Animated expression: Comic series Than Dong Dat Viet (Vietnamese Talent Kids) has become popular over the last ten years. — Photo tiki.vn

HA NOI (VNS)— The Comic Media Academy (CMA) opened earlier this week in HCM City will act as a professional training centre for young people that are interested in comic-based or animated films.

The academy will focus on developing talent to work in the comic, animated film and digital entertainment industry, said academy head Phan Thi My Hanh at the opening ceremony.

"In the short term, the academy will connect veterans and young artists. Artists will sit together to come up with ways to foster Vietnamese creativity using updated-techniques and stories related to contemporary life," he said.

Courses will be held in the academy teaching comic and animated drawing, script writing, game writing and drawing, advertisement and digital book writing using the latest curriculum and advanced teaching measures.

A workshop was held at the opening ceremony on Monday luring hundreds of art students from HCM Fine Arts College, comic addicts and comic artists. Students were also encouraged by veterans at the event to follow their dreams to become comic artists.

The academy's opening comes as script writing for comic and animated film should be give priority, said Son Seiretsu, a representative from Nippon Designer College at the opening ceremony. Finding a good story is always a problem for producers even they have a team of skilful artists, he said.

He also said that growth in the Vietnamese comic industry and co-operation with Japanese artists would help appeal to comic lovers.

About 60 per cent of young people are interested in comics, according to recent survey by a local newspaper, while locally produced comics account for only one per cent of the domestic market.

Copyrights on foreign comics can cost about VND2 million (US$100), said a former manager from Youth Publication House.

"Comics in the market are coming from Japan, South Korea, and Hong Kong. Their comics are very popular with readers of many different ages," he said.

However, Vietnamese comic are still desired by young readers. The comic entitled Than Dong Dat Viet (Vietnamese Talent Kids) has been a coveted title among readers in the last ten years.

Others titles, including Bubu and Viet Nam Danh Tac (Vietnamese Masterpieces) are still popular among kindergarten, primary and junior school-aged readers.

Experts believe this shows the domestic comic industry still has the potential to grow.

"There is a shortage of Vietnamese comics in the market. For example, a series Hoc Sinh Chan Kinh (Real Students) read in school is always welcomed by teen readers. They want to read more of these comics but we can't afford them," said Hanh, who is also a director of the Phan Thi Media Education & Entertainment Company. — VNS