Kuala Lumpur – A content innovation showcase focused on Malaysia-Japan co-productions was hosted by Media Prima Berhad, Nippon Television Network Corporation, Tokyo Broadcasting System, Sumitomo Corporation and Broadcast Programme Export Association of Japan (BEAJ) here today. Held at Prince Hotel Kuala Lumpur, the Innovative Content: Co-Production Showcase between Malaysia and Japan highlighted collaboration efforts between the two nations, with a defined focus on two recent co-productions between Media Prima Berhad and its Japanese counterparts: Find the WASABI! -NORIKA’s Hunters- and Welcome to the Railworld Japan.

The showcase was kicked off with a screening of the two programmes, followed by a panel discussion involving representatives from both programmes: Welcome to the Railworld Japan’s travel host, Henry Golding, and producer Ahmad Khairi Zulkifli from Primeworks Studios; as well as Find the WASABI! -NORIKA’s Hunters-’s personable host, Norika Fujiwara, and producer Norico Wada from Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS).

Discussions on Welcome to the Railworld Japan, a collaboration between 8TV Malaysia and Primeworks Studios with Nippon TV, commenced following a co-production agreement between Media Prima and the Japanese broadcaster made in 2013. The co-production saw the merging of two distinct formats, Primeworks Studios’ original Welcome to the Railworld series, and Nippon TV’s Next Stop, Discovery, to create a railway travelogue series highlighting train travel in Japan.

Find the WASABI! -NORIKA’s Hunters-, on the other hand, is a collaboration between ntv7 Malaysia and Primeworks Studios with TBS. The variety-game series is viewed as a co-production pioneer in its genre, based on the involvement of four production units for the series: Primeworks Studios and TBS as main co-producers, supported by Singapore’s Mediacorp and Thailand’s GMM Grammy as associate producers.

Datuk Kamal Khalid, Chief Operating Officer of Group Shared Services, Media Prima shared, “To keep up with the ever-evolving content industry, we are always on the lookout for refreshing, new ways to tell our stories. We need to ensure that our productions sustain their appeal and relevancy with our audience, and this is why co-productions remain one of our key production focuses. We are excited to report that Media Prima’s collaboration projects with Japan have been on the increase in these recent years, two of which we are proud to showcase today. These international co-productions have served as a unique knowledge-sharing platform, with each production unit being able to leverage on each other’s strengths and expertise. We would like to extend our utmost gratitude to our esteemed Japanese counterparts for choosing Media Prima as their Malaysian partner, and we certainly look forward to more collaboration opportunities with Japan in the near future.”

Officiated by YBhg Dato’ Mohd Ali Hanafiah Mohd Yunus, Chief Officer Industry Development, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), the showcase saw the attendance of distinguished Japanese officials including Yasuo Sakamoto, Vice Minister for Policy Coordination (International Affairs) from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Japan, as well as Dr. Makio Miyagawa, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan.

Sakamoto addressed in his speech, “These two projects between Japan’s broadcasting stations and trading companies with Media Prima Berhad provide Malaysian viewers a refreshingly unique look into all that Japan has to offer. These include quintessentially Japanese attractions, to cutting-edge technology and services such as Japan’s railway system, to the heart of Japanese hospitality (Omotenashi-no-kokoro). We are pleased to be able to share the best of Japan with Malaysian audiences, and we look forward to developing stronger relations between Malaysia and Japan in the near future.”