_{Announcing the MOU at MIPCOM’s Singapore Pavilion are Yeo Chun Cheng, Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Director of Broadcast, Animation, Film and Music (BAFM) for MDA (leftmost); Nigel Pickard, CEO, Zodiak MEAA (second from left), and Jeremy Hall, Executive Producer, One Animation (rightmost).}

The Foundation, Zodiak Kids’ production company, and Singapore-based animation production studio One Animation have inked a memorandum of agreement (MOU) regarding the development of three children’s animated TV programmes starting late this year.

In an interview with TV Asia Plus during the announcement at MIPCOM 2012, Nigel Pickard, CEO of Zodiak MEAA/UK Kids said the first thing that his company looks for in a partnership is whether or not they are sharing a common aim creatively and if the quality of work is good. “We’ve been discussing with One Animation for a few months now, and we love their style and we love their work, and they are people that we know we are going to get on with,” he said.

Pickard added, “Through the Media Development Authority in Singapore, we were able to quickly establish a partner that would fulfil all our criteria in developing and producing original content for multi-media platforms worldwide. In One Animation, we see a partner who shares our vision to produce high quality content that will compete on the global stage.”

Jeremy Hall, Executive Producer at One Animation, commented, “We are excited to be working alongside such an experienced team that have a long history of identifying strong content supported by the best distribution partners using their established relationships with major broadcasters.”

Asked whether Zodiak Kids is actively setting its sights on Asia, Pickard noted that their experience in working in Korea has opened up their entry in other markets such as Singapore and Malaysia. “We’ve been so impressed not only with the quality of work but also the relationships that we are getting. So it’s kind of really exciting. Traditionally, we would have gone Canada or India. Now, we are looking far more towards the Asian market for their expertise and their creativity,” said Pickard.