MegaMedia, MTV and MDA Collaborate on First Regional TV Drama Series

Dated: 25 August 2003

​Lights! Camera! Action! will soon reverberate in the Lion City as Mega Media, MTV Networks Asia and Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) join hands as equity partners to collaborate on the production of the first-ever regional TV series that will be aired on MTV's channels across Asia. Valued in excess of S$2 million, the inaugural collaboration marks a new milestone for each party as they embark on a journey to produce a 14 episode drama series.

All three parties are excited by this opportunity and are committed to various contributions individually. Mega Media will chiefly be responsible for the content development and pre-post production process, working in close partnership with MTV who will be actively involved in directing, production as well as the sales and marketing aspects of the drama series regionally. MDA's participation in the project is in line with its vision under its Media 21 blueprint to develop the local media industry. One of MDA's key strategy is to produce quality exportable content for the international marketplace. Funding for the project comes under MDA's TV Content Industry Development Scheme. Through it, MDA hopes to encourage production companies to progress beyond being solely contracted for the production, but to be able to co-own the rights and share in the revenues generated from the programme.

Jonathan Foo, Managing Director of Mega Media Pte. Ltd. said, "Mega Media is proud to be given the opportunity to be Singapore's first production house to work on a regional TV series. This is a great time for Singapore's production scene to showcase our local production capabilities to a regional audience. We believe it is only a start to greater times ahead for the media scene in Singapore."

Frank Brown, President of MTV Networks Asia-Pacific said, "MTV is committed to bringing new and compelling content to the table that are relevant and appealing to our youth audience between 15 and 34 across Asia. This collaboration sets a new benchmark both in Singapore and Asia's production scene and we are proud to be part of an exciting pioneer project together with the great support from MDA and Mega Media. With MTV Networks Asia's reach of over 150 million homes, this TV drama series will be the talk of the town and set a whole new tempo to the TV industry in Asia."

CEO of MDA, Mr Lim Hock Chuan said, "This collaboration is another significant milestone for the Singapore media industry. It exemplifies MDA's Media 21 strategy to develop Made-by-Singapore content for the international market, whereby the programme is made with Singapore talent, financing and expertise, but not entirely made in Singapore or made only for the Singapore audience. MDA's participation in this project demonstrates our commitment to help our Singapore-based production companies to grow beyond our shores through participating in a project on an international scale. MDA is delighted that Mega Media pulled the project and the partners together. We hope to see more of such international collaborations in future."

This inaugural project will be the first made-by-Singapore TV series to hit MTV's pan-regional channels and viewers can look forward to this exciting TV series on selected MTV Asia's channels in 2004. Watch out for the one-hour premiere special in the first quarter of the next year directed by CheeK, Vice-President, Creative and Content, MTV Networks Asia and himself, an award-winning local film director. We will be making more announcements on details of the series in the future.

About Mega Media Private Limited
Mega Media is one of Singapore's leading film and television production companies. The company is particularly well known for its most recent feature film "Song of the Stork", which won the "Best Feature Film Award" at the Milano Film Festival 2002 in Italy and picked up distribution deals in Asia, Europe and North America. Beyond feature films, the company also produces a wide range of content for local and international television including "Art Nation", the anchor arts programme for Art Central MediaCorp TV12, which is going on to its 6th season. Mega Media has also just completed a documentary for National Geographic Channel. The Mega Media group of companies include Media Hive Pte Ltd, Singapore's leading digital media training center and media content company Oriental Art TV Pte Ltd a joint-venture with Oriental Art Magazine.

About MTV Asia
MTV - Cable &Satellite Channel of the Year at the 2002 Asian Television Awards -- is Asia's Most Wanted Music Channel, viewed by more young adults than any other music channel. MTV is the number one music channel, according to AMI-PAX 2001. MTV Networks Asia operates eight 24-hour programming services -- MTV China, MTV India, MTV Indonesia, MTV Korea, MTV Mandarin, MTV Philippines, MTV Southeast Asia and MTV Thailand. Including programming blocks in various parts of Asia, MTV has a combined distribution of more than 150 million homes. MTV Networks International reaches more than one quarter of the world's television households.

About Media Development Authority
The Media Development Authority (MDA) was formed on 1 January 2003. MDA's vision under its Media 21 blueprint is to develop Singapore into a vibrant global media city so as to foster a creative economy and a connected society. MDA aims to create a vibrant environment for the industry to flourish and the public to enjoy. The five strategies of Media 21 are: to establish Singapore as a Media Exchange;to export 'Made-by-Singapore' content;to internationalise local media companies;to nurture local media talents;and to develop digital media.

For further information:

MTV Networks Asia
Jessica Kam
Vice President, Network Communications
MTV Asia (Hong Kong/Singapore)
P: 852-2313-8023 /65-6420-7131 65-6420-7131
65-6420-7131 65-6420-7131 (direct)
P: 852-2312-0555 /65-6221-8166 65-6221-8166
65-6221-8166 65-6221-8166 (switch)
F: 852-2312-0066 / 65-6221-6016
Email: kamj@mtv-asia.com

Yvonne Poh
Assistant Manager, Corporate Communications
P: 65-6837-9894 65-6837-9894
65-6837-9894 65-6837-9894 
F: 65-6336-4142
Email: yvonne_poh@imda.gov.sg​

Mega Media
Jonathan Foo
Managing Director
P: 65-6536-9140 65-6536-9140
65-6536-9140 65-6536-9140
F: 65-6536-9154
Email: jonathan@megamedia.com.sg