DISNEY APPOINTS GAN LAY KOON AS COUNTRY DIRECTOR, DISNEY CONSUMER PRODUCTS, SINGAPORE AND MALAYSIA

SINGAPORE / MALAYSIA (December 19, 2012) – The Walt Disney Company Southeast Asia (TWDC – SEA) today announced the appointment of Ms. Gan Lay Koon as Country Director, Retail and Licensing for the Singapore and Malaysia markets, reporting to Mark Coleman, General Manager, Retail and Licensing, TWDC - SEA. Ms. Gan will be responsible for the integrated Retail and Licensing organization of Disney Singapore & Malaysia, with a strong focus on driving growth by territory, franchise and product category, and delivering increased reach and consumer connection to the Disney brand.

Tasked with building and strengthening key retail partnerships to expand the presence of Disney branded retail environments within the local market and overseeing licensing relationships to drive growth across all key Franchise and Character groups, Ms Gan will work on growing companywide franchises to include Disney Classic & Disney Baby, Disney Live Action Films, Disney & Pixar Animated Films, Marvel, Disney Princesses & Fairies, and Media Networks & Games. She will also work closely with all lines of Disney businesses to expand key partnerships and marketing synergies to support the overall franchise priorities and further increase the reach of these brands.

“We are fortunate to own popular characters and stories that our consumers love and we are committed to delivering the best compelling, creative and quality products and experiences at retail. We are confident that Lay Koon’s strong local retail and product licensing knowledge and experience will further strengthen Disney’s growing consumer products business in Singapore and Malaysia,” said Mr. Coleman.

With over 20 years’ experience in retail and licensing in both Singapore and Malaysia, Ms. Gan joins the Disney team from Mattel where she was last responsible for Mattel core brands consumer products division and their licensees across the Southeast Asian region. Prior to that, Gan worked in various merchandising and buyer roles at TOP Retail Malaysia, Dairy Farm and Parkson.

DISNEY INFINITY INVITES PLAYERS INTO ALL-NEW GAMING UNIVERSE WITH UNMATCHED CREATIVE POSSIBILITIES

For the First Time, Disney and Pixar Animation Studios’ Most Popular Characters Come Together in a Magical Storytelling Experience

16 January 2013 – Disney Interactive today unveiled its most ambitious gaming initiative ever, Disney Infinity. This all new game platform unlocks the freedom to create stories and play experiences starring beloved characters from The Walt Disney Company and Pixar Animation Studios. Disney Infinity allows players to both experience original adventures in some of their favorite Disney and Pixar worlds and to build their own worlds using the power of their imagination.

“Disney Infinity introduces a new way to interact with the best of Disney on one game platform, both now and in the future," said John Pleasants, co-president, Disney Interactive. “With this innovative approach to gaming, Disney Infinity will bring to life new characters, stories and environments from The Walt Disney Company over time in a way that will delight fans and gamers alike.”

In a way that only Disney can, Disney Infinity integrates collectible character figures that come to life in the game.  These figures provide experiences that are true to these characters and stories, as well as the opportunity to bring characters from various Disney and Pixar films to play together in a virtual “Toy Box.” This all-new game universe will launch in June across all consoles and will have a phased roll out across mobile and online devices throughout 2013.

Throughout each story-driven experience, called a “Play Set,” players will solve challenging puzzles, battle enemies and explore iconic locations from famous Disney properties, while collecting unique characters, vehicles, and gadgets from each world and saving them to a virtual “Toy Box.” Players can access their “Toy Box” and build and customize their own unique virtual world using their favorite characters, vehicles, settings and accessories. Disney Infinity allows players the opportunity to share these unique creations in the “Toy Box” mode with friends both online and off.

The Disney Infinity Platform includes:
• Disney Infinity Interactive Pieces – Initially a line of 40 collectible interactive pieces will be introduced that allow players to expand and customize their play experiences.
• Disney Infinity Interactive Character Figures – Seventeen character figures will allow players to experience a variety of their favorite characters in true to property experiences and in “Toy Box” mode.
• Disney Infinity Base – When figures are placed on the Infinity base, they unlock the world and play experiences of Disney Infinity.
• Disney Infinity Power Discs – Interactive discs can be placed on the Infinity base to power up characters and “Toy Box” with unique powers, customizations and gadgets.

“Disney Infinity combines prominent Disney and Pixar characters and scenarios in a way that mimics how kids play in real life,” said John Blackburn, vice president and general manager, Avalanche Software. “With our platform’s unique gameplay mechanics and innovative approach to user generated content within the “Toy Box” mode, Disney Infinity will spark imaginations and provide endless hours of fun and creativity.”

Development for Disney Infinity is being led by Disney Interactive and Avalanche Software. The game currently is unrated by the ESRB. For additional information, please visit www.disney.com/Infinity, join the Disney Infinity Facebook Community (Facebook.com/disneyinfinity) and follow us on Twitter (twitter.com/disneyinfinity).

Disney Mobile Games Invites Players To a Monstrously Fun Adventure With the Launch of Monsters, Inc. Run

Inspired by the beloved original Disney•Pixar film “Monsters, Inc.” returning to the big screen—for the first time ever in thrilling Disney Digital 3D™, and developed by Get Set Games – players can experience the film in an exciting new mobile platform game.

From Disney Mobile Games, Monsters, Inc. Run is a side-scrolling action platform adventure that has players dashing through locations from the movie as their favorite “Monsters, Inc.” characters. Players find themselves on a spine-tingling mission as some of the most popular scare team duos, including Mike and Sulley, to find and rescue Boo from danger. 

Players run, jump and power through three frightening worlds and 48 hair-raising levels inspired by the movie, tackling the Rooftops of Monstropolis to the Ice Caves of the Himalayas. Fly with jet-packs, attack with ray guns, dodge and blast through obstacles and mischievous monsters, using over 20 explosive power-ups and the ability to call in partners to save Boo.

Brought to players by Disney Mobile Games and developed by Get Set Games, the makers of Mega Run, the launch of Monsters, Inc. Runpromises “Monsters, Inc.” fans a monstrously fun run adventure through a world they’ve only seen on screen.

Monsters, Inc. Run features include:
•       The ability to play as four “Monsters, Inc.” scare team duos!
•       Dash through three worlds and 48 exciting levels!
•       Master levels with over 20 explosive power-ups!
•       Take on familiar monsters from the movie!
•       Go on an endless running adventure in Endless Mode!
             
Monsters, Inc. Run is now available for US$0.99 for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad on the iTunes App Store.

Asian Animation Summit: Showcasing the Region’s Finest

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.

Judges/Potential buyers participating in the first annual Asian Animation Summit 2012 held at the Intercontinental Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.

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.

 (FL) Kamil Othman, Vice President and Director of the Creative Multimedia Division, Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) and Kim Dalton, Director of ABC Television and Chairman of the Supervisory Board at the Asian Animation Summit 2012 Press Conference.

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.”

Juhaidah Joemin, Managing Director of Giggle Garage and participant of the Asian Animation Summit 2012, during her presentation to the panel of judges/potential buyers.

“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.

WIN “JOHN CARTER” LOS ANGELES PREMIERE @ GSC FACEBOOK PAGE!

Petaling Jaya, Friday (Jan 6, 2011)

The movie “JOHN CARTER” is set to hit the cinema screens this coming March 8th with Taylor Kitsch (best known for playing “X-Men’s Origin” Gambit) as the lead actor and Andrew Stanton (known for “Wall-E”) as director. Golden Screen Cinemas Sdn Bhd (GSC) and Walt Disney Studios Malaysia (WDSM) will bring avid action & sci-fi movie fans into the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars).

In conjunction with the movie release, GSC and WDSM will be running a Facebook contest ‘John Carter Character Analyzer Game’ to offer action & science fiction fans a chance to win exclusive “John Carter” trip to Los Angeles, iPad2 & limited edition “John Carter” movie premiums.
Log on to www.facebook.com/gscinemas from 5th January to 7rd Feb, contestants would be put into the game analyzer, and would be awarded to a specific clan featured in “John Carter”. There are four clans available for contestants; Jeddak, Heliumites, Zodangans and Tharks, and the objective of the contestants is to recruit as many clan members as possible. Contestants can also increase their recruits by inserting a secret code from Walt Disney Malaysia Facebook Page www.facebook.com/waltdisneystudiosmy. The highest recruiter in each clan will walk away with an ipad2, exclusive limited edition “John Carter” premiums such as T-shirt, USB drive, solar light, watch, leather keychain and “John Carter” local premiere passes. In additional to these prizes, the highest recruiter of all the four (4) clans will also walk away with a very special prize; a trip for two (2) to the “John Carter” premiere in Los Angeles, USA.

“John Carter” is available in both digital 3D and 35mm film format in selected GSC cinemas. Tickets for the digital 3D and 35mm film format will be available for sale from 6th March for the screening of 8th March onwards via GSC cinemas nationwide and also through GSC E-Payment facility (applicable in 21 cinemas) in www.gsc.com.my which also can be accessed via GSC Mobile App (iPhone) or (Android).
Movie goers can opt to select seats and purchase tickets for GSC cinemas with the convenience of E-Payment facility (excluding GSC Pelangi Leisure Mall and GSC Terminal One) and need only turn up at the cinema, enjoy the “ticketless” option by scanning the 2D barcode on their SelfPrint ticket or their Android/iPhone smartphone screen with GSC Mobile App at the cinema checkpoint and they are on their way into the hall. The “ticketless” facility is currently only available at 18 GSC locations with E-Payment facility (excludes GSC Ipoh Parade, GSC Central Square and GSC Berjaya Megamall).

For those who opt to reserve online tickets without upfront payment, this facility will be enabled only two days prior to the screening date.

For the movie show times, please log on to www.gsc.com.my or GSC WAP mobile www.gscmobile.com.my. Check out the latest updates and promotions via www.facebook.com/gscinemas or www.twitter.com/gscinemas.