Dated: 16 May 2005
Singapore company, Cubix International’s first animation project, Zodiac, the Race Begins… has been sold to China, Thailand and Eastern Europe. These deals were signed after on-site negotiations at the Cannes Film Market shortly after the mart opened..
With these deals, Zodiac, the Race Begins… will be distributed in theatres, on TV and cable and video/DVD in the China, Thai and Eastern European markets. The film is due for completion at the end of 2005 and will be released in January 2006 in Thailand and Singapore, while Eastern European audiences will get the film in March 2006. The final release date for China will be confirmed later.
Apart from releasing the film, distributor Box Office Entertainment will also jointly develop a line of merchandising and licensing products for the worldwide market.
Zodiac, the Race Begins… is a full length 3D animation film based on the Chinese zodiac and is a tale of a race by the animal characters to be king..
As an animation project set against the backdrop of a Chinese myth, featuring 12 eye-catching characters, the film attracted interest from buyers at the market, including offers from countries such as China, Greece, Israel, Portugal and Turkey.
Sales to distributors were based on a 10-min 3D animated trailer which was produced with the support of the Media Development Authority (MDA) under its Digital Content Development Scheme. This programme allows Singapore animation studios co-funding support to produce original animation projects or trailers for animated TV series and feature films for international markets.
“This is the first time we are participating in the Cannes Film Market and we are very encouraged by the response to Zodiac, which is the very first project to be produced by Cubix. We have received numerous offers from world buyers and we are still negotiating other deals. We expect the total amount of sales achieved to be at least in the six-figure range (USD),” said Mr Benjamin Toh, Executive Producer, Cubix International.
Commenting on the deal, Mr Seto Lok Yin, Director, Industry Development, MDA, said, “We are certainly very happy for Cubix that they have secured a deal so quickly, within the first two days of the market. It’s been very heartening to note the level of interest from international buyers for Singapore films. While Zodiac is the first off the block from our contingent to be sold, our other films have also been receiving a fair amount of interest from buyers and some of them are already engaged in serious discussions with buyers.”
This is the third year that the MDA and the Singapore Film Commission has a Singapore pavilion at the Cannes Film Market to showcase made-by-Singapore films and Singapore media companies. This year’s line-up of Singapore films at the Market include Be With Me which has been selected as the opening film for the Directors’ Fortnight;Cages;The Maid;One Last Dance;Leap of Love;0430 and Zodiac, the Race Begins.
For more information, please contact:
Cubix International
Benjamin Toh
Executive Producer
Cubix International Pte Ltd
Tel : 65 968 46422
Email : Benjamin@cubix.ws
Media Development Authority
Tan Poh Cheng (Ms)
Assistant Director
Corporate and Marketing Communications
Media Development Authority
Tel: (65) 6837 9369
Email: Tan_Poh_Cheng@imda.gov.sg
Yvonne Poh (Ms)
Assistant Manager
Corporate &Marketing Communications
Media Development Authority
Tel: (65) 6837 9894
Fax: (65) 6336 4142
Email: Yvonne_POH@imda.gov.sg
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