Bengaluru’s AVGC-XR sector goes pale as 110-year-old Technicolor closes store

“The suddenness was actually surprising. It unfolded like a scene from a Hollywood horror film — though most of our expertise went into creating enjoyable movies for world audiences,” stated a senior rigging artist, an expert who builds digital skeletons for 3D characters and objects in animation and visible results. The artist, who requested anonymity, labored at Technicolor’s studio in Bengaluru’s Worldwide Tech Park, now closed.

The implosion of Technicolor India, owned by the Technicolor Group of Paris, which developed visible results (VFX), cartoons and animation graphics for lots of of full-length characteristic movies for Hollywood, did certainly seem like a scene from a scary film for its 3,200 staff in Bengaluru and Mumbai who misplaced their jobs all of the sudden.

That is the primary huge layoff the Indian AVGC-XR (Animation, Visible Results, Gaming, Comics, and Prolonged Actuality) trade has seen, affecting the sector in Bengaluru acutely. About 3,000 of its staff have been primarily based in Bengaluru and 200 in Mumbai. It has a worldwide headcount of over 10,000 throughout France, the US, Canada, and India.

‘Thought it was a prank’

“We had no clue about it till HR requested us to pack up and depart the workplace in quarter-hour on February 24, 2025, our final working day. A few of us nonetheless thought it was a prank. It took time for us to digest that we’re a part of the worldwide closure of Technicolor,’‘ claimed the rigging artist who selected to withhold his identification.

Technicolor in Bengaluru and Mumbai employed lots of of animators, lighting artists, simulators, picture rendering specialists, consultants in shades and supplies, shadow and occlusion managers, collaborators, color graders, publish processing specialists, particular results consultants, graphic artists, environment and quantity metric consultants who all labored for Hollywood motion pictures by numerous manufacturing homes together with DreamWorks Photos, Common Photos, Paramount Photos, Warner Bros, MGM, Sony Photos, The Disney Studios, twentieth Century Fox, Marvel Studios, Amazon Studios, and lots of others.

The final full-length Hollywood characteristic movie Technicolor India accomplished was Mufasa: The Lion King by Walt Disney. “Mufasa: The Lion King” has grossed a worldwide whole of $708 million, with collections in India accounting for ₹132.65 crore. Some world releases that Technicolor labored from Bengaluru included Puss in Boots, Madagaskar 3, Kung Fu Panda collection, Snow White, Lion King and Mission Inconceivable. Plankton: The Film and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

With the worldwide closure of Technicolor, all 4 studios/ divisions of the corporate — MPC (movie & episodic), The Mill (advert movies for manufacturers), Mikros Animation (animation) and Technicolor Video games (video games) have come to a standstill, placing an finish to Technicolor’s iconic world journey of 110 years.

Biren Ghose, Managing Director, Technicolor India, in a digital city corridor on February 26, instructed the workers, ‘’Technicolour India is financially and operationally not transferring ahead. We reached a state the place we’re not in a position to operate as an organisation anymore.’‘

This got here simply after Technicolor Group, the guardian firm, filed for court docket restoration process in France, citing its incapacity to seek out buyers to proceed to do enterprise additional. Ghose stated, nevertheless, that the India management and counterparts in different geographies weren’t aware about this finality and suddenness of the choice to shut down the operations. India administration got here to find out about it solely once they obtained an e-mail from Caroline Parot, CEO of Technicolor Group.

Parot’s e-mail to staff on February 24 stated the group was unable to seek out new buyers regardless of in depth efforts and subsequently filed for court docket “restoration process” earlier than the French Courtroom of Justice to provide an opportunity to seek out options. It’s understood that extreme monetary difficulties led to the worldwide closure of all its studios and enterprise operations.

Jolt to State’s trade

The sudden closure of Technicolour despatched shockwaves throughout the worldwide VXF/ AVGC-XR trade, extra so to Karnataka, the primary state to carry out a coverage for AVGC-XR with an formidable plan to develop the sector and create shut to at least one and a half lakh jobs within the subsequent 5 years. Technicolor India has been a worldwide face of Karnataka’s AVGC-XR (Animation, Visible Results, Gaming, Comics, and Prolonged Actuality) trade.

By the way, information of Technicolor’s exit coincided with GAFX-2025 (Video games, Animation and Visible FX), an annual convention hosted by Karnataka authorities below the supervision of the State’s IT Minister, Priyank Kharge.

Kharge stated the closure of Technicolor was because of “a worldwide failure”, however the Indian arm had the appropriate expertise and in a position management and has been constantly delivering on world platforms, successful awards and has been worthwhile. “Karnataka, backed by its progressive insurance policies and supportive ecosystems, provides the appropriate setting for the AVGC-XR sector to thrive and create jobs,’‘ stated the Minister.

Nevertheless, the irony stays that when world AVGC-XR consultants at GAFX-2025 held a collection of discussions and deliberations on the worldwide enterprise and employment scope of the trade on February 27 this yr, dozens of Technicolor staff, who misplaced their world jobs some days prior, have been in misery, uncertain of their future.

Trade veteran Ashish S. Kulkarni, Chairman of FICCI for AVGC-XR and Chairman of MCCIA Animation & Gaming committee, stated, ‘‘Your complete trade is actually shaken by Technicolor’s exit. It’s a jolt to the trade globally, shock to Karnataka and the entire AVGX-XR ecosystem within the nation.’‘

Silver lining?

Nevertheless, he stated there could possibly be respite as shoppers, principally giant film manufacturing homes, would now search for different service suppliers inside India. So the work Technicolor has been doing from India may go to different certified AVGC-XR gamers within the nation, and gained’t be misplaced for the nation, Kulkarni argued.

He additional added that Technicolor’s exit could set off a shakeout and consolidation in India’s AVGC-XR sector, and this might additionally speed up project-based hiring.

Echoing related sentiments, Munjal B. Shroff, Director and Chief Working Officer of Graphiti Multimedia, a manufacturing home and animation and VFX studio in Mumbai, stated, “This has come as a shock for the trade globally and extra so for India and Bengaluru. However for world manufacturing homes, their exhibits ought to go on, and they’re going to take a look at different graphic content material suppliers within the nation.’‘

In line with AVGC-XR consultants, there may be some slowdown globally, as some world studios and graphics companies are but to recuperate from the consequences of COVID-19 pandemic, plus there’s a cascading impact of the writers’ strike within the U.S. Till some months in the past, Hollywood writers have been on a strike to guard their livelihoods from generative AI. “When there aren’t any tales, no manufacturing occurs, and the trade globally suffered for months,’‘ Shroff stated.

Labour Division in talks

In the meantime, Labour Commissioner H.N. Gopalakrishna met Technicolor staff, representatives of Karnataka State IT/ITeS Staff Union (KITU) and two authorized counsels representing Technicolor on March 11. He instructed The Hindu, “Staff have shared their grievances. They are saying their February salaries should not paid. Tax deductions from their salaries should not remitted to the IT Division from July 2024, in accordance with them. Workplace hire has not been paid for 3 months.’‘

Gopalakrishna stated the administration has thus far not formally terminated the companies of the workers. No person from the corporate attended the assembly besides their authorized advisors. They sought time to come back again with authorisation and statements. ‘‘Until we all know whether or not it’s an official layoff, retrenchment or closure, we’re unable to resolve the following plan of action,’‘ the Labour Commissioner added.

“They instructed us no additional job and no wage. However they didn’t terminate us formally as a result of they don’t need us to take authorized motion in opposition to them. So, we’re nonetheless staff of Technicolor as per the paperwork. They issued expertise certificates to us and instructed us we have been free to discover different jobs,’‘ stated an worker on the situation of anonymity. In line with a city-based hiring marketing consultant, many of those staff have floated their CVs on a number of job websites and in addition on LinkedIn searching for alternate profession engagements.

KITU President V.J.Okay. Nair stated the mass layoff at Technicolor has put a number of hundreds of staff in misery. A whole bunch of staff approached the union on March 2, and the union fashioned a unit of Technicolor staff and filed an industrial dispute on the Labour Commissioner’s workplace.

“We’re following the process. We’re additionally submitting separate complaints to recuperate their pending wage below Part 33C. The following conciliation assembly with the Labour Commissioner shall be held on March 18 in Bengaluru,’‘ stated Nair.

Unsure instances

As uncertainty prevails, over 3,200 animators are in deep misery. Their salaries stay unpaid, and so they say that they don’t seem to be in a position to pay their rents and EMIs as ‘‘funds from the headquarters didn’t arrive.’‘

 “We have now relocated to Bengaluru for this job with our households. Our youngsters are in class. We really feel betrayed and deserted by the corporate that we fortunately served for years. We have been all of the sudden kind of shooed away with out even being allowed to take our private belongings on that day,’‘ alleged a graphic artist with tears rolling down her cheeks.

An e-mail question despatched to Technicolor headquarters in Paris didn’t yield any response.