Cebu has potential to develop its animation industry, says Geraldine Yumul(keft) , business manager for Synergy 88, a game development, animation and publishing company. Also in the photo are Rene Misa (middle), and Nestor Palabrica (right), executive director and treasurer of the Animation Council of the Philippines, respectively. /Irene R. Sino Cruz
CEBU CITY, Philippines—Cebu’s creative industry stakeholders need to level up to be able to get a share of the over $200-billion global market for animation.
Geraldine Yumul, business manager for interactive entertainment of Synergy 88, said their company started as a service provider but has since become Microsoft’s first-certified development partner.
Synergy 88 is a game development, animation and publishing company based in Metro Manila. It has worked on some of the key assets in Xbox One and Windows game Gears of War 4.
Yumul was among the guests of the Sugbo Entertainment Expo (SEE), one of activities of the Cebu Business Month of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), held at the Robinsons Galleria activity area.
The company has been collaborating with Us-based animation studios like Dreamworks, working on the second season of George of the Jungle. The animated show won Best 2D animated program in the Asian Television Awards in 2016.
Yumul noted that this could also be achieved by Cebu’s creative industry.
“Nurture the talents here; find the right partners,” Yumul urged Cebu’s industry players so they could also duplicate Synergy 88’s achievement.
In addition, Synergy 88 Entertainment Media, Singapore-based August Media Holdings and Japan’s TV Asahi produced the first-ever Filipino anime, Barangay 143. In October last year, the anime series aired over free-to-air on Philippine television. Barangay 143 is also available as mobile games, comic strips and even apparels.
On the other hand, Yumul noted that the Philippines has a long way to go before it could improve its share of the multi-billion-dollar global animation market.
In 2016, the global market for animation has reached $200 billion but the Philippines’ share was only 0.07 percent. The animation industry comprise of several segments such as animation series, video gaming, eSports, art work, comics and content creation, among others.
A study done by Research and Markets showed that the total value of the global animation industry reached $259 billion in 2018. It is projected to reach $270 billion by 2020. The animation industry has several segments including 2D animation, computer generated imagery, visual effects (VFX), web animation, corporate services, video gaming and eSports, among others.
The study also found that most segments have been growing two percent year-on-year, according to Research and Markets. Several segments, however, have been growing faster such as global eSports which has posted 30 percent year-on-year growth. The streaming market for animation content generated $96 billion in 2018 and has grown at an annual rate of eight percent.
However, Cebu’s animation industry has yet to take off, according to Philmore “Emot” Amodia, art director and 2D animator of Emottoons Animation Studio.
According to Amodia, Emottoons is the only locally owned animation studio in Cebu that focuses on 2D animation. The other animation studios are owned by foreign companies/individuals.
Amodia recalled that a company had planned to put up an animation studio here in Cebu but decided to go to Metro Manila instead because of they thought there were no available skilled talents here.
As an offshoot of this development, he said he then conducted a survey on the presence of skilled professionals in Cebu and learned there were already a number of professionals working for small animation studios here. He then decided to organize the Cebu Animation Guild to promote animation especially among students as a career path.
Meanwhile, Yumul disclosed that the government would soon unveil its 10-year development plan for the creative sectors./dcb