Malaysia: GCMA expands to new business areas

‘Our strategy is a long-term three-fold process that has been built in line with the government’s plan of “Vision 2020”. The first phase is to strengthen the name of Malaysia as a media and creative content destination for production and development; second phase is to grow “Creative Malaysia” as a brand throughout the world; and the final stage is to attract global companies to come to the region to produce and develop world-class content within an internationally recognised production ecosystem’, he adds.

GCMA has expanded to new business areas, such us providing an international structure of licensing, branding and marketing for companies to commercialize and export their content worldwide. ‘We also aid in business development advisory for companies seeking funding, development advisory and other incentives. The new focus has been gearing towards licensing and merchandising, which is still at its infant stage within the region, but we see it as a good opportunity to educate the companies in this next stage of development of their businesses’.

‘We have decided to make ourselves more accessible to the general public with new additions to the team and a brand new office. The PR, Events and Marketing team are now exclusively housed in separate divisions to better streamline work processes within the company. Our staff has been exclusively selected as experts within their respective fields’.

GCMA has re-located to a brand new office in Damansara Perdana, which is part of the Golden Triangle of Petaling Jaya, situated in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. It is one of the premiere business centers in Malaysian capital city and home to a number of media companies and major networks. ‘We have an open-door policy and visitors a regular sight to be seen, whether they are seeking advice or just there to chat with the team’, he comments.

FINAS

According to Ham, the Malaysian Government has always been ‘supportive’ to the local creative and media content industry. ‘It has invested in building state-of-the-art production studio Pinewood Iskandar to foster world-class production value for our local industry. By building this facility with such an internationally recognized standard of production, the country is building a more conducive ecosystem for both local and international media players to invest and produce within the region’.

There are 5 film sound stages with a total area of 100,000sq ft including Southeast Asia’s largest interior water tanks, two 12,000 sq ft HD-equipped TV studios, 35,000sq ft of production office space and many more world-class features unique to the region. ‘It is truly a one of a kind facility in the whole Asia Pacific region and it's located in Malaysia’, says Ham.

And completes: ‘There is also a number of funding and incentives that the government has granted to further attract and promote development within the creative and media content industry. Most recently, FINAS has announced the Film in Malaysia incentive that offers a 30% production cash rebate. MDeC has also started their MAC3 funds that assist innovative local companies to develop, produce and co-produce content’.