KUALA LUMPUR: International digital content experts like Kung Fu Panda producer John Stevenson and Marvel Animation LLC president Eric Rollman will be in town next month to give talks to local animators, videogame makers and other digital media professionals.

These talks are part of the MSC Malaysia Kre8tif! Digital Creative Content Conference at the Royale Chulan Hotel here from Dec 7-9, which will include seminars, a competition, and a two-day mentorship programme.

Stevenson will deliver a keynote address while Rollman will speak about his experiences at comic book company Marvel in a panel session titled Bringing Heroes from Pages to Eyeballs.

There will also be technical talks, including one on GPU (graphics processing unit) rendering by Laura Dohrmann, the business development manager of nVidia Corp which makes graphics chips and cards.

The experts will not only be in the country to speak but to also look out for content and will be interested in works by local animators or animation houses.

Other speakers at the conference are David Abramowitz, producer and writer of TV series 21 Jump Street, V and MacGyver; Guillaume de Fondaumiere, co-chief executive officer of Quantic Dream and chairman of the European Games Developer Federation which produced Fahrenheit, an acclaimed adventure game; and Zainir Aminullah, executive director of Astro Entertainment.

Those who want to attend the conference will have to pay a RM300 fee each; students of digital content will only have to pay RM100 each.

The conference organiser, the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), hopes that by encouraging these acclaimed international experts to mingle with their local counterparts who have raw talent, the country’s digital content industry will go up a notch.

Saifol Shamlan Bahrin, vice-president of MDeC’s industry development division, hopes the stellar line up of speakers and activities, will attract more than 500 participants.

Mentorship

There will also be a mentorship event — called X|Media|Lab — during the conference for digital content companies, which will take place from Dec 10 to 11 at the Pullman Lakeside Hotel in Putrajaya.

A total of 16 international and local mentors will be on hand at the event to provide their experiences, advice and possible opportunities for joint projects.

Participation in X|Media|Lab Kuala Lumpur is limited and subject to a selection process, where only 16 companies will be chosen to be mentored.

The mentorship event is the local version of the one that is held in Sydney, Australia, every year.

Brendan Harkin, X|Media|Lab director who is based in Sydney, said his company is looking to mentor Malaysian companies for co-production deals with international businesses.

“Applicants would have to give details on the quality of their team, a product description and a web link to their conten,” he said.

“We are looking for works-in-progress ... interesting ideas that someone has been toying with.”

The companies selected for the programme will have to pay RM1,000 per team member for the two-day, one-on-one mentorship.

Themed Wealth of Animation: Co-Production, the X|Media|Lab Kuala Lumpur event is aimed at enabling the selected companies to work on animation co-production ideas directly with the mentors.

There will also be opportunities for investors to explore co-production opportunities with the local content providers during the event, such as outsourcing work, licensing and international distribution.

Get more details at www.xmedialab.com.

More highlights

The three-day Kre8tif! conference will focus on four key areas; digital arts, games, visual effects (VFX) and emerging media.

Its other highlights include keynote addresses by several industry experts, networking sessions, business and technical workshops, company portfolio showcases and exhibitions, and screenings of professional works.

“The idea behind the conference is to promote and develop the digital creative content industry while profiling Malaysia as a strategic location to identify potential collaboration opportunities, recruit talent, outsource and engage with co-production partners,” Saifol said.

Kre8tif! includes a MSC Malaysia Creative Industry Awards Night to recognise outstanding Malaysians for creative works in their respective fields. This event will be held on Dec 9.

A total of 27 categories will be contested, including Best Commissioned Work for Animation/VFX, Most Promising Start-up Animation Studio, Best Game Play, Best VFX, Best Digital Comics as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award.

The inaugural conference is themed Infinite Minds, Unlimited Passion. MDeC hopes to make the event an annual affair.

MDeC is guardian of the MSC Malaysia initiative that was started to leapfrog the nation’s knowledge-based economy.