Turtle Animations broadened my horizons

When a client from animation studios shared his wish to foray into education sector, at the first instance I just dismissed the idea. You should not distract focus from your core competence area, I said firmly. This was despite the fact that I could see the determination in the eyes of Sanjay Banerjee. I have known Sanjay Banerjee as a friend first and then as a client now who believes in certain level of perfection in whatever he does. During the course of our journey I have also realized that it is often his gut feeling that has brought Turtle Animations to where it is today.

From a mere another start-up venture a few years back, Turtle Animations has seen the professional heights to the extent that some Hollywood studios have now shown interest in their masterpiece work Angelina-joe-lie. Not that the recognition has came from oversees only. They have bagged the NASSCOM award for the said project and even the Tata Nen nominated them as a hottest start-up venture in its very first year of existence.

All that credentials added with the fact that I know the man and his mission in Sanjay was not enough for me to give my consent for the education foray. And TRACK2MEDIA being the strategic communication consultant to them, unlike other Indian PR agencies meant for mere press relations, it was imperative for Turtle to get the communication agency convinced. They reminded me of the fact that only a couple of months back another client from the real estate sector had ventured into education and TRACK2MEDIA went gaga for them.

Still not convinced I reminded them that there is a difference between an established realty player and a first-generation animation business. However, I was reluctantly dragged into the business venture meeting for the proposed institute. And now I will not shy to admit that my business world view had been a bit myopic. While I have always maintained that education is a recession proof business, the fact of the matter is that many existing institutes are just minting money today without offering anything substantial.

It may look from outside that the Animation business is cluttered in the market with biggies like Picasso, Big Animation, AAG, MAAC, and others getting the lions share, the fact of the matter is that they are just better positioned in the market be default. Turtle Animations is going to set the differentiator with its in-house facility functioning like a simulated production house complete with real world infrastructure and headed by a team of highly experienced industry experts.

Moreover, the new venture is also going to initiate Industry Academia Interface (IAI) under which it will sign with a few universities to give its students an exposure to the production environment and also an opportunity to interact with key industry players. The institute will also tie-up with one of the universities for accreditation of courses. The response of the companies offering JV partnership has overwhelmed me. It seems there is always scope in any given market provided you fill the vacuum in that given space. And I must say that Turtle Animations has taught me this lesson.