On 28th April 2015, Department of American and South Pacific Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together with Thai Animation & Computer Graphics Association (TACGA), and Bangkok ACM SIGGRAPH organized the seminar on “Behind the Scene of Hollywood Movie with Thai Crews”, and sponsored the free screening of Strange Magic at SF World Cinema (theatre 15) Central World. The event was presided over by Mr. Songsak Saicheua, Director-General of the Department of American and South Pacific Affairs. 

 

            Mr. Songsak mentioned that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs fully supported Thai animators and digital business as it is considered one of the Creative Industries which Thailand has high potential. It can also lead to sustainable creation of economic and commercial values, which is in line with the government’s concept of Digital Economy.

 

            The seminar provided insights from 4 Thai animators; Mr. Rattanin Sirinaruemarn (Effect Artist from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Los Angeles), Mr. Pavidcha Arayaphong (Freelance Visual Development artist/Concept Designer from Moon House Studio),      Mr. Komkrit Sawasdee (Rigger from The Monk Studio), and Mr. Chawalit Kaewmanee (Animation Supervisor from The Monk Studios) who disseminated knowledge and experiences about working for big production houses abroad.

 

            After the seminar, the animation movie entitled “Stange Magic” was shown. This movie is a 2015 animated musical film produced by Lucasfilm with a story by George Lucas, a renowned film director and producer. There are over 30 Thai animators in the production team of this film who participated in Pre-Production, Animation and Cloth Simulation. The film was released in earlier in January in the United States but it has not been shown in Thailand. However, the BIDC event provided free screening of Strange Magic on 28th and 29th April 2015, 16.00 – 18.30 hrs.

 

            Besides, on 29th April 2015, Ms. Pattrawan Vechasart, Deputy Director-General of the department of American and South Pacific Affairs, presided over “The State of Thai Animation” seminar at multi-function room, Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC),   as it is a part of the Bangkok International Digital Content Festival 2015 (BIDC)

 

            Ms. Pattrawan stated that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sees Thai animation industry as one of the high potential industries that can further develop to global markets. 

 

            The seminar speakers included Mr. Rattanin Sirinaruemarn (Effect Artist from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Los Angeles), Mr. Santi Laohaburanakit (General Manager of Vithita Animation Co., Ltd.), Mr. Sutape Tunnirut (founder of Anya Animation Co., Ltd.), and Mr. Veerapatra Jinanavin (founder of Riff Animation Studio/Item Studio). Main thoughts from the seminars are as followings;

 

            1. There is great talent in Thailand on the animation side; both animators who created their own’s works, and animators who take overseas outsourcing jobs. The latter is more common in Thailand. 

            2. Creating one’s own work (Intellectual Property – IP) in Thailand is fairly difficult and requires long periods of time because most of the Thai animation studios have not been regularly given works. Thus encouraging Thai animators to create animated films rather than regular ones is crucial as it can also lead to other businesses in the digital content businesses such as character creation and game maker.

            3. From the international viewpoint, there is great talent in Thailand on the animation side; however, there are still more competent countries such as China, India, South Korea, and Malaysia, which big production houses usually target on these countries. 

            4. Animation industry in Thailand has great potential, public sectors can help support by providing animation courses and English courses for Thai animators. Besides, there should be an agency that works on funding, preferential tariff, and public relations on Thai animation.  

 

            This event is a part of the Bangkok International Digital Content Festival 2015 (BIDC) which is one of the four main events of the Bangkok Entertainment Week 2015. The event aimed to demonstrate that Bangkok is capable in organizing entertainment mega events, and to promote Bangkok as a hub of entertainment business in ASEAN with potentials for continuing growth in the years to come.