Bucking the downtrend in the global entertainment industry, Hyderabad-based DQ Entertainment (DQE), a gaming and animation company, is scaling up plans.
Signs $94 m animation contracts; will hire 400-500
BANGALORE: Bucking the downtrend in the global entertainment industry, Hyderabad-based DQ Entertainment (DQE), a gaming and animation company, is scaling up plans.
The company has bagged contracts worth $94 million with various entertainment houses, which will be executed over the next two years.
Sumedha Saraogi, vice president, DQE, said: “The firm will hire 400-500 additional people in the next six months, taking the total headcount to 4,000 for meeting the production requirement.”
The animation industry in India is growing at a scorching pace, and is estimated to touch Rs 4,000 crore in 2012 from its current size of Rs 1,300 crore. Domestic demand will give a fillip to growth, said a PwC-Ficci report.
On the home turf, DQE, listed on the Alternative Investment Market of the LSE, has inked an agreement with Turner Networks Asia (Tena) for two animated features for television. Balkand and Ravan, created and produced by DQE, will premiere on Tena’s children’s channels in India next year.
“This strategic collaboration is in line with our objective of producing first-class content for Indian audiences,” said Tapaas Chakravarti, chairman and CEO, DQE Group.
Joining the bandwagon, UTV has lined up four domestic animation productions — Arjun, directed by Arnab Chaudhuri, Dream Blanket, directed by Ice Age animator Simi Nallaseth, Alibaba, Chinku and the 40 Thieves directed by Soumitra Ranade and Krishna directed by Rakeysh Mehra, according to the Ficci-PwC report.
DQE is also in talks with the West Bengal government to acquire rights for stories based on works by Satyajit Ray and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.
In the next 4-5 months, DQE will produce two new animation series — Fanboy &
Chum Chum and a spin off of Penguins of Madagascar — for Nickelodeon USA. The original Penguins is a computer-animated short film produced by DreamWorks
Animation.
It is set to co-produce the second season of the Large Family, which chronicles the daily lives of a pachyderm family. The sequel will be a traditional 2D animation series with a budget estimation of $3.2 billion and will debut in 2009.
It is also set to produce a TV series based on Geronimo Stilton, a popular children’s book with a heady mix of adventure and humour. The series will be produced with Italy’s Atlantica Entertainment and France’s MoonScoop Productions.
The company has a basket of deals in France, where it will co-produce a Little Nick TV series, which showcases the adventures of a little boy. The property is created by Rene Goscinny, one of the two creators of the Asterix comics.
DQE has also entered inot a joint venture with French production houses to co-produce the adventures of the Little Prince, an animated television series originally written by Antoine de Saint-Exupery in 1943. The €18 million end-to-end deal will be aired by French television biggies France 2 and France 3.
DQE acquired 20% stake in Method Films in 2008, which produces content for broadcasters like Nickelodeon and BBC. In December 2007, the company raised $56 million through a listing on the AIM.
DQE has four animation production centres in India and an overseas wing in the Philippines.
shilpa_p@dnaindia.net 
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}