Building new opportunities for Asia in children’s television through collaboration with global animation experts
KUALA LUMPUR, December 10, 2012 – Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) in collaboration with Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), and Australia’s ABC TV, is proud to introduce the eagerly anticipated inaugural Asian Animation Summit (AAS). Held for the first time, with Malaysia playing host, the event which is also supported by Kidscreen Australia, showcases some of Asia’s strongest and most commercially viable animation projects.
The Asian Animation Summit is a platform that brings together globally renowned animation experts who will facilitate and enable the co-production and co-financing animation opportunities in the region.
The two-day programme features screenings and presentations of around 36 concepts from Australia, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore that are in early stages of financing and development. Each project is presented in a moderated live pitch format, with additional time provisioned for follow-up meetings and casual networking. This provides opportunities for budding animators and start-ups to get their creative projects off the ground by working with renowned international personalities in the creative arena.
Speaking at the inaugural event, Encik Kamil Othman, Vice President and Director of the Creative Multimedia Division, MDeC, said “For the first time, the Asian Animation Summit gives local animators the creative edge to enhance their knowledge and skillsets by collaborating and engaging with prominent international experts. They will be able to pitch their creative concepts and learn how to balance great technical animation skills with creative and engaging stories.”
“Malaysia continues to rise to prominence in the animation industry since we ventured into the industry over a decade ago. Locally developed animation programmes such as BoBoiBoy and Bola Kampung have garnered impressive international following and acclaim. We believe that today, Malaysia is at the tipping point of becoming a regional animation powerhouse. The Asian Animation Summit is a fantastic platform to further fuel this growth,” he summarised.
The Asian Animation Summit features two categories of animated projects. They include:
• Fully-developed projects that have already raised at least 15% of their budgets, and are seeking further financing through broadcaster pre-sales and/or co-production, co-financing and distribution arrangements.
• Projects in development that have secured the endorsement of an Asian-region broadcaster, and are seeking co-producers and/or broadcaster and distributor support for further development and production funding.
Kim Dalton, Director of ABC Television and Chairman of the Supervisory Board said, “We are pleased to be a part of the inaugural Asian Animation Summit and we look forward to the opportunity to work with animation studios in the region. Over the past few years, countries like Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea have proven themselves to be a hotbed for creative and technical talents, having co-produced, great visual effects and animation for globally renowned cartoon series and movies.”
“Recently, we are also seeing more budding animation studios and talents from the region creating their own characters and stories and owning their very own intellectual properties (IP). We believe that these stories will have a global appeal and we are excited to see how we can work to co-fund and co-produce some of these interesting new ideas,” he remarked.
The 36 concepts are pitched to leading programme buyers from renowned television networks across the United Kingdom (UK), Europe, Canada and North America, These include buyers from the BBC and its children channel CBeebies, Nickelodeon International, Disney Channels Worldwide and France’ Televisions who will act as VIP judges during the moderated pitch sessions.
The summit is also attended by broadcasters from the Asia Pacific region. They include Australia’s ABC TV, Malaysia’s Media Prima, Astro, RTM and TV Al-hijrah; Korea’s KBS, EBS and Tooniverse as well as Singapore’s Mediacorp.
There are currently 257 MSC Malaysia status companies in the Creative Multimedia Cluster. In 2011, the cluster recorded revenue of RM6.1 billion, out of which exports accounted to RM3.65 billion while the remaining RM2.45 billion accounted for revenue generated from the domestic market.
For more information on the Asian Animation Summit, log on to the website (www.asiananimationsummit.com).
Asian Animation Summit – Programme Buyers Profile
Jules Borkent, Senior Vice President, Programming & Acquisitions, Nickelodeon International. Based in New York, Jules Borkent oversees program acquisitions worldwide for Nickelodeon, Nick Jr. and Nicktoons, as well as programming strategies for Nickelodeon’s international networks. Working in close partnership with Nickelodeon creative teams around the world, Jules identifies programming and cross-promotional opportunities to best leverage Nickelodeon’s programming and brand portfolio.
Karen Miller, Executive Director of Acquisitions and Co-Productions, Disney Channels Worldwide including Disney Channel, Disney XD and Disney Junior. Miller is tasked with executing the development of all scheduling strategies aligning local and regional programming plans with global priorities. In addition, she is responsible for global acquisitions sourcing live-action and animated series and movies for Disney Channel, Disney XD and Disney Junior, as well as guide co-production opportunities.
Jocelyn Hamilton, Vice President of Original Programming, Kids, Comedy and Drama, Corus Entertainment. She is responsible for overseeing original programming from development to production in the genres of Kids, Comedy and Drama for Corus Entertainment's specialty and pay networks, including Movie Central, HBO Canada, YTV, Treehouse, W Network, ABC Spark, OWN Canada and CMT.
Henrietta Hurford Jones, Director of CBeebies Investment. She is responsible for commissioning and developing a new stream of original programme content for the international CBeebies channels. She also manages the global investment process for all pre-school programming and brand properties across BBC Worldwide, working closely with all of the company’s operating divisions.
Laurence Blaevoet, Director of Youth Programming, Canal for the Canal+ Group's youth unit in 2010. Laurence is a graduate of the Paris School of Journalism, and started her career as a journalist at RTL-Télévision. In 1985, she joined TMC channel as a Deputy Director of Programming, but moved on five years later to the Canal+ programming department. She then took part in Canal+ Horizons launches in Senegal and Tunisia before returning to Canal+ Programming as Director in 2000.
Carole Bonneau, Vice President of Programming, TELETOON Canada. She oversees programme schedules, acquisitions and original production for four nationwide television networks: TELETOON, TÉLÉTOON, TELETOON Retro and TÉLÉTOON Rétro. Since joining TELETOON, Bonneau has been instrumental in fostering Canadian talent. Each year, under her leadership, 47% of the TELETOON annual revenue is allocated to the acquisition or development of animated series by Canadian producers such as 6TEEN, Johnny Test and the Total Drama franchise.
Frank Dietz, Deputy Program Director and Head of Acquisitions and Co-Productions, Super RTL. Super RTL is Europe’s leader in children’s television and jointly owned by RTL Group and Walt Disney International Television. Dietz manages the channel’s programme supply for daytime and primetime including content for various platforms such as merchandising, mobile and online services. The channel broadcasts more than 5000 half hours of animation, live action documentaries, comedy formats and pre-school productions as well as hundreds of family movies per year.
Luca Milano, Head of Animation Production, RAI Fiction. As the Head of Marketing and Animation of Rai Fiction, the Department of Rai Radiotelevisione Italiana, he is in charge of producing and co-producing TV fiction and animation programmes for all the channels of the Rai Group. He has been working at RAI for more than 14 years, in the areas of Cinema and TV Fiction production, as manager of Business Affairs of Rai Cinemafiction (until 1998) and then as Head of Marketing and Development of Rai Fiction.
Nicole Keeb, Head of International Co-Productions & Acquisitions, Children and Youth, ZDF. She worked as an editor in the children's department until she was promoted to be head of the department. After five years Keeb went to Mainz to work for ZDF as a commissioning editor for acquisitions and co-productions in the children's and youth department for eight years. She has been recently promoted to be Head of International Acquisitions and Coproductions (Children's and Youth).
Tiphaine de Raguenel - Head of Children and Youth Activities, France Télévisions. She is tasked with developing children’s and youth programming for France Télévisions and acts as an intermediary between the digital strategy department and the department of diversification and revenue of France Télévisions.
Sarah Muller, Head of CBBC Acquisitions and Drama Development. Passionate about both drama and animation, commissioned projects include Spirit Warriors, Dr Who - Dreamland, Halfmoon Investigations, My Almost Famous Family, Tracy Beaker Returns, Strangehill High, Sadie J, Wolf Blood, Just William and Muddle Earth.
Kim Wilson, Creative Head, Children's and Youth Programming, CBC Canada. Wilson has successfully married her leadership skills, passion and enthusiasm together with her extensive experience in children’s television and her personal love of children. She intends to extend the CBC’s legacy in children’s content through continued strength in programming, as well as integrated outreach and interactive strategies.
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