If we look at VFX industry as a whole then one can compare it to IT service industry, at least at the top. And the factors which played out in favor of IT sector in India, similar factors such as labor arbitrage, good communications skills etc. can play out in VFX industry and we possibly can see VFX service exports growing at handsome rate.
However, there is one major difference between the two. The VFX industry is commodity industry as compared to IT service companies because in case of VFX, the skills required, the operations to be performed and the output to be delivered has limited variations. The only differentiating factor is the creativity and decision making around how one wants to design & shoot a particular shot and in turn a movie. And this is the factor that no movie maker would want to outsource. I think Phantom could possibly in a better condition considering that it is a creative studio rather than just a skill based studio.
Also was thinking about disruption that AI can cause in the VFX industry. As @SambitMishra has pointed out in his post earlier that there is possibility that AI can take away some base level jobs and I had similar feedback from a relative of mine who works as cinematographer with very known production house. So the question remains – If AI can do some of the low level jobs and can reduce the time & efforts required, wouldn’t it reduce the cost difference that Indian studios were able to offer because of the labor arbitrage?
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