19 Oct – Four Malaysian production companies have recently inked multiple deals worth over USD4 million with six different countries. The deals were announced yesterday – as witnessed by Dato' Mohid Mohamed, the Deputy Secretary-General (Policy), Ministry of Communications and Multimedia Malaysia (KKMM) and Dato' Mohd Khusairi Abdul Talib, Chairman of FINAS – at MIPCOM 2016, the world's leading entertainment content market in Cannes, France. The four companies are Primeworks Studios, Animasia Studio, Scubazoo, and Global Station. Primeworks Studios will be working once again with Japan's Nippon Television Network Corporation (Nippon TV) and Sumitomo Corporation to co-produce "Jenaka Kampung Kalut - Season 2". The comedy series will feature a new Japanese character, Mikan Nakamura. The three previously worked on "Welcome to the Railworld Japan" and Best in the World Japan", which has been acquired by Portfolio Entertainment, the Canadian television production and distribution company Primeworks has also struck a deal with. Animasia Studio, meanwhile, strikes a deal with South Africa's Strika Entertainment to produce Season 6 and Season 7 of animated sports action TV series, "Supa Strikas". The two new seasons will begin production in quarter 2 of 2017.
Subazoo is working with Australia's WildBear Entertainment to co-produce "Borneo's Secret Kingdom", a documentary that follows the Kinabatangan River in Borneo, from its source in the untouched Maliau Basin, through to the Sulu Sea in the Coral Triangle. Like Primeworks Studios, Global Station inks its deal with two countries, the first being Mexico and the other Chile. Global Station has launched the trailer for "La Loba", adapted from the hit TV series from Mexico's TV Azteca. "La Loba" is currently being broadcast on local satellite Pay TV, Astro. Global Station also launched the trailer for "Papi Riki", a drama adaptation from Chile's Canal 13, which follows the life of a single father with his 8-year-old daughter. These deals showcase Malaysia's growing potential in taping into global resources, thus transforming Malaysia into a hub of creative content with global standards.