Coming Soon...Krishna Toons....

[Srijiva]

My friend in Bangalore sent me this:

 

BANGALORE: The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) is all set to make an animation serial on Lord Krishna targetting a global television audience. ISKCON has tied up with Bangalore-based animation firm JadooWorks to float a new organisation — Magic Flute — for executing the project. The cost for the venture is estimated to be $ 9 million. ISCKON, Bangalore, vice-president, Chanchalapati Das told eFE, “The story of Krishna has been told through the ages in different forms of art, music, dance and other creative expressions. Animation is a new medium of _expression. We are trying to say the same story in a new medium.” According to Mr Das, the script of the 26-episode serial is in the final stages of completion. “Five-time Emmy Award winner Jeffry Scott is writing the script for the project. We have already identified a Los Angeles-based firm to design the characters,” he said. JadooWorks CEO Rajiv Marwah said, “The serial would evolve around the childhood days of Lord Krishna. We believe animation is the best medium to depict the early days of Lord Krishna.” Mr Das said. Huge mountains and large creatures that are to be part of the story line could be best depicted in the animation form, he added. The executors of the project are now in the process of identifying voice talents. The voice recording is scheduled to be done in Canada. “The first episode of the serial should be ready in four to five months time,” Mr Das said. Mr Marwah said the music for the serial would be provided by a UK-based firm. Mr Das said that the serial would be made simulataneously in English, Hindi, Gujarati and Kannada. “As of now, we do not wish to disclose the equity holdings of both ISCKON and JadooWorks in Magic Flute. But surely we would look at external funding for the project. We have been talking to venture capital firms, and most of them are quite happy about the project,” Mr Das said. He, however, did not disclose the names of the VC firms who have evinced interest in the project. The project, according to its promoters, have already received favourable response from a couple of television channels based in Europe. JadooWorks is an affiliate of vMoksha Technolgies, and was incorporated in May 2001 with a seed fund of $1.2 million. Among the creative directors working for JadooWorks are UK-based writer and columnist Farrukh Dhondy. www.jadooworks.com