity to come across anything good. If we do come across someone with talent and we have a job where we can use them we offer them work experience, try to get them up to speed at working at a professional level, work placement people often work very slowly at first. If they impress us with their work and another job comes in where we can use them we will offer them further paid work at a junior level then If they continue to work well we’ll offer them work as senior animators. We’ve done this with quite a few people and it’s really nice to see them developing into professionals. I have tried to find a common strand that runs through the replies of all three respondents, this I will discuss in the next chapter. 3.3 What young animators think about the industry The purpose of this part of my study was to find out how the animators working in the industry think about their industry. It also aimed circumstantially to find out if they think it is advisable to start an animation industry. To find out this I did a survey of the young aspiring professionals and also some professionals who are already in the industry. I called this survey as the ‘talent-pool survey’, as it represented the views of young aspiring animators. I conducted this survey between 26 December 2010 and 30 December 2010. The respondents are mostly the arts students. To get a different perspective, I chose a few participants outside the animation industry. I also included some older participants, working actually in the animation in the industry. For assisting me in the survey, I used a survey engine website namely www.smart –survey.co.uk, which helped with my data statistically. To enable this, I sent the link of the website to the people I knew via facebook and emails and requested them to participate in the survey.. I have placed the questionnaire I used for the survey and the statistical analysis of this work at the Appendix-A. The following figure depicts a summary of the respondents’ gender, age, educational qualification and experience in the industry. Figure 1: Demography of Talent Pool Survey As, it can be seen from the graph above, nearly, 67 percent of the respondents had less than three years of industry experience; while 25 percent had industry experience ranging between 3 to 7 years. The remaining seven percent had more than seven years of experience. The survey had a male bias (61% -male; 39% - female). Nearly, 88 percent respondents were in the age group of 20 years to 40 years. Of the remaining 12 percent, eight percent were below 20 years age and four percent per older than 40 years. Nearly 59 percent of the respondents were undergraduates, while 33 percent had postgraduate qualification. The remaining eight percent had more than postgraduate level qualification. I took the help of the survey-engine website e.g. www.smart-survey.co.uk to statistically presentthe report. After that I took the help of a statistician to analyse and interpret the results of this survey.I have already discussed about the E-mail interview earlier. In the in the next chapter, I will discuss the common strand, I isolated from the interviews of the three people I interviewed. In the same chapter, I will also discuss the major findings of the talent pool survey. Chapter 4:Diagonals and Connections 4.1What I found from the talent pool survey The talent pool survey revealed some of the most intriguing insights. One of the fundamental finding was that there are two types of people in the industry; (1) those who are due to passion for art and animation, and (2) those who are there in the industry, purely because it pays well. I called them the passion-driven and the money-driven people and found that their views are generally divergent from one another. My findings revealed that the number of passion-driven people is more than the money minded ones. I have placed the other findings I made during this survey below: Figure 2: My findings of the talent pool survey I have placed the graphical analysis of the talent pool survey at the Appendix-B. 4.2 What did I find from E-mail interview From the E-mail interviews, I found three important insights: 1. The entrepreneurs believe that the animation industry has become very competitive. 2. Regarding starting an independent company, the respondents believe that, if it is a very small company with just two three people working from the bedroom, then it is advisable. Employing people and having infrastructure may not be profitable. Besides, one has to be talented and be ready to work extremely hard and for long hours with little financial rewards, only then one should consider starting an independent company. Further, one has to be computer savvy in order to avail the benefits of technology. 3. The respondents were not very much optimistic about the animation industry as a whole. Figure 3: Findings from E-mail interview Chapter 5: Beyond Architecture 4.1. Conclusions The fact that close to 70 percent of the talent pool believed that the industry has now become a great place to work with, and also since a larger portion of passion-driven animators were optimistic about the future of the animation industry, this implies that, it is advisable to open an independent animation company in UK. However, starting an animation industry requires much more than to be mere passion-driven or money-driven. The animation production process needs creating thousands of images and backgrounds of the objects (digital-vector.com, n.d.), which requires a combination of both computer skill and artistic talent. These peculiarities make the animation industry unique. In addition to these talents, setting up an animation studio requires a combination of many skills including entrepreneurship, marketing and selling, advertisement and branding, human resource management and above all management of cash flow. Therefore, I conclude that in spite of many disadvantages, the future of animation industry in the short and medium run looks promising due to opening up new opportunities. To take advantages of the emerging prospects, it is right time to set up an animation company.However, the respondents felt that though there is scope for very small specialised independent companies, spending on infrastructure and people during the initial days may not be profitable, hence due precaution is to be taken. Besides, the new independent company must be computer savvy so as to cope up with the technological advancements and also to benefit from it. However, given the strong outlook for the coming years and the already existing market for Britain’s animation product, and also due to the thriving animation industry clusters, it is imperative that another animation company can very well be accommodated. Besides, it will meet allied requirement such as personnel requirements, and meet legal and environmental obligations. My study has many limitations. Most of these are usually faced by a novice student researcher, such as (1) the study was limited to a very small group of people, (2) insufficient resources, and (3) more importantly my limited understanding in how to do research. However, despite these defects, I am confident that my study will be able to contribute substantially towards development of knowledge in this field of study. 4.2 Recommendations Based on my desk research and the surveys and interviews I found that presently, the young animators are unaware of the difficulties through which the industry is going through. I recommend that this gap in perception need to be effectively reduced, for which I recommended the following: 1. Frequent industry-academia interactions. 2. Useful information need to be made available to the young animators through authentic sources such as government and industry-association websites. 3. In addition, the animation industry big-wigs need to periodically publish key information relating to the industry. 4. In addition, it is recommended that more such studies be encouraged through sponsorship and funding so that this vibrant and promising industry never loses out for want of insights. I summarised my recommendations in the figure below. *********** Bibliography 1. Abdulghani, A., n.d. What is the best way to go about starting an animation studio?. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "http://www.crowsanimation.com/animationstudio.pdf" http://www.crowsanimation.com/animationstudio.pdf [Accessed 23 December 2010]. 2. Anon., n.d. 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[Online] The Telegraph Available at: HYPERLINK "http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/6598511/Animation-industry-could-be-extinct-in-five-years.html" http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/6598511/Animation-industry-could-be-extinct-in-five-years.html [Accessed 2 December 2010]. 23. Subotnick, S., 2002. Animation in the Home Digital Studio: Creation to Distribution. Burlington: Focal Press. 24. Trochim, W.M.K., 1998. Research Methods. Electronic Edition ed. Trochim, William M.K. 25. ukanimation.blogspot.com, 2010. The Lost Continent : Exploring the art and History of British Animaiton - Save UK Animation. [Online] (UK Animation Blogpost) Available at: HYPERLINK "http://ukanimation.blogspot.com/2010/08/save-uk-animation.html" http://ukanimation.blogspot.com/2010/08/save-uk-animation.html [Accessed 20 December 2010]. 26. Williams, R., 2001. The Animator's Survival Kit. 1st ed. New York: Faber and Faber Inc. 27. Wilson, D., 2010. Time to stop treating animation industry like a Mickey Mouse outfit. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "http://www.walletpop.co.uk/2010/06/05/time-to-stop-treating-animation-industry-like-a-mickey-mouse-out/" http://www.walletpop.co.uk/2010/06/05/time-to-stop-treating-animation-industry-like-a-mickey-mouse-out/ [Accessed 27 December 2010]. 28. www.colinperrett.co.uk, n.d. 3DStyle: Business Plan. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "http://www.colinperrett.co.uk/Files/BusinesPlan3DStyle.pdf" http://www.colinperrett.co.uk/Files/BusinesPlan3DStyle.pdf [Accessed 2 December 2010]. 29. www.myanimations.co.uk, 2010. How to set up an animation studio tutorial. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "http://www.myanimations.co.uk/how-to-set-up-an-animation-studio-tutorial" http://www.myanimations.co.uk/how-to-set-up-an-animation-studio-tutorial [Accessed 2 December 2010]. 30. www.skillset.org, 2004. New Entrants Training in the UK Animation Industry. [Online] SKILLSET Available at: HYPERLINK "http://www.skillset.org/uploads/pdf/asset_3767.pdf" http://www.skillset.org/uploads/pdf/asset_3767.pdf [Accessed 22 December 2010]. Website References 1. www.studioaka.co.uk 2. www.sherbet.co.uk 3. www.passion-pictures.com 4. www.picassopictures.com 5. www.ulimeyer.com 6. www.dneg.com 7. www.eca.ac.uk  8. www.framestore-cfc.com 9. www.the-mill.com Appendix A Information to Respondents Prior to Survey (For Professionals and Students) Dear Respondent, The animation industry is cruising through challenging times while exploring new territories in terms of technology and content delivery. Your company being established in the business for quite some time, I need your expert views on the business and nuances of setting up an animation company in U.K. Your ideas and views will be highly useful for shaping up the industry and as well motivate young academics. Please note: this is an academic requirement. The contents, views and ides expressed by you will be confidential. Moreover, these being collected on anonymously, it will not reflect any of your personal or official particulars. On completion of the study, the transcripts will be destroyed by me personally. I also assure you that the content of the interview will not be used for commercial purposes. Thanking you for your valuable time. Sincerely, XXXXXX E-mail:xxxxxx Cell: XXXXXX Questionnaire for Talent Pool (For Professionals and Students) Please answer the questions you think best describes the issue. Sl. Issue Strongly disagree Disagree Can’t say Agree Strongly Agree 1 I decided to be part of the animation industry because of my passion towards its. 2. I decided to be part of the animation industry because it pays well. 3. My future is bright in this industry. 4 I think the industry will grow strong in future. 5. Mushrooming of many independent companies is due to availability of plenty of work. 6. There is still plenty of scope for more independent companies to be accommodated in this industry 7. I think over a period of time, the industry will consolidate and only a few companies will survive. 8. I like to work for an established company, rather than opening my own. 9. Young people are changing the course of this industry. 10. I like to work in the main stream animation industry. 11. I like to work in the specialised effects industry. 12. I like to work in the associated industry. 13. The sources of business for start-up industry are from overseas orders. 14. Domestic orders will be primary sources of revenue for start-up companies 15. I think it is very difficult to start an animation industry in UK. 16. The animation industry is not like what it used be 10 years ago. It has become a great industry to work. 17. I think more and more independent companies are being created each day. 18. The animation industry has become very competitive today. 19. The main reason why more and more companies are starting-up is firstly due to money, secondly due to unemployment, and thirdly because of passion. 20. I think smaller companies will be more successful if they focus just on one field of animation? For instance: Visual Effects in Water, 3d Environments or a company that rigs models Please tell us about yourself. 1. I am a male / female. 2. I am in the age group of : Below 20 20 – 40 41 and above 3. My educational qualification is: Under graduate Graduate Post graduate 4. I have _____ years’ experience in the industry. Less than 3 years Between 3 to 7 years More than 7 years Appendix B Statistical Interpretation of Animation Talent Pool Survey   1. I decided to be part of the animation industry because of my passion towards it. Response Percent Response Total 1 Strongly Disagree 2% 1 2 Disagree 8.2% 4 3 Can't say 22.4% 11 4 Agree 42.9% 21 5 Strongly Agree 24.5% 12 Statistics based on 49 respondent(s). 1 skipped.   2. I decided to be part of the animation industry because it pays well. Response Percent Response Total 1 Strongly Disagree 4% 2 2 Disagree 26% 13 3 Can't say 32% 16 4 Agree 28% 14 5 Strongly Agree 10% 5 Statistics based on 50 respondent(s). 0 skipped.   3. My future is bright in this industry. Response Percent Response Total 1 Strongly Disagree 12% 6 2 Disagree 10% 5 3 Can't say 38% 19 4 Agree 26% 13 5 Strongly Agree 14% 7 Statistics based on 50 respondent(s). 0 skipped.   4. I think the industry will grow strong in future. Response Percent Response Total 1 Strongly Disagree 2% 1 2 Disagree 10% 5 3 Can't say 22% 11 4 Agree 24% 12 5 Strongly Agree 42% 21 Statistics based on 50 respondent(s). 0 skipped.   5. Mushrooming of many independent companies is due to availability of plenty of work. Response Percent Response Total 1 Strongly Disagree 4% 2 2 Disagree 16% 8 3 Can't say 48% 24 4 Agree 24% 12 5 Strongly Agree 8% 4 Statistics based on 50 respondent(s). 0 skipped.   6. There is still plenty of scope for more independent companies to be accommodated in this industry. Response Percent Response Total 1 Strongly Disagree 2% 1 2 Disagree 18% 9 3 Can't say 34% 17 4 Agree 44% 22 5 Strongly Agree 2% 1 Statistics based on 50 respondent(s). 0 skipped.   7. I think over a period of time, the industry will consolidate and only a few companies will survive. Response Percent Response Total 1 Strongly Disagree 8.2% 4 2 Disagree 26.5% 13 3 Can't say 24.5% 12 4 Agree 32.7% 16 5 Strongly Agree 8.2% 4 Statistics based on 49 respondent(s). 1 skipped.   8. I like to work for an established company, rather than opening my own. Response Percent Response Total 1 Strongly Disagree 10% 5 2 Disagree 30% 15 3 Can't say 18% 9 4 Agree 30% 15 5 Strongly Agree 12% 6 Statistics based on 50 respondent(s). 0 skipped.   9. Young people are changing the course of animation industry. Response Percent Response Total 1 Strongly Disagree 6.1% 3 2 Disagree 10.2% 5 3 Can't say 26.5% 13 4 Agree 38.8% 19 5 Strongly Agree 18.4% 9 Statistics based on 49 respondent(s). 1 skipped.   10. I like to work in the main stream animation industry. Response Percent Response Total 1 Strongly Disagree 4.1% 2 2 Disagree 16.3% 8 3 Can't say 20.4% 10 4 Agree 44.9% 22 5 Strongly Agree 14.3% 7 Statistics based on 49 respondent(s). 1 skipped.   11. I like to work in the specialised effects industry. Response Percent Response Total 1 Strongly Disagree 6.1% 3 2 Disagree 10.2% 5 3 Can't say 36.7% 18 4 Agree 40.8% 20 5 Strongly Agree 6.1% 3 Statistics based on 49 respondent(s). 1 skipped.   12. I like to work in the associated industry. Response Percent Response Total 1 Strongly Disagree 6.1% 3 2 Disagree 12.2% 6 3 Can't say 38.8% 19 4 Agree 36.7% 18 5 Strongly Agree 6.1% 3 Statistics based on 49 respondent(s). 1 skipped.   13. The sources of business for start-up industry are from overseas orders. Response Percent Response Total 1 Strongly Disagree 0% 0 2 Disagree 24.5% 12 3 Can't say 38.8% 19 4 Agree 28.6% 14 5 Strongly Agree 8.2% 4 Statistics based on 49 respondent(s). 1 skipped.   14. Domestic orders will be primary sources of revenue for start-up companies. Response Percent Response Total 1 Strongly Disagree 4.1% 2 2 Disagree 4.1% 2 3 Can't say 36.7% 18 4 Agree 38.8% 19 5 Strongly Agree 16.3% 8 Statistics based on 49 respondent(s). 1 skipped.   15. I think it is very difficult to start an animation industry in UK. Response Percent Response Total 1 Strongly Disagree 6.1% 3 2 Disagree 16.3% 8 3 Can't say 24.5% 12 4 Agree 44.9% 22 5 Strongly Agree 8.2% 4 Statistics based on 49 respondent(s). 1 skipped.   16. The animation industry is not like what it used to be 10 years ago. It has become a great industry to work. Response Percent Response Total 1 Strongly Disagree 2% 1 2 Disagree 10.2% 5 3 Can't say 18.4% 9 4 Agree 40.8% 20 5 Strongly Agree 28.6% 14 Statistics based on 49 respondent(s). 1 skipped.   17. I think more and more independent companies are being created each day. Response Percent Response Total 1 Strongly Disagree 0% 0 2 Disagree 15.2% 7 3 Can't say 21.7% 10 4 Agree 54.3% 25 5 Strongly Agree 8.7% 4 Statistics based on 46 respondent(s). 4 skipped.   18. The animation industry has become very competitive today. Response Percent Response Total 1 Strongly Disagree 4.1% 2 2 Disagree 8.2% 4 3 Can't say 8.2% 4 4 Agree 38.8% 19 5 Strongly Agree 40.8% 20 Statistics based on 49 respondent(s). 1 skipped.   19. The main reason why more and more companies are starting-up is firstly due to money, secondly due to unemployment, and thirdly because of passion. Response Percent Response Total 1 Strongly Disagree 6.2% 3 2 Disagree 18.8% 9 3 Can't say 31.2% 15 4 Agree 35.4% 17 5 Strongly Agree 8.3% 4 Statistics based on 48 respondent(s). 2 skipped.   20. I think smaller companies will be more successful if they focus just one field of animation? For instance: Visual Effects in Water, 3d Environments or a company that rigs models Response Percent Response Total 1 Strongly Disagree 4.2% 2 2 Disagree 22.9% 11 3 Can't say 20.8% 10 4 Agree 39.6% 19 5 Strongly Agree 12.5% 6 Statistics based on 48 respondent(s). 2 skipped.   21. Please tell us about yourself. Response Percent Response Total 1 I am a male 61.2% 30 2 I am a female 38.8% 19 Statistics based on 49 respondent(s). 1 skipped.   22. I am in the age group of : Response Percent Response Total 1 Below 20 8.2% 4 2 20-40 87.8% 43 3 41 and above 4.1% 2 Statistics based on 49 respondent(s). 1 skipped.   23. My educational qualification is : Response Percent Response Total 1 Under graduate 59.2% 29 2 Graduate 32.7% 16 3 Post graduate 8.2% 4 Statistics based on 49 respondent(s). 1 skipped.   24. I have ____ years' experience in the industry. Response Percent Response Total 1 Less than 3 years 67.3% 33 2 Between 3 to 7 years 24.5% 12 3 More than 7 years 8.2% 4 Statistics based on 49 respondent(s). 1 skipped. Read More