As part of the Malaysia Digital Economy Week delegation to Expo 2020 Dubai, four Malaysian animation champions – Monsta, Durioo, Zappy Productions and The R&D Studio – will be showcasing their work on the global stage.

From 9 to 15 January 2022, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), Malaysia’s lead digital economy agency, will be leading a delegation of 21 Malaysian companies to Expo 2020 Dubai as part of the Malaysia Digital Economy Week.

These include companies from Malaysia’s burgeoning Digital Creative Content industry, who will be representing Malaysia at the world stage during the Digital Economy Week at the Malaysian Pavilion of the Expo.

The Malaysia Digital Economy Week at Expo 2020 Dubai is targeting RM300-million worth of potential trade and investment opportunities, on top of securing 50 business leads and multiple partnership agreements during the expo.

The objective of the Digital Economy Week is to explore new areas of collaboration and business opportunities in the Middle East via Dubai, as well as among the 192 participating nations.

“The Digital Creative Content industry is an important sector for Malaysia. Through initiatives like the Digital Content Grant, MDEC has helped nurture it into a RM7-billion industry.

“Expo 2020 Dubai is an opportunity for us to showcase Malaysia’s best digital content creators on the global stage, in line with MDEC’s Digital Hub for ASEAN initiative and the goals of the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint (MyDIGITAL) to promote Malaysia as a digital creative content hub. This forms part of MDEC’s Digital Investments Future5 (DIF5) strategy, which seeks to bring in RM50-billion worth of investments over five years,” said Mahadhir Aziz (pic), CEO, MDEC.

Who are the animation champions representing Malaysia on the global stage? Let’s get acquainted.

Monsta (Animonsta Studios)

Monsta is a little more than an animation studio. Founded in 2009, Monsta grew their IP Boboiboy with a 360-degree approach, covering multiple platforms while focusing on licensing and merchandising. The animated series is now seen in over 70 countries globally, with their YouTube channel racking close to 20 million subscribers.

Describing themselves as a character business company and IP enabler, the studio has since grown to add more IPs, including Papa Pipi, Fly with Yahya, and the upcoming Mechamato.

Mechamato in particular will be released in a unique two-pronged strategy. Firstly, the studio will be launching the series on Cartoon Network on 4 December, covering 23 Asia Pacific countries including Australia, South Korea, and Japan.

Secondly, the show will be distributed to focus areas in the United States and Europe through their strategic partnership with Jetpack Distribution.

Durioo

Durioo was founded in 2021 by the founder and creative minds from Digital Durian, the producers of hit cartoon series Omar & Hana and Didi & Friends – both of which have accumulated more than eight billion views and 10 million subscribers on YouTube. The shows have been dubbed into 10 different languages and broadcast in more than 25 countries, reaching millions of children globally.

The achievements of these shows can’t be understated. Didi & Friends won Asia’s #1 Preschool Programme at the Asian Television Awards 2019, while Omar & Hana is a global hit – 35 per cent of views on their English YouTube channel come from the United States and the United Kingdom alone.

In 2021, Durioo will be releasing two Durioo Originals – Durioo Games and Durioo+.

Durioo aspires to be the go-to platform for Muslim children around the world, addressing a huge market of 430 million Muslim children globally. They aim to create high-quality Islamic-essence cartoons and kid-friendly games, housed under Durioo Games and Durioo+.

Zappy Production

Founded in 2015, Zappy Production began its journey as a motion graphic animation studio. After six years of being in the advertising and marketing industry, they started to evolve into a multi-discipline creative production agency that branched out to various services such as augmented reality, virtual events, online platforms, and various interactive multimedia.

Over the past six years, they have serviced several clients from Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to multinational corporations such as Petronas, Shell, Pico and Amway.

Since the pandemic, the company has expanded its wings and started a new company called Green Robot Studio, with many close business partners such as Sky Horse Creative as well as BLWN.

Some of the notable achievements for their studio are the creation of technologies for four events, with former Malaysian premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad officially initiating the launch.

Besides that, Zappy Production produced the opening ceremony launch visuals for Sea Games KL 2017 as well as the projection mapping contents for the event itself.

Zappy’s vision is to push the boundaries of art and technology and expand to countries like Singapore, Australia, and the United Arab Emirates. They will continue striving to create out-of-the-box marketing activation to wow their audiences across the globe.

The R&D Studio

Founded in 2011, The R&D Studio is an award-winning content development studio based in Malaysia.

The R&D Studio has produced content for partners such as Disney, Warner Media, Tokyo Broadcasting System, Astro, Primeworks, RTM as well as for corporate clients. Their portfolio includes television series, telemovies, short films, documentaries, music videos and commercials.

The company has a bank of over 100 IPs spanning different formats and genres in various stages of development and production. 10 IPs have since found new homes with broadcasters and other clients.

A notable achievement for the studio is the production of the live-action television sitcom, Disney’s Wizards of Warna Walk (2018) – the first long-form television series by Disney in Southeast Asia.

The studio worked with Disney producers on the ideation, development, scripting, casting, wardrobe, set design, production, and post-production for the series. The multi-cam production was shot on two sound stages in Iskandar Malaysia Studios (IMS) in Johor.

As storytellers and worldbuilders, the studio has strived to push the boundaries of storytelling and art form.

Their first animated short film, Batik Girl, was made for a global audience and explores themes of love and grief through an original visual world inspired by the Southeast Asian textile craft of batik. Another animated short film, The Dalang’s Tale, tackles the theme of domestic violence through visuals inspired by “Wayang Kulit” or shadow puppets.

Their short films have gained recognition by being official selections in over 60 film festivals around the world as well as winning numerous awards.

To learn more about MDEC and Malaysia’s offerings in Expo 2020 Dubai, visit www.heartofdigitalasean.my.

-- BERNAMA

Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) is the agency under the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia Malaysia leading the digital transformation of the economy for 25 years.

To find out more about MDEC’s Digital Economy initiatives, please visit us at www.mdec.my or follow us on:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MyMDEC/

Twitter: @mymdec