Where is the new animation destination of the world?

In a global village, collaboration can occur in every corner of the world. Right now, Asia’s voice is as loud as it has ever been. The region’s influence is growing and major cities like Singapore have become catalysts for the creative world.

Rather than seeing creative geo-centric offices lead projects from the US or Europe, Asia is now sparking the debate and precipitating world-class media projects.

Predicting this kind of development back in the 1960s was author and media analyst Marshall McLuhan, who saw the influence of technology contributing to a removal of global boundaries.

While applicable to many different industries, this trend is very apparent right now to those in creative circles. A common “wired” knowledge of contemporary culture – new storytelling techniques, references and influences – is essential for the vernacular between collaborators on a project.

And in the world of cartoons, kids’ entertainment and CGI content, Singapore has shown that it can contribute on a global stage.

“The new electronic independence re-creates the world in the image of a global village.”
Marshall McLuhan, author, philosopher and media analyst

The notion of electronic independence is hardly new. But even 50 years after McLuhan expressed his visionary theories on the Global Village the sentiment still resonates strongly.

In a more decentralised animation industry, there is a shift away from traditional powerhouses. Western creative knowledge-based ecosystems, such as Los Angeles, typically defined overseas collaboration as “outsourcing”.

Virtual reality
Location-agnostic examples exist already. A leading Asian kids’ entertainment channel engaged a studio in Singapore for the CG collaboration for a recent feature-length TV movie.

In the same project, a Hong Kong-based creative team steered the overall production whilst engaging a US-based director. It was a perfect example of a large-scale venture initiated in Asia and using key resources from right across the globe.

The industry has witnessed the birth of Asia-based virtual studios. Contributions to Asian projects are now being accepted from a wide array of knowledge centres and they leverage truly global talent. Singapore is no exception and has some real pulling power.

“Singapore has excellent infrastructure, strong IP protection and a highly-skilled digital workforce. Our home-grown studios cut their teeth by producing for projects generated overseas, but are increasingly investing to develop and co-own intellectual properties with partners from as far as the UK, the US and Japan,” says Aubeck Kam, CEO of the Media Development Authority of Singapore.

Speaking the same language
With its knowledge-based economy, Singapore is well aware that it needs to promote its skills to participate on the world stage. In a global village, communication is paramount and local studios already understand the visual language of animation.

“Beyond our support for animation production, Singapore is also committed to supporting research that will power future innovations in animation,” continues Mr Kam. “The city has a cluster of universities, polytechnics and training institutions that are producing future generations of animation talent.”

The ultimate success of the Global Village – and Singapore’s status within it – is as much down to culture as anything else. People are more alike than they are different and, while audiences appreciate culturally-relevant content, we are seeing a meeting of minds across the world.

Connecting through content
Animators always need to create fun, fearless and relatable content for kids. The region’s increasing cultural homogeny through the internet and its sharpened, “wired” skillset are a boon to Asian studios.

Through the Internet, kids in Singapore can latch on to a new trend that originated on the other side of the world within 24 seconds. The Global Village is here and is open for business.

Mark Eyers is Chief Content Officer at Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific, Inc. Mark oversees the acquisitions, original production, programming for Boomerang, Cartoon Network, TCM and truTV in Asia Pacific; POGO and WB in South Asia; Tabi and MondoTV in Japan; and QTV in Korea. He lived in Singapore from 1996 to 2003.