MANILA -- The Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) has launched grants for Filipino animators, game developers, and comic artists as part of its efforts to encourage the creation of original content.

Around P20 million in development funding has been earmarked for CCP Grants, which aims to generate original intellectual property (IP) content reflecting the country's rich cultural heritage.

The program is supported by the Creative Content Creators Association of the Philippines (SIKAP), Game Developers Association of the Philippines (GDAP), Animation Council of the Philippines (ACPI), and KOMIKET.

Filipino individuals and organizations can pitch their ideas in any of the three categories: Game Development Grant, Animation Grant, and Comics Grant.

CCP Board of Trustee Benedict Carandang hopes that the seed investment will encourage future government legislators to support similar initiatives.

"[The] Global animation Industry revenue is around $270 billion, and the Philippines contribute to around $20 million to $30 million per year. We have an estimated 10,000 full-time artists supporting this industry," he said in a statement. "On the other hand, the global gaming market is around $174.9 Billion, and $1.38 million is the local contribution or .008% of the market worldwide."

"In the comics industry, meanwhile, we have around [over] 1,000 self-published titles, 266 published titles from 12 publishers, and an estimated 5,000 original IP creators supporting this industry," he added.

CCP said it is targeting to award four game development organizations with a maximum cap funding of P1.5 million each, and up to P300,000 each to independent game developers. They will be asked to create a digital game project with content derived from the CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art.

The Comics Grant intends to give P330,000 to six winners, while the Animation Grant aims to provide P2 million each to four winners to make five-minute animated short films. Both the animation and comics will revolve around the theme of "Philippine Folktales, Myths, and Legends."

"In this digital era, visual and literary arts in the form of animation, comics, and even gaming have made an impact in the lives of the public," said CCP Board of Trustee Nikki Junia.

"All these art forms are important to be given attention to as they can support the preservation, development, and awareness of the culture and arts that will be engaging for today's generation."