Business

Wednesday September 2, 2009

MDeC plans to fund 15 projects over 2 years

By B.K. SIDHU


KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia may not have an animation player as big or aggressive as Pixar Animation Studios but some local companies are doing jobs for global companies in the animation and computer game business.

There is also good potential for growth if Malaysia is serious about the paradigm shift from a manufacturing-based economy to one that is knowledge-based and innovation-centred.

»Our journey is going to be step by step but we want Malaysian companies to grow big« DATUK BADLISHAM GHAZALI MDEC CEO

The nurturing of talents to providing funding to develop the content industry is crucial if the transformation is to succeed.

Multimedia Development Corp (MDeC) is one of the many agencies entrusted to help the content industry grow. It recently launched a RM75mil co-production fund to co-produce animation and computer games with foreign partners, with a target to disburse funding to 15 projects over the next two years.

“Our journey is going to be step by step but we want Malaysian companies to grow big. We admit we cannot develop a Pixar in a day but we believe over time we can do it,’’ MDeC chief executive officer Datuk Badlisham Ghazali told StarBiz in an interview.

MDeC provides funding, albeit limited, to creators that have ideas which can be marketed and distributed internationally.

Badlisham claimed it had supplied some funding and seen some success, but the fact remains that there is a lot more that can be done in a country that has many talented people.

Much talent has left our shores as there is little recognition and securing funding can be tough as the process can be trying.

MDeC is also involved in several other programmes, including one with Astro for content creation. It also has several strategic alliances in countries such as the United States, Thailand, South Korea and Australia.

South Korea is fast becoming an animation hub for the United States and there is work that can be sourced to Malaysia and cooperation of this sort helps the industry grow.

Asked why animation and computer games creators were getting special attention from MDeC, Badlisham said “games is a bigger business than Hollywood movies, it is a US$6 trillion business.”

But the story does not stop there.

There is a call from within the industry to set up a one-stop agency so that creators can focus on producing content.

Asked for his view, Badlisham said: “There is some overlap and it should be categorised differently. We cannot comment about other domains as there are other tracks. There is digital domain, life actors and many others.

“We can explore the setting up of a commission but the government should dictate the policy or task force for the merger.’’

MDeC is not the only party providing funding for the content industry, there is also the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry, the Malaysian Communications & Multimedia Commission, the Information Ministry and Malaysia Venture Capital Management Bhd.

But each has its own guidelines, although members from these organisations do sit on the boards of the funding committees.

Instead of having so many organisations that focus on the same thing, it would be better to group them under one governing body as this would make it easier to chart the future direction of the industry.

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