Q: How different is this year’s Malaysian Pavilion from last year’s?
A: Compared to last year, the Malaysian Pavilion this year is bigger and located in a more-prominent area. The layout is also designed for the delegation to have proper B2B discussions and to ensure that they can sell as much as they can. We also have a special segment that allows private discussions between buyers and sellers.
Q: What are some of your major announcements this year?
A: First and foremost, Malaysia is trying to introduce to the world that the country is moving forward in this industry. This year is the first time that we are introducing our programmes: Creative Malaysia Program Catalogue— more than 200 titles we are sharing to the world, to show them what we can offer as far as creative content is concerned—from TV series to feature films, as well as documentaries. Above this, we are announcing a lot of the events that we will be hosting in Kuala Lumpur. There is the Asia Animation Summit, and then we are launching the Kuala Lumpur International Communication and Creative Industry in March 2013 (soft launch in November).
Q: How important is it for the Malaysian government to bring all the various production houses and distributors under one roof to MIPCOM as one collective organisation?
A: When I first came, we have two pavilions: one is MDEC, the other is FINAS. The second year that I came, I said stop that nonsense. How come Malaysia has two different carriers? From there on, we started to have one pavilion. Having that, we can really merge our efforts together – you can see now, as a proof after two to three years, we can see a growth in the size of our pavilion, at the same time in the number of people participating.
In the past, we have a limited number of people coming in, but now we have more than 40 companies who are interested in selling their programmes. Now, our focus is different: we want to share our products as well as to bring, to lure foreigners to come to Malaysia, to have coproduction agreements, and at the same time to promote Malaysia as a filming location.
Q: Can you tell us a little about the co-production treaty between Malaysia and Singapore?
A: We are moving forward at the coming ATF this time, we are going to sign the co-production with Singapore. Announcements will be at ATF. There are a few more issues to be addressed. This year, Malaysia and Singapore are hosting a joint networking reception. Never before has Malaysia and Singapore joined hands to organise an event like this in Cannes. This is the first time and I am very proud of it.
