Film in Malaysia Incentive Tapped for Borneo’s Secret Kingdom

CANNES: Australian producer WildBear Entertainment has wrapped its landmark 4K series Borneo’s Secret Kingdom, which was supported by the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (FINAS) and made use of the Film in Malaysia Incentive (FIMI).

WildBear partnered with Scubazoo, a Malaysian production company based in Kota Kinabalu, for the project. The factual specialist spent more than 18 months in Sabah using both local and international crew members.

Borneo’s Secret Kingdom is a three-hour, blue-chip natural-history series. It has been produced for National Geographic WILD and will be distributed by ZDF Enterprises.

Bettina Dalton, executive producer/principal at Wildbear Entertainment, commented: “Malaysia is a country rich in wildlife, culture and stories and we are thrilled to be able to promote its breadth in our new series. This is our second production with FINAS, but the first accessing the FIMI rebate, and it has been a great partnership for us. Any producer will tell you that tax breaks and incentives are appealing, but the help we got on the ground in Sabah through Scubazoo, and the ongoing support from FINAS, made the creation of this extraordinary series a truly remarkable and rewarding experience.”

Kamil Othman, director general of the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia, the agency that oversees the FIMI, said: “Wildbear Entertainment has proved a wonderful first factual partner for our incentive, producing an extremely engaging and stunning new series that showcases some of the most beautiful parts of our country, in the most glorious detail. With our strategic location in Asia, our own growing production industry and of course our incredible range and variety of locations and wildlife, Malaysia is increasingly on the destination wish-list for both film and television production companies.”

“With Borneo’s Secret Kingdom, Wildbear Entertainment has successfully combined amazing locations and compelling wildlife with extraordinary cinematography and brilliant storytelling to produce a modern classic of natural history programming,” said Ben Noot, the global acquisitions manager for National Geographic Channel Worldwide.