MDA And Screenwest Develop Cross-Media

Screenwest, Western Australia's screen funding and development agency and the Media Development Authority (MDA) have revealed a successful initiative.
MDA - which champions the Singapore media industry - has announced that Off the Wall, an animated series which benefitted from the 2008 MDA-ScreenWest Cross-Media Development fund, an initiative launched at last year's MIPCOM, will be debuting at the MDA stand during MIPCOM 2009.
At the funds inaugural year at MIPCOM 2008, Off the Wall and Borders - Life on the Edge both received a grant, which consists of up to $30,000 USD in development funding.
The animated series, Off the Wall debut coincides with the launch of the second round of the programme which encourages producers in Australia and Singapore to co-develop concepts with multi-platform elements.
Off the wall is a fast-paced animated series consisting of 52 episodes, which targets 8-12-year-olds from ZAC Toons (Western Australia) and Scrawl Studios (Singapore). The series is about a group of ordinary kids with extraordinary friends - a ragtag bunch of walking, talking graffiti characters with spooky powers, strange ideas and way too much attitude.
Borders - Life on the Edge by Artemis International (Western Australia) and Threesixzero Productions (Singapore) is a docu-travel series that goes in search of towns bordering two different countries.
It unravels the lives of people in towns caught between two world and how they come to terms with and often traverse the imaginary line we call border.
The 2009 programme invites producers in Singapore and Western Australia to jointly submit proposals in any of the following genres: Children's Series (including Animation), Documentary Series and Factual or Factual Entertainment Series.
Up to three projects will be selected and each awarded as much as £30,000 USD in development funding which will be shared equally between the Singaporean and Western Australia co-production partners.
The closing date for submissions is November 23, 2009 and the announcement of selected projects will be made at the Asia Television Forum held in Singapore from December 2 to 4, 2009. Details on the application guidelines can be found in the Annex.
Dr Christopher Chia, MDA's Chief Executive Officer, said: "Singapore welcomes partnerships that open the door to cross-border projects which are not only valued by the participating countries but travel well and resonate with a global audience. Embarking on this sound round of calls is a reflection of the synergies and the positive working relations between companies in Australia and Singapore and we look forward to once again uniting to develop multi-platform properties with commercial potential beyond our shores."
Ian Booth, ScreenWest Chief Executive, said: "We welcome the continued partnership between the two territories, as international co-productions are becoming increasingly important.
"The Western Australian screen industry has always looked to international partners to finance its productions. Our industry is very well placed geographically, but also with industries with complementary skill sets to continue to work together. We are very pleased to be working with the MDA once again, and look forward to supporting new innovative cross-media projects that can be enjoyed around the world."
Seng Choon Meng, Chief Executive Officer, Scrawl Studios, said: "The experience of working with Zac Toons has been very positive and we're progressing well with the project.
"By intergrating our different cultures, knowledge and expertise our production benefitted from a truly international team, and we've all grown professionally as a result. We believe we have developed an animation concept that will transcend international borders, and are indebted to the MDA-ScreenWest Cross-Media Development fund that injected life into our project," he said.
(KMcA/BMcC)