Kathmandu, October 7:

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed today between Pink Slip

Productions, a company based in California and run by a former Disney artist and executive; KuKri Ventures Inc, a USA based investment company; Mercantile, the largest domestic IT company and Transcube International Pvt Ltd, a computer graphics and animation company, to set up a world class animation and visual effects (VFX) studio in Kathmandu soon.

The new company, which will be called Incessant Rain Animation Studios Pvt Ltd, will start recruiting immediately and plans to come into production by the first quarter of 2008.

“I have been keeping an eye out on young Nepali graphic artists for a few years and feel that now is the time to start something here to promote this talent pool,” Kiran Joshi of Pink Slip

Productions, a veteran at Walt Disney Feature Animation involved in the production of classics like The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and other feature animated films, says.

Sanjib Raj Bhandari of Mercantile says that the international market for VFX and animation is growing at a rapid pace and a state-of-the-art VFX and animation studio will be able to tap this market.

“We feel that with the technical and creative assistance of experts from the US, we will easily be able to meet the quality expectations of the international market. We are excited to be part of this team and see a very bright future for Nepali graphic artists and animators,” Suyogya Tuladhar of Transcube International Pvt Ltd, which operates a 25-person graphics in Kathmandu, says.

Incessant Rain Animation Studios Pvt Ltd plans to start operations with a team of about 40 and expand to a 100 within a year.