Singaporean Government Unveils Ambitious Media Initiative

SINGAPORE, December 10: At
the Asia TV Forum, the Singaporean government unveiled plans for Mediapolis,
which will house soundstages, production and broadcast facilities, work spaces,
accommodation and more, as the island nation continues to position itself as
the region's media capital.

The 19-hectare media hub will
be housed at one-north, a destination planned and developed by the JTC
Corporation that aims to foster technological innovation and research and
development, as well as house living, working and leisure spaces. Mediapolis is
an initiative of the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA), JTC, the
Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and the Economic Development
Board of Singapore. Once completed, it will feature soundstages with
green-screen capabilities, production and post-production outfits, and uplink
and downlink broadcast facilities, as well as educational institutions that
focus on media, an extensive park, service apartments, a hotel, work spaces for
creatives and more.

"The Mediapolis is an
essential piece of a comprehensive media ecosystem that we are building,"
said Christopher
Chia, the CEO of the MDA. "Over the years, Singapore's media industry
has made great strides, particularly in media financing and international
co-productions. To elevate ourselves to the next level, we are finding ways to
add scale and synergy to what we already have."

The first part of the
project will be developed in the first quarter of next year. Singaporean production
firm Infinite Frameworks (IFW) has come on board to invest in and develop a
soundstage. Mike Wiluan, the managing director of IFW, said the investment
would be about S$80 million to S$100 million, with a view to creating a
soundstage that would meet the needs of both local and international players.
As it develops the soundstage, IFW is looking at offerings currently available
in the nearby markets of Hong Kong, Shanghai and Thailand. According to Wiluan,
initial plans see the construction of a large studio, spanning 20,000 to 30,000
square feet, with two smaller ones of about 8,000 square feet.

The partners in Mediapolis
are working to secure other tenants, which are expected to include media
financiers, producers, digital animation outfits, games developers, visual
effects specialists, recording studios, digital storage vaults, R&D labs
and media institutes.

According to Chan Yeng
Kit, the permanent secretary for the Ministry of Information, Communications
and the Arts, the current economic downturn provides a "window of
opportunity" as the country can take advantage of lower construction costs
as it builds Mediapolis. He noted that the facility enables the local media
industry to prepare itself "for the next stage of growth."

Expanding on plans for
Mediapolis, Seah Wee Thye, the deputy director of business development at the
MDA, stressed that the facility would serve as a "cluster of minds and
talent" and allow companies to take advantage of shared resources.

The executives on hand
were hesitant about specifying a timetable for the construction, noting only
that development on the first site, IFW's soundstage, would begin in 2009, with
construction on the remaining buildings ongoing until 2011. There is also the
opportunity for future expansion.

Financials were also not
disclosed. Philip Su, the assistant CEO of JTC, stated that buildings at the
site could each cost anywhere between S$30 million and S$120 million, depending
on each facility's revenue-earning potential.

When asked about Mediapolis's
affect on the local economy, the MDA's Chia stated that an estimated 10,000
jobs would be added to the media sector by 2015.

—By Mansha Daswani