Monday, November 14, 2011

The poor state of China's animation industry - Bill Dodson

Bill Dodson
China's animation industry has trying to promote itself on the international market, writes business veteran Bill Dodson on his weblog. But they gain mostly domestic customers, as quality does not meet international expectations.

Bill Dodson:
Now that I have a toddler of my own I find myself flicking through local Chinese TV stations to find children’s programming that’s interesting for ME to watch. It doesn’t exist – at least, the stuff that’s domestically made. It’s all South-Park style animation – flat, basic shapes put together with citrus-sliced smiles. South Park animators, though, draw their characters with affect. Chinese domestic animators, I think, don’t have the budgets or the delivery schedules or the skills or the technology or the patience to produce Japanese-style animations (anime). I think the best Chinese animators are working for the gaming industry, where they can copy World of Warcraft and other popular universes. 
Of course, salary inflation in China and salary deflation in the West have rebalanced the flow of animation work, dealing a blow not just to animation as a services outsourcing industry, but also to software application development, back office administration and other long-distance support services. 
Seeing Chinese services outsourcing for international customers on the same scale as Indian-style platforms is as likely as seeing a well-drawn children’s animated feature come out of China with international appeal. A very long shot at best.
More on Bill Dodson's weblog

Bill Dodson is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch, or fill in our speakers' request form.

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