more on directors

Chetan Sharma
Started young in animation.. at 15, he read an advertisement by RamMohan Biographics and ended up working there for 3 years as animation became his driving passion. His life's purpose was further clarified at this time when he discovered that his name meant 'to give life', or 'to animate' Inbetween he studied history at St.Xavier's College and dropped out in 1996 due to unavoidable attendance related circumstances.. the next year when Indian Animation was poised to 'go global' thru sub-contracting jobs or 'outsourcing', he joined up with Sumant & Gayatri as Animagic.Animagic provided him with all the challenges and nurturing he

required as every project he undertakes calls for phenomenal commitment and attention to detail and his efforts to constantly improve have resulted in some of the most memorable animation ever done in India. he single handedly animated entire projects and grew to be an animation director winning accolades for his animated commercials, and chiefly the studio's short films. His close friendships with acclaimed directors Ram Madhwani ( Advertising) and Vidhu Vinod Chopra ( critically acclaimed filmmaker and producer) have resulted in exposure to the visualisation and design for live commercials and feature films. The HAPPYDENT tvc for which he did visual development was the top ad of 2006..and Ekalvya has been received as a visually stunning film from all critics. MAA-aa-aa his third film as director is getting great reviews as an amalgam of the values of classical animation of the golden age and Indian folk theatre roots.

Sumant Rao
Has loved animation since childhood, watching and studying everything frame by frame.. His aptitude and intelligence saw him in the prestigious IIT campus studying Aeronautical Engineering after which he took up the Design stream in IDC, and with Gayatri pioneered the study of animation there when awareness of animation as a viable option for students to do their final projects didn’t exist.. there was no equipment for it! Sumant's considerable technical ability and understanding of animation techniques saw them thru any lack of infrastructure.

Post IDC, he opted to work in the emerging and then in its infancy, computer graphics industry. Again his animation sense helped in overcoming many software/hardware related shortcomings in the business at large creating many memorable effects in advertsing films.His knowledge and experience were utilised by Discreet Logic ( now Autodesk) as a consultant as he provided many filmmakers in India with their first glimpses of computer graphics in films and

also trained a generation of editors and effects artists in the artistic use of these high end softwares.

He first set up Animagic with Gayatri in 1996, taking on

small jobs for creative experimentation and satisfaction. As Animagic grew, he was able to expand on his dreams for animation and effects. His ingenuity often helped the fledgling studio go beyond limitations to deliver projects which looked like and were high end products. He is one of the country's top effects directors, having supervised and executed many adfilms for top production houses as well as features.

He has always had a great passion for

teaching and sharing his knowledge as any of the creative talents he has mentored over the years will testify, and that has brought him full circle to devote a part of his time as faculty in animation at IDC,IIT, Powai, Mumbai, where he now helps young talents look beyond software and into the heart of animated storytelling .

Gayatri Rao
has always been a dreamer.. since childhood when she was awarded the 'Most Imaginative Child in class' to when she was awarded the National Award by the President of India for 'RAJU & I', it has been a journey of dreams and realisations.

Having done her B.F.A. from the College of Arts, Delhi and Masters in Design (M.Des.) in Visual Communication, from IDC, IIT-Bombay, where she was told her project in animation was not possible due to lack of required equipment, she just wondered 'why not?' and got away with creating her first short film 'CALLS OF ANIMALS' on alternative teaching methods. She has also had the opportunity to do an internship at Walt Disney Studios, Florida sponsored by UNICEF where she grasped the spirit of classical animation which she passed on to her hungry for knowledge colleagues back in India. She also created as her project there, a minute long film on female infanticide which moved many of her distinguished mentors at Disney.

Before founding Animagic, she worked at RamMohan Biographics directing award winning stylised animation commercials and Mahakapi, a film based on the Jataka tale of the Monkey King, for CFSI, which won the prestigious UNESCO award in 1997.

She is a true designer whose clear and often critical insight and aesthetics informs and educates all the studio's projects.. Her vision for Raju & I helped it to transcend the general limitations of a public service message film to become the most critically acclaimed Indian animation film, having won 13 awards nationally and internationally and screened at almost 40 festivals all around the world. Generally avoiding the limelight, she prefers to dream in her private spaces, creating and nurturing the studio in which she has zealously protected the focus on creativity and originality.

She loves to create and started RAWWORKS a project to help rejuvenate some of India’s rich yet largely untapped folk and tribal arts.. Making ingenious use of simple material, it seeks to bridge the gap between the traditional and contemporary by creating utitlity products inspired by traditional and tribal art forms. Within this format were also developed a whole range inspired by the vibrant city of Mumbai! Rawworks has exhibited at important festivals in Mumbai since 2005 and quietly developed a following of its own, even expanding into a range of clothes, RAWWEAR, where she has

created awareness about fast disappearing weaves from rural India by using it out of their

traditional context in new and innovative ways.

Together they work with a team of 15 animagicians to create what are considered by many to be landmarks in Indian animation.The animagicians are jacks of every trade, doing everything they are called upon to do by the maverick directors… they work with limited resources but unfettered imagination.. 10 work stations using Animo, Photoshop, Premiere, After Effects, and Combustion... and the variety of paints and pencils and paper..

Animagic has worked with the cream of Indian musicians and composers for its projects and created a first in the use of non clichéd background score with Raju & I…They are keenly joined in their forthcoming ventures by top creative talent, both established and emerging..