Singapore Distributors Heading to MIPCOM

SINGAPORE: Bomanbridge Media, FCCE Asia Pacific and Scrawl Studios will be distributing Asian-made content at MIPCOM, joining a nine-company delegation led by the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) to promote a slate of some 375 hours of programming.

Scrawl, producers of Milly Molly, plans to bring three of its in-house titles: The New Adventures of Nanoboy, Clang Invasion and its latest preschool series, Silly Bitty Bunny, which will be making its international market debut.

This year’s lineup also feature more than 30 documentaries and lifestyle shows. Titles include Lonely Planet: Road Less Travelled and Sun Tzu: War on Business. Both series are distributed by BBC Worldwide and will premiere on National Geographic Adventure Channel and Channel NewsAsia, respectively, in the first half of 2010. There’s also Culinary Asia, CultureX and Dining with Death, represented by Passion Distribution. Joining these programs are recently completed projects Dubai Megamall, which is scheduled for broadcast on National Geographic Channel in first quarter of 2010; Almost Famous, which aired on Channel NewsAsia in early September; Inside Kids Sumo, which premiered on the National Geographic Channel; and Digital Deconstruction by Infocus Asia.

In addition to factual programming, the Singapore Pavilion will also showcase a lineup of animated content, eight of which will be making their international market debut at MIPCOM. These include Mr Moon, is a three-party co-production between the U.K.’s Skaramoosh, Canada’s Title Entertainment and Singapore’s Sparky Entertainment. Also making its market debut is Off The Wall, one of two projects developed under the MDA-Screenwest Cross-Media Initiative, which was announced at last year’s MIPCOM to encourage cross-media/cross-platform collaboration between producers in Singapore and Western Australia. Other animated titles to be promoted include Olive & The Rhyme Rescue Crew! by Peach Blossom Media, Almost Extinct and Paranormalia by Scrawl Studios.

Dr Christopher Chia, the CEO of the MDA, commented, "This year’s mix of companies is a reflection of a maturing media industry as companies move up the media value chain producing, creating and trading Asian intellectual properties that sit well with the international audience. As more Singapore players start to delve into the distribution space, we are likely to see Singapore-made content travel far beyond the current 70 countries which we are already in."

He added, “This year’s lineup of programs reinforces our core strengths in factual and animation productions. Singapore is creating a niche by producing content that provide many around the world insights into all things Asian, told from an Asian perspective but with international appeal.”