By Dan Grushkin
Career Training Review Columnist
dan.grushkin@careertrainingreview.com
The first ever International Animation and Cartoon Festival in China closed in Hangzhou on June 5 after a week of rollicking meetings between cartoon artists, producers and international media organizations. The festival spells another sector where China has burst onto the scene. Why should this matter to you as an aspiring cartoon artist, you ask? China has a population of 370 million children and young people. That's a population larger than the entire United States.
Cartoons in China
With a population of children larger than most countries in the world, China is the ultimate emerging market in children's entertainment. The industry, still nascent, once performed much of the production on animation around the world. According to China Today, a Chinese news Web site, almost all of Chinese children's favorite cartoons come from abroad. In a survey conducted in GoGo Top, a Chinese animation magazine, Chinese children ranked only one Chinese hero among 20 favorite cartoon characters, called the Monkey King. The others came from Korea, Japan, the United States and Europe.
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Animation Jobs
The animation industry is projected to earn $60 billion in China this year alone and is projected to explode over the next five years. Take for example the American cartoon Transformers about a bunch of robots who can transform into various vehicles. Though Transformers was broadcast free in China, the affiliated toy sales earned nearly $65 million. New money means that studios will be looking for bright, young cartoon artists. This is where you come in. If you are a cartoon artist and looking for animation jobs, now might be the time to think globally and consider international animation jobs.
About the Author
Dan Grushkin is freelance writer in Brooklyn, New York. He has written about world affairs for Agence France-Presse news wire, various international publications and has contributed to a book on the Middle East crisis. Dan holds a B.A. from Johns Hopkins University.
August 30, 2005
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