Thiruvananthapuram, May 6 (IANS): Market leader in animation, Toonz, that set up shop 16 years back in the Technopark campus here, is entering the commercial films arena with New Zealand as its base.

P. Jayakumar, CEO of Toonz Group, shared that three films are in the pre-production stage and they would all be Hollywood films.

"We decided to choose New Zealand as our operational base in the film industry because they offer numerous subsidies for film production. We will be doing the entire pre and post production of these films there, besides would have a few locations also," Jayakumar told IANS.

"Another reason why we decided to operate from New Zealand is because they have a free trade agreement with China and hence we will be able to easily enter China with our films," added Jayakumar.

This new development at Toonz takes place as it celebrates its 16th anniversary and is holding its annual "Animation Masters Summit" - an initiative to celebrate and promote the art of animation as it gives a platform for young and aspiring talents to meet the visiting masters.

Leading experts such as Angus Fletcher, E Suresh, Gitanjali Rao, Kelvin Ali, Kireet Khurana, Madhu Sudanan, Shilpa Ranade and Anil Wanvari are some of the animation masters attending the summit being held at the Technopark campus here over two days, starting Friday.

Toonz, that has now branched out to making toys which have artificial intelligence, is also doing well with its "Louie the Voyager" toy priced at US $99 in the Australian and New Zealand markets.

"Since the price is an aspect, we are soon coming out with one for the Asian markets and it's a simple cup that can be used by small children to drink milk. The cup is like a toy and at the centre of the cup is a small toy and as the child drinks the milk, the toy slowly starts to emerge. It's ready and would be in the market shortly," added Jayakumar.