Malaysian Companies Secure Deals Worth Over RM200 Million At MIPTV 2007

May 15, 2007 17:04 PM

KUALA LUMPUR, May 15 (Bernama) -- A trade mission led jointly by the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) and National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (FINAS) managed to secure deals worth over RM200 million at MIPTV 2007, the world's largest audio-visual content market.

MDeC said today that 30 Malaysian companies took part in the five-day event held in Cannes, France, last month and 10 memorandums of agreement were signed between the country's MSC status companies and industry players.

It said in a statement that the first agreement was signed between Creative Licence Sdn Bhd and Southern Star Entertainment (Australia) Pty Ltd for a co-production and worldwide distribution agreement of a two-dimensional (2D) animation series of 52 episodes with the title, "Hairy Legs", with a market value of US$10 million (RM35 million).

The second agreement involved Les' Copaque Production Sdn Bhd and China's Zhejiang Zhongnan Group Animation Video Co Ltd on a co-production venture for a 90-minute 3D animation feature titled "Essential Art of War", valued at US$7.0 million (RM25 million).

Les' Copaque also signed an agreement with Latvia's Voxell Group for a distribution agreement for the USSR territories on a Malaysian 3D animation title, "Gang", valued at US$300,000 (RM1.0 million).

The third agreement was between Elemental Ventures Sdn Bhd and Entara Ltd of the United Kingdom for the global distribution of a 2D/3D hybrid animation series of 26 episodes, "Zoorocco", with a market value estimated at US$8.0 million (RM28 million).

Vision New Media Sdn Bhd reached an agreement with France's NPTV, a leading European provider of television software solutions, to launch a joint venture company, New Vision Partners.

The joint venture company will provide solutions to create instant downloadable rich-media applications for Java-enabled mobile phones for the global market, MDeC said.

Three of the agreements signed were related to game contents, including MyGo Solutions Sdn Bhd which was involved in a deal with Greece's Manach Ltd to distribute and license Malaysian interactive games for the Greek and other European markets, with an estimated market value of US$15 million (RM53 million).

Rocket Fish Sdn Bhd and Creative Fuzion Sdn Bhd signed an agreement with Singapore's Mediafreaks Cartoon Pte Ltd to co-produce 72 episodes of a new pre-school series, "The PUPU Squad", with an estimated market value of US$8.0 million (RM28 million).

Rocket Fish Sdn Bhd also finalized another game content deal with Canada's Kahani World Inc with a co-production venture for a 66-minute flash animation DVD title, "Warriors of Chaos", valued at US$5.0 million (RM17.5 million).

Inner Esteem Sdn Bhd signed a distribution and licensing agreement with Spain's Interclic SL for its markerless motion capture systems with an initial value of US$3.0 million (RM11 million).

In another deal, KRU Capital formed a new joint venture company with Freja Gudsdotter TV of Sweden to co-produce and manage a television drama series, "Freja", valued at US$6.4 million (RM22 million).

The last agreement was signed between Backbone Entertainment Sdn Bhd and Germany's Peppermint Enterprises Ltd & Co KG on a worldwide distribution venture for a Malaysian flash animation television series titled "Sugar Pal", valued at US$2.0 million (RM7.0 million).

MDeC said in addition to the 10 agreements, a total of US$2.2 million (RM8.0 million) was generated from sales of digital contents at MIPTV 2007 by Makmur Megah Sdn Bhd, Peppermint Asia Sdn Bhd, Inspidea Sdn Bhd, Grand Brilliance Sdn Bhd, Imagine Animation Works Sdn Bhd, Creative Fuzion, and Elemental Ventures.

MDeC head of creative multimedia department, Kamil Othman, said Malaysian companies benefited from the exposure received at the trade show which saw more than 10,000 audio-visual content visitors from over 100 countries participating.

"The support received from the organiser Reed-Midem was also an important factor in securing deals and positioning Malaysian-made content and intellectual property for the global market," he said.

With the encouraging results, MDeC and the MSC Malaysia team look forward to securing more deals throughout the year and to further enhance ties with the creative industry worldwide, he added.

MDeC is next expected to lead a Malaysian digital content delegation to the Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival and Market 2007 from May 23 to 27 and Shanghai TV & Film Festival and Market 2007 from June 12 to 14.

-- BERNAMA

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