Animation Farm

At a time when everyone was outsourcing animation work to India, Tilak Shetty and Munjal Shroff decided to create some intellectual property. That was the beginning of Graphiti Multimedia in 2002, till then known for its advertising films. They had an edge as both had started out under Ram Mohan, considered the guru of animation in India.

Main markets: US 40% EUROPE 30% Rest * 30% Differentiator: Create intellectual property, or IP, by coming up with an idea, writing the script, developing the story board and screen play and finally doing the animation Customers: Several TV and mobile networks across the US and Europe Business: Creating original animated content that entertains, educates and engages the audiences First order: In 2005 *Asia and others

Their first success came a year later, when Star TV asked them to create an animated character for a game show. Graphiti did a 30-second genie, which was well accepted. "It was during this time that Rakesh Roshan's Koi Mil Gaya hit the screens and the alien character Jadoo became a hit with kids. We thought of creating an animated version for a TV series," says Shroff, the Chief Operating Officer. With Roshan's permission, they did a TV series based on it.

But the big break came when they met Joanna Ferrone, the creator of the 7 UP brand icon Fido, at a trade show in 2005, and bagged their first foreign co-production deal. It was for The World of OO, a fun-filled thematic learning concept for toddlers that Ferrone had conceptualised. Ferrone says she was "very impressed" with Graphiti's work but was not really thinking of outsourcing animation. "But I realised that Graphiti could not only deliver world-class animation but inform the creative process in a highly dynamic fashion," she says.

Tilak Shetty, Co-founder and CEO, says: "We create IPs… Outsourcing is a cheap-labour game." They now own five IPs. But there are challenges. "The cycle of creating an IP is at least two years. So it's a long but fruitful wait," he says. Precisely why Graphiti continues with the advertising business for the domestic market and has an animation school as well.

- Anusha Subramanian