Video Interview: Kamil Othman

NEW YORK: Kamil Othman, the VP for creative industry policy and strategy at Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), discusses the government-backed organization’s mandate and the rising prominence of Malaysia as a media capital.

With the assistance of MDeC, Malaysian companies have been increasing their presence at content markets around the world. At MIPCOM, several local outfits announced new co-production deals, primarily in the animation space, with entities from the U.S., Europe and other parts of Asia. MIPCOM also saw MDeC announcing its first deal on Saladin, the long-awaited co-pro with Al Jazeera Children’s Channel that has been licensed to ATV in Turkey. “We have managed to go from local, to regional, to global,” says Othman on the organization’s achievements over the last year.

While Malaysian animation perhaps has the highest profile among the country’s programming exports, Othman stresses that the country has capable of delivering much more to the international market, from visual effects for feature films to online gaming.