MIPCOM 2008 Showcase (Animation Magazine)

"Doing funny shows is hard but that's what we seem to gravitate towards," said Andrew Ooi, Managing Director of Inspidea. The company is a perfect example of doing animation for the love of it. "We had no experience in producing TV shows let alone animation but we jump in head first into the deep end of the pool six years ago. It was a scary but fun move. It's no longer that scary now but it still is fun."

Over the years, the fully digital animation studio has produced Johan The Young Scientist (26 eps x 12min), Mustang Mama Football Fever (26 eps x 2 min) and Mustang Mama Diehard Sports Fan (26 eps x 2 min). The experience of doing these shows has shown them the truth about themselves: letting the kid out is fun and highly rewarding. "We couldn't have done these shows if we kept a stiff upper lip the whole time," said Andrew. "We needed to be the big kids doing silly and crazy things to make the shows fun. It takes guts to do that. But once you've gone that way, there's no going back."

This philosophy of nurturing the inner child also explains why Inspidea is the distributor for Tao Shu: The Warrior Boy (52 eps x 11 min). "It's an entertaining show which happens to have good moral values."

At this year's MIPCOM, Inspidea will be introducing several new shows. The first is X3 (26 eps x 2 min), short for Xtreme Xtion Xtraordinaire. It is the further adventures of Mustang Mama, her grandson and her pet cow as they go enjoy their lives with the help of extreme sports. "Mama has always been a go-getter or as her grandson might put it, a go-get-her," Andrew joked.

Adding to their lineup of new shows is a pilot called Happy Together (26 eps x 1 min), an edgy, offbeat comedy about an unlikely couple - a happy mudskipper and a gloomy catfish – in the mangrove. "We're not afraid to get our hands dirty on that one," Andrew quips

Inspidea will also be announcing their first co-production with SIP Animation of France on a bite-size comedy called Ko-Bushi (78 eps x 3 min). It is about a group of little warriors in a sushi-restaurant who are preoccupied with maintaining or subverting the status quo of being the restaurant's mascot. "We are excited about the show and the co-production," Andrew said. "Ko-Bushi has so much potential going for it."

Andrew wants the industry to stop seeing itself as an industry and instead as a playground. "In that sense, MIPCOM will be a really big playground for us. We hope to see a lot of big kids there who'd want to share a spot with us in the sandlot."

Executives attending MIPCOM will be Andrew Ooi (Managing Director) and CJ See (Sales & Marketing Director). Our MIPCOM Booth No is 05.08

Asian Inspiration (TV Kids)

Kuala Lumpur: The Malaysian company Inspidea is coming to MIPCOM with a range of animated properties, led by Ko-Bushi, a co-production with France's SIP Animation. The 78x3-minute series features Japanese feudal warriors who are constantly at odds as they vie to become the next sushi bar mascot.

For Andrew Ooi, the managing director of Inspidea, the working relationship with SIP has been a fruitful one. "Inspidea is strong in animation development and production," Ooi says. "SIP is great at storytelling and animation direction. That comes from having a long history of producing successful animation series. There is also the matter of East meets West. Our differences in culture and experiences help in maximising the impact of K0-Bushi as far as storytelling and design are concerned."

At MIPCOM, a priority will be closing out the financing on the show. Ooi believes broadcasters will take to the property for its "universal comedic appeal. Not having dialogue helps make it internationally marketable. Ko-Bushi, like other shorts, is also attractive for new media platforms like mobile and internet downloads, as well as VOD. They are light entertainment, fast-paced and very very funny."