Cannes – On the first day of MIPCOM 2012, His Excellency Dato’ Sri Kamaruddin Siaraf, Secretary General of the Malaysian Ministry of Information, Communications and Culture announced 12 deals worth US$30 million during the Creative Malaysia Networking Reception.
In an interview with TV ASIA Plus during the event, H.E. Dato’ Sri Kamaruddin said this is a milestone to move forward and further promote the creative content industry in Malaysia. He added: “This year is the first time that we are introducing our programmes; we are sharing them to the world to show them what we can offer as far as creative content is concerned—from television series, to feature films, as well as documentaries.”
One notable deal is Hasbro Studios’ multi-million dollar production deal with Malaysia’s Vision Animation and Australia’s Moody Street Kids for the animated TV series Transformers – Rescue Bots (Season 2) (26 x 30’), with work distributed between Malaysia, Australia, Canada and the United States.
In a speech, Hasbro Studios President Stephen Davis said to stay competitive, it is important to work with experienced producers from Asia, “and co-producing with Malaysia is an ideal choice.” He praised the Malaysian Government for creating a conducive creative eco-system for international producers like himself.
Another agreement is with Animasia Studio (Malaysia) and Strika Entertainment (South Africa) regarding the co-production of a new season of Supa Strikas (Season 4) in Malaysia using local talents. Bruce Legg, Creative Director at Strika Entertainment, tells TV ASIA Plus: “Animasia Studios in Malaysia has been our service provider and partner since 2009. We initially worked with a Canadian partner but felt they did not have the skills we were looking for. We then met about six animation houses in Malaysia and Animasia became an obvious choice. It was a good creative match.”
Legg added, “The environment in Malaysia, facilitated by the government to develop skills and productions, is a really good one. When your industry is developing, it gains momentum and that’s good. We were fortunate to have sponsors for Supa Strikas so they help pay for the production of the series. You can’t put money into an industry that doesn’t have support and vision, and that’s what I feel Malaysia has—and this benefits overseas investors like myself.”
Other international co-production deals include: Giggle Garage (Malaysia), Crazy Bird Studio (Korea), and Synergy Media (Korea), for the co-production of the adventure comedy animation series Boing The Play Ranger (26 x 11’); Roar Studios (Malaysia) and Nextani Animation Studio, for the co-production of the animation series Chamberlain (26 x 22’); Nickelodeon Asia (Singapore), which commissioned Akis (12 x 2’) from Inspidea (Malaysia); Clover Sky (Malaysia) and Monstrou Studio (Singapore), for the co-production of the 3D animated series Tritans 2 (13 x 22’) and a travelogue TV series Halal Galore – Korea/Japan (16 x 30’); SG Entertainment (Malaysia) and Shellhutentertainment (Thailand), for the co-production of animation series Sheldon (26 x 22) and Flying with Byrd (52 x 11’); and Creative Media Point (Malaysia) and Anima (Finland), which will form a joint-venture company in Malaysia to co-produce an undisclosed animated TV series.
