Indian animation studios are increasingly realising the need and the potential of 360 degree monetization by creating their own IPS. The Indian animation industry has proved its mettle in the global markets,” says Manoj Mishra, Chief Operating Officer, DQ Entertinment

What are DQE’s objectives and priorities at MIPCOM 2019?
Our primary focus during the market would be to meet broadcasters, OTT platform players and production studios from different regions of the world and our priority at MIPCOM  this year will be to find reliable and strong broadcasters and also to explore potential for co-production partners for IPs that are ready for broadcast such as Jungle Book season 3, The Psammy show and Robin Hood season 2 among others and IPs in development such as Toadlly Awesome, Cuddle Cubbies and Scrambled.

DQ Entertainment has been participating at REED Midem’s MIP Markets for over a decade. What’s it that excites you to be at MIPCOM?
MIPCOM is one of the most important markets of the year for us where we get to meet new and potential buyers and producers.MIPCOM has always been a successful market for us where we have managed to collaborate with new studios on projects while also being able to do some good sales for us library of animated content.

What are the DQE IP properties and projects currently on board? What’s driving DQE’s growth globally? Any new launches and new projects at MIPCOM?
We have just completed the production of new IPs such as Jungle Book season 3, The Psammy show and RobinHood season 2. We are also looking out for new potential co-production partners for our IPs that are in development such as Toadlly Awesome, Cuddle Cubbies and Scrambled.

Give an overview of Jungle Book’s global footprint? (or any other DQE property)
The series has finished production of 3rd Season which is a testimonial to how successful the show is globally and the quality of the content that comes out from DQ.

The Jungle Book has been broadcasted in more than 165 countries and has over 500 product categories ranging from Books, Apparels, Toys, Plush, Bags, Stationary, Pencils, Inflatables, Walkie-Talkies, Lollipops, Playing Cards, Beach Toys, Stickers, Puzzles etc in terms of merchandising.

DQE works with some of the top European and American partners and collaborates with them. How is the landscape changing with the global digital takeover? Has OTT disturbed traditional broadcasting? What has been your experience? Do people continue to watch in linear mode?
The rapid growth and changes happening in the digital space especially in the M&E sector is quite evident with major SVOD platforms beginning to produce content exclusively for their large global subscriber base apart from acquiring thousands of hours already produced content.

Though the linear mode of viewing is still the dominant, this gap is rapidly shrinking and tilting towards the digital mode. This phenomenon is set to grow at a very rapid pace and we are sure that the digital segment will become a very dominant player in the M&E space soon.

The production of original content exclusive for the streaming platforms has driven the digital content space quite aggressively in the recent past and this trend is expected to continue into the near future.

India has recently signed co-production treaty with Russia. Do you see opportunities in India Russia collaboration?
This is indeed a great development and we already have begun seeing the benefits of this collaboration. We have recently signed a co-development agreement with a big Russian production company for some of our shows which we shall disclose over the due course of time in future. We are sure that this will lead to more and more collaboration being formed in the future between producers from both the countries.

What are the major trends driving the animation space? As you look at the challenges, what are the opportunities provided by the streaming platforms?
Technology is driving the next wave of animation content production and viewing. The explosion of new outlets on cable, over-the-top and online digital platforms has created unprecedented opportunities for animated content in a wide range of styles, genres and formats. These new developments have opened up the producers globally.

Digital streaming platforms have breathed new life into the animation show business. Streaming networks are now are green-lighting animated shows oriented toward kids. The onset of the digital era has taken over the traditional media companies that once dominated kids programming in producing content and also reaching out to audiences. More and more producers are now making digital exclusive animated content for kids which has acted as a catalyst in the growth of the animation sector worldwide now.

How has been 2019 for DQE and what do you look forward in 2020?
2019 has both been a year of challenges and exciting new developments for DQ. We have focused this year on the digital medium and have started witnessing good success in this space. Our YouTube Channel Power Kids TV has been growing at a tremendous rate and has managed to garner a subscription base of over 4 million in the last 4-5 months of our efforts in the platform. We plan to expand our digital distribution reach through different OTT channels in the near future. 

As mentioned above we are also developing new IPs which we are hopeful will go into production soon.

There has been a resurgence in the state of Indian animation industry today? How do we take this forward?
Indian animation studios are increasingly realising the need and the potential of 360 degree monetization by creating their own IPS. The Indian animation industry has proved its mettle in the global markets. We are now experiencing a global phenomenon of huge consumption patter in animated content, one of the reasons being people realising that animation travels better.

With the way our live action Indian movies have been doing globally it only a matter of time we develop truly Indian animated IPs based on our own stories that have the potential in going global. There is demand for something which is Indian but needs to be presented for the global audience with better storytelling that every kid anywhere around the world can easily identify with. More and more producers now need to come forward to develop original Indian content to address each of these platforms and leverage is potential in reaching out to millions of viewers.