World-class audiovisual facilities donate services to TeachAids
It costs $2,000,000 to create a single episode of The Simpsons, an animated sitcom of similar length to the TeachAids animated tutorials. To create the same high-quality products as commercial endeavors and then distribute them for free under our Creative Commons License, we rely on the generosity of countless individuals and organizations who are invested in creating localized versions of the educational materials for their communities.
Last year, we announced the development of 8 new versions of the TeachAids animations for India, featuring a humbling selection of 16 cultural icons who took time out of their busy schedules to record their voices for free. At each of these sessions, local recording studios and television stations donated their services and support to ensure we had the best quality equipment while minimizing costs significantly. Working with these trained professionals, we were able to gather all of the materials we needed over the span of a few months.
In Odisha, we recorded all four of our Odia cultural icons at the esteemed studio, Sur Vibrations, in Bhubaneswar. The leading television station, OTV, sent over their crew to record the behind-the-scenes footage and exclusive interviews with each of the celebrities. In Tamil Nadu, we split our time across Chennai, recording at both the acclaimed Rajiv Menon Productions and Mani Ratnam’s Madras Talkies. Even with short notice, Vijaya TV arrived to ensure we recorded the requisite footage. In Karnataka, we spent a few days at Balaji Digi Studios in Bangalore, then returned to Andhra Pradesh and the globally-recognized Annapurna Studios in Hyderabad to work with the stars between their other shootings. The popular MAA TV, which has previously aired the Telugu animations, supported our video efforts for both the Tamil and Telugu language versions. And the most recent icon to join our team, beloved Bollywood star Imran Khan, recorded his voice for the Hindi and English language versions at the prestigious BR Studios in Mumbai.
With our team traveling tirelessly back and forth across India, we appreciated the talent of these partners in connecting us to the highest caliber resources in each state. This support is critical to the new educational animations we are developing to address more than 100 million people nationwide.
Photo: The prestigious BR Studios in Mumbai, India generously offered both their studio space and the expertise of their professional staff to record Imran Khan’s voice for the Hindi and English versions of the TeachAids animations.