ABSTRACT
This chapter evaluates changing relationships between global cultural industry and local regulation, examining the unique collaboration between the Association of Bangalore Animation Industry (ABAI) and state government agencies, resulting in the 2011 Karnataka Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics (KAVGC) policy. The KAVGC policy then follows a trend in India for regional political leaders to seek to leverage cultural industries' infrastructure to rework their rural and urban spaces in alignment with global markets. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative data on the development of the Indian animation sector between 2010 and 2014, the chapter assesses the growing importance of regional policy and the connecting role played by ABAI as it facilitates engagement between creative industry stakeholders and state government agencies. Since 2013, there has been growing interest in expanding ABAI's model of public-private collaboration beyond the subnational level. Recent interest in regional animation policy in India must be understood first in the context of globalisation.
