MediAvataar MENA  caught up with Mukund Cairae, President - Toonz Media Networks to discuss the animation culture that exists within the Middle East and North Africa 

Here is the complete interview...

1.You have had a long leadership role in Zee Entertainment. How is the broadcast learning helping at  Toonz Media Group ?

The value that can be derived from a rich library and focussed re direction(not repurposing) of that library is a vital learning. Engaging users in every country is a function of finding the relevant touch point in video that strikes a chord and of users relating to that content. Delivery of content is seeing a massive change and technology is helping in effective cost reduction.

2.What are the Challenges Facing the Arab Animation Cinema?

The life cycle between ideation and finished product are 12 – 18 months. The content has to be one that can travel globally. Currently one is yet to see such content being created.

3.The diversity of the Middle East provides both challenges and opportunities on content creation. Your response to this?

I couldn’t agree more on this. There are extremely talented creators in the region be it GCC, Levant, Maghreb or Egypt. The region however is not the United States of Arabiya, from a language perspective with clear divides on accents and association of a particular accent(mainly due to legacy) with certain types of foreign content. Breaking the stereotype therefore becomes the main challenge.

Funding of projects too is a challenge with short form digital content becoming the norm.

4.There is a vibrant animation culture that exists within the Middle East and North Africa giving rise to a whole new generation of entrepreneurs and artists. Your thoughts? 

UAE, Jordan and KSA seem to be the driving countries fostering this young breed of content creators. Multiple countries in Europe and the Pacific have some good tax rebates/subsidies that encourage local talent to create and distribute content. 

5.How do you plan to monetize Toonz’s content in various geographies across the globe, especially in the Middle East market?

The focus will be to create localised platforms(linear or on demand) in various regions globally to appeal to the local audience. Using our rich content library and also acquiring third party content is what we intend to do to make these platforms self sustainable. In the MENA region there are active discussions with distribution affiliates on currently for a combination of these types of products. We hope to announce these in Q1 of 2022.

6.What has been the impact of COVID-19 in the animation space?

The pandemic has created a huge demand for content for all demographics of audience. But more so in the case of kids’ content. So for the animation industry, it has been a rather eventful and busy time, despite the challenges posed by the pandemic. Children’s content, including animation, is now being seen as a source of not just entertainment but also education and inspiration, as kids remain cooped up at home. Today, there is more emphasis on creating content that is interactive, immersive and ideal for co-viewing. From a business standpoint, there is now a lot more focus in the animation industry on technology integration, process efficiencies, and reduction of lead times. The need for remote collaborations for creative ideation has also never been so high. Companies are now focusing on investing in business continuity planning; such as improving organizational agility; and upskilling employees to meet the needs of a transformed work environment.

7.The Best Businesses Are Built Around Passion. What are your views on this?

I would add that passion added with data mining leads to enduring businesses being built. Knowing and anticipating needs of the audience is key to building good businesses.

8.On a personal note, what have been the highlights of your career so far? Your key learnings?

No amount of financial estimates at the start of a project can guarantee positive results. There needs to be a risk taking ability that is exercised by the start up which has to be backed by knowing the needs of a specific market. Localisation of content builds sampling and regular engagement. The art of localisation needs to be carefully curated with specialists. Some highlights have been starting new projects in Asia Pac, Africa and Middle East in my career. All of these are genre creators in the content game and for that I will always be grateful for the trust and cohesiveness of the teams that worked with me in these regions.