We were at Cannes, France from 11th October till 16th October attending MIPCOM 2008 under MSC Pavilion. FYI MIPCOM is the world’s largest audiovisual and digital content market. There are a lot of participants, buyers and exhibitors ranging from small companies to giants like Disney, BBC, Discovery, Nickelodeon and many more. There are also lots of representatives from various countries at MIPCOM, making it the best place for companies to seek for investors, co-production partners and to buy or sell products.
Anas in front of Palais Des Festivals where MIPCOM was held.
There are 2 markets each year, which are MIPTV and MIPCOM. MIPTV focuses more into TV content where as MIPCOM focuses more into communications media/medium. Having 2 major markets a year help to smoothen the business negotiations because it usually takes months to finalize a deal. The companies can meet at the first market and continue dealing in the second market (finalize deals, show progress, etc)
MSC Malaysia Pavilion booth
Les Copaque has been at MIPTV once and MIPCOM twice (including this year). Our trip this time was a special one because we had GENG final cut (90 minutes) and 18 episodes of Upin & Ipin.The responses and feedbacks from the market were really good. Everyone is happy with the quality and most of them were impressed with the fact that Malaysia can come out with a theatrical 3D film format which usually requires 150-300 manpower, 3-6 years to make and with a minimum budget of tens of millions dollars. We managed to finish up the movie in 2 years (+1 year of setup and RND) with 40 manpower and USD 1.2 Million (RM 4 Million). And don’t forget that we are all inexperienced and young when we first started the company (except for Atok & Opah hehehe but they are also inexperienced in this animation & creative industry).
Nizam and Atok (Haji Burhan) at MSC Pavilion booth
These facts drew attention for the companies to:
1) Acquire the rights or licenses for GENG and Upin & Ipin
2) Form partnerships for GENG and Upin&Ipin release
3) Form partnerships to co-produce 3D films or TV series
Upin & Ipin has attracted regional and Middle Eastern buyers because of its close relation with local/Asian culture and Islamic content. Some of the feedbacks were good storyline, cute characters, good acting, smooth animation, good moral values, etc. The buyers from other parts of the world can appreciate the quality and also the storyline but they want more episodes (minimum 13 episodes x 20+ minutes) and they also suggested that Upin & Ipin should deal with more general issues (ie not too related with specific events like fasting or hari raya). By doing so, Upin & Ipin series will be more appealing and easier to be accepted by the world’s audience.
Nizam with MBC's channel manager
Disney & Nickelodeon (South East Asia) have stated their interest in GENG and Upin & Ipin for Pay TV rights for South East Asia territory. MBC, the no.1 cartoon channel in Middle East has stated the same interest for the Middle East market. We have discussed and decided to produce 42 episodes of 7 minutes each. Actually the decision has been made earlier, just before we left Malaysia for Cannes. TV9 and Media Prima have agreed to commission Les Copaque to produce 42 episodes next year. It is good news for Upin & Ipin fans out there, which have been waiting for us to produce a longer and more continuous version of U&I episodes.
Discussion with Jose Francisco (CEO of Myfriend)
GENG has attracted many companies for theatrical (cinema) distribution. A distributor and production company in Chile has stated its interest for partnership to release GENG for Latin America territory. If that is the case, GENG will be converted to Spanish version. The CEO, Jose Francisco said he will be reviewing GENG screener with focus groups before making his final decision. He has seen the new trailer and a few minutes of the final movie and so far he is impressed with the quality and the concept of the film. If everything is in order, he will be coming to Malaysia in March 2009 to discuss further about the partnership. Hopefully it will be a major breakthrough into Latin America territory.
Nizam with Jose at MIPCOM Cocktail Party
A big distributor from India, under Sahara Group (a company that owns hotel chains, airline and many big companies in India) is also interested in forming partnership to convert GENG into a Hindi version and releasing it to theaters, DVDs and TVs in Hindi speaking countries. A Bosnian distribution company based in New York is also interested to take the theatrical rights for Bosnia. Other than that, there are interested parties to distribute GENG in DVDs and TVs for Korea, Russia, ex-CIS countries, Turkey, Europe, USA and many more.
Atok with Mr. Wu, Managing Director of Zhongnan Animation (China)
Although we are aiming for the world, we always believe in conquering local and regional market first. In our view, products that have strong local and regional base have better chances in facing the world’s large and lucrative market. For that reason, we have arranged meetings with TPI Indonesia, RTB Brunei and Mediacorp Singapore to strengthen our regional base.
We met the CEO and Head of Production of TPI Indonesia. TPI is a TV station in Indonesia, which focuses on local content for its audience. They have broadcasted Upin & Ipin season 1 during the recent Ramadhan and Syawal. It was major hit in Indonesia. Everyone, everywhere in Indonesia was and is talking about Upin & Ipin still. The CEO herself is a big fan of Upin & Ipin.
Atok with TPI’s CEO(right) and Head of Production (left)
They also agreed to take GENG into the theaters in Indonesia under its mother company MNC (Media Nusantara Citra). MNC owns media companies in Indonesia, which includes Global TV (cartoon TV), TPI and RCTI. Not only do they agree to work with us for theatrical and TV release, they also very much interested in DVD and merchandising distributions for GENG and Upin & Ipin. A part of that, we are also discussing a reality TV show involving Upin & Ipin. We will update the information once we have finalized the deal. We will be going to Jakarta in December after the business trips to Bangkok and Los Angeles. We believe both GENG and Upin & Ipin fans in Indonesia are eagerly anticipating this deal. As for Singapore and Brunei, we are negotiating with MediaCorp Singapore (Channel Suria) and Radio Television Brunei (RTB) to release Upin & Ipin and GENG for their channels.
Having a discussion with Project Manager from Illusion Studios
There were a lot of co production opportunities. One of the opportunities was with an Argentinean company, Illusion Studios which is a big company in Argentina (100-150 artist in 2D and 3D). After seeing GENG screener, they were very impressed with the quality and interested to explore co-production possibilities. There were 3 other companies (2 Koreans and 1 Australian) that were interested. Although there are many co production possibilities, we can’t form any co-production partnerships for new products at this time. We have to allocate our resources for our existing and coming IPs.
REX Paris
After MIPCOM at Cannes, we went to Paris for 2 days. It was really an experience and a very meaningful trip because we had the chance to visit REX Paris and the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (and also Eiffel Tower). This particular trip triggered some ideas for our upcoming project. No, it is not part of our animation projects. We will reveal it later. Sabaarrrr…
Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle
Eiffel Tower
Arc de Triump Paris
Before I end this post, Anas and I would like to thank Atok and Opah for the golden trip to Cannes and Paris. It was really an eye opener for both of us.
Atok and Opah at a Coffee House. Thanks Atok and Opah!
End.
