SALADIN SUCCESS WOOS FOREIGN INTEREST TO M`SIAN ANIMATION INDUSTRY

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 (Bernama) -- The succcess of the Saladin animated series
has attracted foreign interests to the Malaysian animation industry.

"We've been flooded with enquiries from foreign partners interested in
distributing the series to other markets globally," said Kamil Othman,
Vice-President (Creative Multimedia) of Multimedia Development Corporation
(MDeC).

Saladin made a big leap forward in the industry after receiving the
"Encouragement Award' at the 10th Edition of the Grand Prix Final of the
Digicon 6 Competition in Tokyo.

"The award indicates the Saladin project and local talents have the
technical know-how to produce animations to compete with the world's best," he
told a press conference after opening the first MSC Malaysia Creative Industry
Dialogue Session 2009 here Tuesday.

Kamil said Saladin had successfully spurred the growth and encouraged
additional creative contents within the industry in search of co-production,
content distribution and licensing opportunities.

Saladin: The Animated Series, a co-production between MDeC and Al Jazeera
Children's Channel, is expected to complete its first 13 episodes by early 2010.

Kamil said Malaysia would continue to support the local animation industry
development despite the current economic slowdown.

"The industry will still move on no matter how the economic climate is," he
added.
-- BERNAMA