The Hindu Business Line : Focus on animation puts Crest back in black

A FOCUSED approach to computer-generated animation aided by beefed-up manpower and facilities has helped Crest Communication Ltd to return to profitability, a senior official of the company said.

In the last six months, Crest Communication has been recruiting animators; taking the number from 124 at the end of December 2003 quarter to 268 animators by the end of June 2004. During the September quarter, another 40 animators are likely to be recruited. Alongside, it has been ramping up facilities to cater to the growing computer animation business.

Crest turned in a net profit of Rs 57.76 lakh for the quarter ending June 2004 against a net loss of Rs 186.24 crore in the year-ago period. Income rose to Rs 6.88 crore as against Rs 4.43 crore in the year-ago period. Much of Crest's revenues come from overseas projects, with domestic assignments accounting for five per cent of its topline.

Crest believes its turning point on the international market came after one of the TV series `The Adventures of Piggley Winks' was nominated for Annie Awards, a major recognition for the animation industry.

``We started getting assignments following this nomination, and therefore started scaling up our people as well as facilities,'' said Mr Abhay Bhalerao, Vice-President (Corporate Strategy & Finance), Crest Communications Ltd.

Currently, Crest is involved in three projects. ``Computer animation business involves long contracts. Unlike general television programming, it is non-linear. First, we have to create all the characters, background and sets and then start delivering episodes,'' Mr Bhalerao said. Each of the serials with an average 24 episodes could take as much as 12-15 months for completion.

With more projects coming Crest's way, the need for hiring animators has become critical. ``There is a lead-time before each of the newly-recruited animators get down to work because of the adjustment time involved. Although there is talent, experience is an issue,'' he said.

The benefits of the incremental capacity in terms of added personnel and facilities will play up positively in the balance sheet of Crest over the next few quarters, Mr Bhalerao said.

Having shed its traditional business, Crest's decision to focus on computer-generated animation is expected to pay off considerably in terms of its bottom line mainly because of the strong shift from 2D to computer animation. ``There are not too many companies in this area that can capture this shift and convert it into an opportunity,'' he said.

A series of successful films in the genre of computer animation has turned the tides for this industry.