Ketan Mehta opens new studio at Film City

“We sold our animation training institute MAAC (Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics) to Aptech last year. In just a few years,it became one of the biggest institutes in the country with 70 centres across the country training the highest number of professionals in the animation and VFX industry. The sale allowed us regain complete control of our studio Maya Digital,” Mehta informs.

Mehta,along with wife,producer and director Deepa Sahi moved into the new digital visual effects studio last week. He speaks on his plans for the future of his studio. “We want to make Maya into a world-class studio that can compete internationally. It will be based out of Mumbai and Goa. While the Mumbai centre will cater to Indian films,the Goa centre will look after our international assignments. We have also zeroed in Frank Foster,one of the pioneers of computer animation in Hollywood to run the studio and take it to the next level,” informed Mehta.

Frank Foster is the former and original founding Vice-President of Sony Pictures Imageworks based in USA and has taken over as Senior Director and COO of the studio operations of Maya Digital.

Foster brings a wealth of experience in studio management,having set up Sony Picture Imageworks USA,the first major CG school and studio in China (Shenzhen) and producing one of the first CG feature films in China with French comic book legend Moebius. Foster also spent two years as CEO of Tigar Hare Studios in North Hollywood where he outsourced many projects to India.

When asked why he was willing to shift his family to India,Foster responded,“There are so many new opportunities now for digital filmmaking in India. When we started,outsourcing was considered too risky,now it’s the other way around. Having done it in so many countries for years,believe that India is unusually qualified because of its education system,the common use of English and through its large domestic film industry,which allows the actual understanding of cinema. I’m convinced India is set to become the international hub for computer animation.” Mehta added that very soon,Western filmmakers will look to India for their VFX and animation needs from current hotspots like China and Korea.

In a release sent by Maya Digital Studios,Ravi Gupta of Mukta Arts said,“The synergy between Maya and Mukta Arts will bring about a qualitative change in Indian film industry. Technology and creativity is going to drive the future of entertainment and this studio will be at the cutting edge of this trend for India.”

Mehta said that the deal with Mukta Arts came out of mutual necessity. “We wanted to expand and move into a bigger space,something that Mukta Arts had. They,on the other hand,have a share in almost every pie of the film business except for a digital studio. The synergy was obvious,” he explained.

Mehta said that the future of digital studios was all set to register a boom. “Look at the amount of effects we are putting in our movies over the past couple of years compared to even ten years ago. There’s a huge difference and with new genres and technology-savvy filmmakers coming into the business,the need for visual effects studios is only set to go up,” he said.

The producer-director,however,fumbled when asked what would be the USP of his studio,considering establishing players have already created their mark. “Maya Digital Studio is being headed by a filmmaker. The expertise that comes from someone who knows all aspects of a film cannot be discounted,” he offered.

Maya Digital Studio will operate from Film City in Mumbai and has begun taking up assignments.

priyanko.sarkar@expressindia.com