CICT sees creative content industry overtaking OFW remittances in 5 years
June 13, 2011 at 18:45
The Philippines’ creative content industry will haul in $9 billion revenues this year, from $7.2 billion in 2009 and if the government can support the animation sector, revenues will hit $25 billion by 2016, outdoing Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) remittances, the country’s highest dollar-earner, according to Commission on Information Technology and Communications (CICT) Secretary Ivan John Uy.
Long established as one of the world’s best destinations for voice-based BPO, the Philippines should now strive to be a world leader in creative process outsourcing (CPO) and knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) which cover animation and game development industries, music and sound engineering, advertising, film, industrial design, architecture, comics, photography, publishing, writing and conceptualization.
“This year, OFW remittances will reach $17 Billion but the creative content industry will exceed that in the next five years,” he stressed. “Creative content will be the driver of economic growth in our interconnected world. It accounts for majority of IT use from gaming to social networking and has the highest value added. Everyone is a consumer of creative product, from education, work, leisure and entertainment.
It is leading employment, trade and innovation around the world.”
The CICT Secretary sees a transformation from information knowledge to creative economy with a changing pattern of cultural consumption that promotes social inclusion as well as economic growth.
This bodes well for the 30-year old local animation industry. The sector is composed of 100 companies serving different animation outputs, half of which are accredited members of the Animation Council of the Philippines, Inc. (ACPI), 10,000 artists- animators, background artists, graphic artists and digital painters combined, according to ACPI Managing Director Grace Dimaranan.
Animation deals with the rapid display of sequence images to produce an illusion of movement. Although the Philippines could not produce much original animated films in the market, commercial animation for companies doing television advertising provided a thriving source of income in the early years. However, because of minimal compensation, many Filipino animators preferred to work abroad.
Still, international animation studios, such as Burbank and Hanna Barbera, set up their own affiliate studios in the country as early as the 1980s to tap local talent.
In 1986, TOEI, a 100% Japanese owned company that produces majority of the Anime series, based their studio in the Philippines as well. The 1990′s saw the golden age of animation outsourcing, with Fil Cartoons providing in-house training to local animators and Walt Disney sending teachers in the country.
Other international clients include Warner Brothers, Cartoon Network, HBO, Marvel Comics and Nervana.
The sophisticated talent and creative instinct of Filipino animators make the Philippines the preferred outsourcing partner of big international production outfits worldwide.
Aside from the lower cost of services, Filipino animators’ core advantage over competitors is consistent quality and output delivery speed plus the ability to comprehend concepts and storylines better than their Asian counterparts on top of being Westernized and fluent in English.
Recently, CICT launched its Creative Content Development project: “UNBOXED! A Collection of Works from Some of the Philippines Most Inspired Creatives’ at the SM Megamall Cinema 1, featuring a computer game entitled “Jeepney ni Jan Jan”, a 42-minute animated short film entitled “Pasintabi” and Seven Animation Instructional Videos entitled “From Lines to Life: An Introduction to Animation” to inspire and bring out the creativity among the youth.
“CICT pursues important creative projects for commercial and non-commercial materials,” Uy pointed out. “The use of IT is a beacon in these times and CPO is a coping mechanism for economic crisis.”
For its part, the private sector maintains that the creative content industry, and the animation sector in particular, is well prepared for rapid growth. Industry-academe-government collaboration is strong. Philippine schools and training centers around the country have increased their capacity for educating and developing young animators.
Already, the private sector has partnered with the Department of Education (DepEd) to train technical-vocational high school teachers from different parts of the country in the fields of animation, visual arts and graphics design and with TESDA (Technical Education and Sills Development Authority) for training regulations and assessment tools for schools offering animation courses.
This year, the Philippines expects some 25,000 graduates, industry-ready animators that can handle the global business demand.
For the original article by Manila Bulletin, click here.
