MDA's Christopher Chia

October 2006

By Mansha Daswani

While Singapore may
be one of the Asia-Pacific region’s smallest markets, it is anxious to make its
mark on the international circuit. At the forefront of those efforts is the
Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA), a government-funded body that
is in charge of both regulating the local media industry and turning the tiny
island nation into a “global media city.” The MDA’s CEO, Dr. Christopher Chia,
tells TV Asia Pacific about the organization’s efforts to boost
made-in-Singapore content across tele­vision and new media platforms.

TV
ASIA PACIFIC:
What is the MDA’s role in the Singaporean media industry?

CHIA: The MDA was formed [in 2003] to
transform Singapore into a global media city. It seeks to create a vibrant
media environment by establishing Singapore as a media exchange, exporting
made-by-Singapore content, internationalizing local media companies, nurturing
local media talent and developing digital media.

TV
ASIA PACIFIC:
How has the organization evolved over the years?

CHIA: Since its establishment, the MDA
has been wearing the twin hats of industry regulator and promoter. While these
two primary roles have not changed, the MDA’s efforts over the last three years
in nurturing a nascent media industry have started to bear fruit.

In
2005 alone, it was estimated that 1,000 new jobs were created. In addition,
Singapore’s pavilions at international trade shows facilitate the efforts of
local media companies to market their content. [We have also been] fostering
collaborations with international companies. For example, Rainbow Media
Holdings and Mega Media announced last MIPCOM a collaboration to co-produce 100
hours of high-definition programs over three years worth $20 million. In fact,
as a result of the collaboration, five HD programs will be promoted at MIPCOM.

We
are also beginning to see a steady growth of awareness and demand for
Singapore-made content internationally. For example, a Singapore-made film, Be
With Me, opened
the Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival 2005 to a standing ovation
from the audience.

Another
example is Singapore’s first 3-D animation feature film, on the birth of the
Chinese Zodiac—Cubix’s Zodiac: The Race Begins. The film has already been sold to
22 countries, including China, Thailand, Taiwan, France and countries in
Eastern Europe. A made-for-mobile-phone drama serial, P.S…. I Luv U, by MediaCorp, has also been
acquired by telcos in six Asian countries. This year, the local animation house
Scrawl Studios sold its 2-D animated TV series Nanoboy to Thailand and South Korea,
while Katakune,
a 3-D animated TV series targeted at preschoolers, has been presold to China’s
CCTV.

The
annual BroadcastAsia and Asia Media Festival are key events that boost
Singapore as Asia’s media marketplace as they continue to draw tens of
thousands of international participants.

Many
Singapore media companies are now actively participating in international trade
shows for film, TV and publishing, under the Singapore pavilion, led by the
MDA. We can expect to see more made-in-Singapore films, TV and animation
programs on the international market. We can also expect to see more
international co-production deals with partners from North America, Europe and
the Asia Pacific.

TV
ASIA PACIFIC:
What are some of your initiatives to boost the local media industry?

CHIA: Since the launch of our Media 21
blueprint in July 2003, the MDA has put in place a comprehensive set of
initiatives and funding schemes to develop and nurture the media industry in
Singapore.

We
encourage the development of high-quality and ex-portable made-in-Singapore
content across genres such as TV series, films, animation, games, books and
music through a slate of developmental schemes. We also facilitate and broker
collaborations by our local media companies to co-produce with international
partners so that they can tap into international expertise and funds while
raising the standards of content development. Ultimately, we want Singapore
media enterprises to internationalize their content and ser-vices and expand
their markets beyond Singapore.

In
the area of digital media, apart from promoting digital content creation, the
MDA looks at expediting the deployment of digital media services, such as HDTV,
developing Singapore into a digital-cinema distribution hub and boosting
research and development in interactive and digital media technologies.

TV
ASIA PACIFIC:
Are there certain genres you’ve been focusing on?

CHIA: Documentary production has
traditionally been one of the core strengths of Singapore’s production
industry. Our local documentary culture has, for the past few years, flourished
as our production companies have sharpened their expertise whilst gaining valuable
experience in producing quality documentaries for the international market.

TV
ASIA PACIFIC:
What is the MDA doing in the areas of high-definition and broadband content?

CHIA: In June, Singapore became the
first Southeast Asian country to kick off HDTV trials over terrestrial and
cable platforms. This MDA-led initiative to deploy HDTV nationwide is part of a
bigger plan to develop and grow the digital-media landscape in Singapore.

In
addition to working with service providers MediaCorp and StarHub on their
respective trials, the MDA has been actively encouraging and supporting local
and international content providers to create quality HD content for the
domestic and international markets. Complementing this is a comprehensive
public-outreach campaign to educate Singaporeans on HDTV and its benefits.

Besides
launching HDTV over terrestrial and cable platforms, our strategy includes the
launching of HDTV over IP in the near future. We would like HDTV content to be
accessible by users with high bandwidth connections.

Over
the last two years, Singapore’s TV and film industry has witnessed steady
progress in the development of capabilities in HDTV production and
comprehensive end-to-end post-production. This is a positive development in
view of the rising global demand for HDTV programs and bodes well for our
vision [of positioning] Singapore as a media-services hub.

Several
local media companies have also begun to develop capabilities to create TV
programs for mobile phones. In the coming year, these Singapore companies will
take on international projects with their enhanced HDTV production and
post-production facilities.

TV
ASIA PACIFIC:
How can the MDA work to strengthen the Singaporean market?

CHIA: We can do this through content
development such as funding good-quality ideas and scripts and co-investing in
exportable content projects. We follow up with market-development programs that
facilitate our [companies] to go global with their products, opening up
overseas markets and tapping into international resources. We will help our
media enterprises grow with key resources such as talent, private-sector
financing, intellectual asset management, marketing and branding, and
distribution.

We
also encourage existing and new entrants to the media industry to explore and
experiment with new channels and service offerings—for example, IPTV and
mobile TV. In addition, we are embarking on an ambitious plan to invest in
R&D in order to create a sustainable competitive advantage for the media
sector.

TV
ASIA PACIFIC: What is your vision for the Singaporean media industry in five years’
time?

CHIA: Over the last three years,
efforts were spent on setting up the infrastructure and creating a conducive
environment for the media business to thrive. We want Singaporean companies to
take full advantage of these favorable conditions and adopt an international
outlook in growing their companies. Today, more of our local enterprises are
participating in international trade events. An increasing number have now
struck out on their own, investing in their own properties, collaborating with
other production companies worldwide and making their own mark in this very
vibrant sector.

An
increasing number of large media companies have also based themselves in
Singapore. Sixteen of the largest international broadcasters have established
their commissioning and satellite uplinking businesses in Singapore, playing
out their content to Asian customers. An increasing number have based
content-development and production businesses here.

At
the same time, Singapore has been, and will continue to be, an active test bed
for new ways of creating and distributing media. Media companies understand
that traditional business models are being shaken and that it is in the
collective interest of the entire community to collaborate to identify new
business models. Participants would be able to build on the excellent
infrastructure available to them here; with an intellectual-property
environment that is one of the highest-rated in the world.

In
five years, our research and development in the areas of interactive and
digital media could be expected to possibly contribute whole new business
models for the benefit of the media sector internationally.

We
are embarking on “Singapore Media Fusion,” a media-branding program to raise
awareness of the richness and capabilities of our industry players. It will
also be the platform through which the MDA carries out international marketing
and promotions, providing a clearly branded, innovative platform to harness the
collective strength of our media sector—both in the traditional media
space and also in the new interactive and digital-media space.