Another Win For Creative Content (The Edge, Malaysia)

The government has rightly highlighted digital and creative content as a sector with much potential in Malaysia and is supporting its development with funding and supportive policies. Already, Malaysian studios are beginning to make an impact in the global market. The latest one to score a win and reinforce the perception that Malaysia is an emerging content creator
is Inspidea Sdn Bhd.

The digital animation company signed a co-production deal with KidsCo, a global children’s television network co-owned by NBC Universal, Corus Entertainment Inc and Cookie Jar Group. Slated to be a pay-TV service, exclusive to the KidsCo channel worldwide, it will be aired in 52 countries in 14 languages throughout Europe, Russia, Middle East, Africa and Asia.

The series, called Boo and Me, has an environmental theme and is slated to be launched this September. As more people are starting to understand the importance of environmental consciousness, there has been a boost in the number of Earth-friendly programmes, especially those targeted at children. With The Wild Thornberries taking the lead, content producers are seizing the opportunity by creating cartoons that both educate and entertain at the same time.

Offering more than what Sesame Street has done for children across the globe, the environmentally themed children programmes aim to create the awareness process during their formative years. This is the main idea behind Boo and Me. Targeted at children aged 6 to 10, Boo the Orangutan stars in this two-minute per episode, 13-part animation series. With the
help of two children, Aiman and Yasmin, Boo comes to understand how important it is to love and protect nature, and how the little things or seemingly small actions can result in big impacts.

“The main idea for Boo and Me is to educate young children to care about Earth. If you take the ‘and’ out of the title, you will come up with ‘bumi’, our word for ‘Earth’,” says C J See, sales and marketing director of Inspidea.

“We are delighted to be collaborating with one of Malaysia’s leading animation companies on Boo and Me. This exciting new series bolsters our home-grown library of original programming and is also a perfect fit for our stable of educational entertainment, which is loved by children and their families around the world. As KidsCo grows across Asia, we are committed to investing in Asian programming to further improve our quality programme line-up,” says Paul Robinson,
managing director of KidsCo and joint executive producer of Boo and Me.

“This is a major project for us because we were selected by KidsCo, which is a pretty well-established company with its own TV network. Also, this production is in line with its strategy to start investing in Asian content. We initiated talks on this project
last September when we heard that KidsCo was looking to invest in production but had not decided on which one to get into. This deal was firmed up during MIPTV (the world’s largest audiovisual entertainment trade show in Cannes) last month,” See smiles.

Aside from sending a green message to children worldwide, the entire production process of Boo and Me will also be environmentally friendly and paperless. In terms of funding for Boo and Me, See declines to reveal the total investment, but he says Inspidea had chosen not to secure any grants or funds from the government because of the lead time required to secure the money.

“We haven’t received any major grants from the government save for RM50,000 from winning the Multimedia Development Corp’s MSC IP Creators Challenge in 2006, because we haven’t applied for any. The dynamics of this project moves really fast, so it is not really suitable for us to apply for a grant. Besides, KidsCo will be investing a significant amount in this project, so we have decided to come up with the rest internally. We are comfortable with the risk that we are taking on our end. It is just easier, faster and more efficient this way,” explains See.

While it is clear that the investment from KidsCo reflects its confidence and commitment to the project, the deal is sweetenedby the fact that Inspidea retains all intellectual property (IP) rights to the title. Even though KidsCo retains broadcast exclusivity, Inspidea still has the option of utilising Boo and Me for merchandising or online content.

“This is the second time we are co-producing with a major network. While it is great that we retain 100% of the IP for the project, the biggest gain that we reap working with KidsCo is the knowledge that it willingly shares with us. We will be developing Boo and Me’s storyline together and the network definitely brings a lot of talent, experience and credentials to the table,” says See.

This transfer of experience and talent will definitely help Inspidea grow and become a more competitive company in its space, too.