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Sankar Radhakrishnan

A STUDIO AT TOONS ANIMATION - S Mahinha

Thiruvananthapuram , Dec 17

Toonz Animation India is entering new businesses such as developing computer games and producing animated feature films.

"The focus so far has been on animation for television," Mr P. Jayakumar, CEO, told Business Line.

Now, the Thiruvananthapuram-based company is training its sights on new areas such as gaming, producing animated feature films and merchandising and licensing, he added.

The company's gaming division is expected to start functioning on April 1 next year. It will develop games for all platforms including mobiles, personal computers and game consoles.

Most of the gaming division's work will be for the international market. The division will start with a 50-member team, but its headcount is expected to touch 300 by the end of 2007, Mr Jayakumar said.

Over the next three years, Toonz plans to invest $5 million in the organic growth of its gaming division. However, the company is also looking at acquisitions in this area and has identified potential targets.

It expects to spend $30-40 million on these acquisitions, he said. Meanwhile, the company has recently signed a three-film deal with Paramount Home Entertainment to produce animated feature films. Dragonlance, the first film covered by this agreement, is already under production and will be followed by two animated feature films. Toonz is also in the process of finalising more deals to produce such films, Mr Jayakumar said. Besides, Toonz has forayed into merchandising and licensing and has set up a separate company to manage this business.

The company has the merchandising and licensing rights to all characters of Marvel comics, including popular characters such as Spiderman. It views the merchandising and licensing business as a big opportunity, he said.

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