How to Deal with Snacking on Devices: CCP Regroups with Content Industry Leaders for a Look

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, August 18, 2015 --(PR.com)-- Leading content and technology industry representatives from across Southeast Asia gathered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on August 11 and 12 for Fast Track Southeast Asia 2015 (FTSEA Malaysia).

The conference highlighted the latest trends in digital content production and distribution and assessed the opportunities and challenges of developing and distributing creative content in the digital age.

Hosted by the Centre for Content Promotion (CCP), the event posed a clear question to its attendees – “What is the future of quality digital content in Southeast Asia?” – and proceeded to examine this critical question from several angles including content creation, content delivery and content protection, as well as evaluating key opportunities in the Mobile, Pay TV, Music, Film and Social Media markets.

Executives agreed there were many alternatives now for content consumption and that consumer publics are now able to “snack” on content from a variety of devices. In turn, they said, this would mean that content producers and marketers would have to innovate their offering in order to cater their content to these changing consumption habits.

In his opening address, Hasnul Hadi bin Samsudin, Director of the Malaysian Government agency Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), said, “Fast Track Southeast Asia 2015 is an exciting platform for digital content creators, producers, publishers and broadcasters to get together to level up, collaborate and create opportunities for each other," stressing that although increased competition in the content field meant “more people were competing for a slice of the pie, there was every chance that the pie itself would get bigger for all."

Indeed, collaboration and not confrontation was a theme of the event as a whole. Wing Lee, CEO of YTL Communications, said that in this new digital age “the more partners one identifies and creates value with the larger your pie actually gets." Meanwhile, a panel focused on the telecommunications industry focused on the opportunities available to telco operators by working with Over the Top (OTT) content providers and supplying content direct to consumers.

While much of the focus of the conference was on content delivery methods, a special panel held on the first day looked at content production and, in particular, content catered to Asian audiences. Hosted by Marini Ramlan, the General Manager of Primeworks Studios, the panel stressed that there is still a lingering need for improvement in the local scriptwriting sectors in South East Asia, underscoring the importance of storytelling formats that cater to new digital platforms.

It was a sentiment echoed by Dato’ Kamil Othman, the Director General of the Malaysian National Film Development Corporation (FINAS), who revealed that, last year, 56% of local films were exhibited for less than four days in theatres and the top six earning local titles could not be exported successfully because of their domestic centricity. The Director General, however, was optimistic on the Content Malaysia Pitching Centre, a new initiative where content creators can gather to attend workshops and master classes, participate in industry and community events, and interact with buyers and distributors. He hoped it would help a new generation of Malaysian content creators and producers to generate content that is of high quality, entertaining and commercially appealing to viewers in both domestic and international markets.

Whatever the current state of the industry, however, hopes run high for the future. As Frank Rittman, Senior Vice President of Motion Picture Association (MPA) in Asia Pacific, noted, the region has swiftly evolved from being ‘off-track’ into entering a confirmed ‘fast-track’ in terms of online content development and delivery. And, with such momentum gripping the region, more investment into Southeast Asia is expected in the near future.

Over 150 industry executives attended FTSEA Malaysia, engaging in intense discussions and Q&A sessions while also attending a networking evening on the 11th of August which provided an important avenue to build cross-industry cooperation.

FTSEA Malaysia builds on the success of the FTSEA Singapore conference, which was held in September 2014. The conference is becoming the leading discussion forum on how digital economies in Southeast Asia are responding to the digital transition that appears to present media companies with exciting new business opportunities on the one hand, yet undeniably significant challenges on the other.

To view the programme schedule, or learn more about the featured speakers and panels, please go to our website at Fast Track Southeast Asia 2015