Malaysian Production Firms Ink Deals Worth Over US$4 Million At MIPCOM 2016 In Cannes

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 19 (Bernama) -- Four Malaysian production companies, Primeworks Studios, Animasia Studio, Scubazoo and Global Station, on Tuesday announced multiple deals worth over US$4 million (US$1 = RM4.20) at MIPCOM 2016. In a statement Tuesday, National Film Development Corp Malaysia (FINAS) said this was witnessed by the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia's Deputy Secretary-General (Policy), Mohid Mohamed, and FINAS Chairman, Mohd Khusairi Abdul Talib. This year, the ministry and FINAS led the Malaysian delegation of over 40 creative companies to MIPCOM 2016 from Oct 17-20, FINAS said. FINAS said the announcement showed that Malaysian creative content and companies have the potential to transform Malaysia into a hub of creative content with global standards. "This is in line with the government's objectives to produce world-class content and generating larger economic returns within the creative industry and securing deals with long term impact," it said. FINAS said among among the deals secured were Primeworks Studios with Japan's major broadcasters, Nippon Television Network Corp and Sumitomo Corp, to co-produce a comedy series titled, "Jenaka Kampung Kalut -- Season 2". "The project, which was selected for sponsorship by Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications due to its outbound and inbound marketing prospects, is slated to air in November 2016," it said. Previously, the three companies had worked together in the co-production of "Welcome To The Railworld Japan" and "Best In The World Japan", it said. Primeworks Studios also signed a deal with Portfolio Entertainment, a Canadian television production and distribution company which acquired the studio's "Welcome to the Railworld Japan", it said. It said Animasia Studio, the biggest animation service provider in Malaysia, signed another deal with Strika Entertainment South Africa to produce two new seasons of "Supa Strikas". Scubazoo, an award-winning Malaysian production company, confirmed a deal with WildBear Entertainment, one of Australia's leading producers of factual content to co-produce "Borneo's Secret Kingdom", while Global Station Malaysia launched the trailer for "La Loba", an adaptation from the hit telenovela series by TV Azteca Mexico. --BERNAMA