Ronnie Screwvalla’s UTV Toons Plans Expansion In Animation

Animation Express: Don’t write off Ronnie Screwvalla from animation business yet. While several others like DQ Entertainment of Hyderabad were hitting the headlines regularly, Screwvalla’s UTV Toons, which has been in animation business since 1995-96, has remained silent in the last couple of years. Call it “stealth mode”. Now it seems Screwvalla has some major plans up his sleeve in the animation space.
He spills the beans with Animation Express. He says at “UTV, our entire thrust is to regain a leadership position in animation because we believe that we understand this business better than anyone else…the animation business is sometimes cyclical. UTV being a 360 degree media and entertainment company, and animation currently being only 2 per cent of our revenue, we are in a better position to take the cyclical pattern of the animation business in our stride. Looking forward animation is definitely a thrust and the highest priority area for UTV”.
Screwvalla will have all three models – outsourcing, co production and producing original content. Co-production means making equal investments and having a share in the worldwide profits, “just the way we do in our movie business”. He is currently working on 15 direct-to-home movies for the North American market, and is planning two animated movies within the next three months, aimed at the Asian Diaspora worldwide. The company has invested around Rs 25 crore ($5.5 million) in equipment, infrastructure and other areas, and will soon reach 500-seater capacity.

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