The nation's digital-content industry is hoping to develop a new animation character which can gain as much popularity as famous characters such as Mickey Mouse or Pokemon, an animation company executive said in Taipei.
TVbeans Co (
The cartoon serial, which will have 52 episodes, is expected to be broadcast in Japan in the second half of next year and then shown in Western countries and Taiwan a few years later, said Jimmy Chang (
Under the agreement, TVbeans will focus on creating characters and plots, while Planet will be responsible for the illustration work on the production.
Fuji Creative Corp, a subsidiary of Japan's largest TV station Fuji Television Network Inc, will be responsible for distributing Panda Monium in Japan while its US partner FUNimation Productions Ltd will handle distribution in Western countries.
Panda Monium is expected to be the first Taiwanese-made cartoon to be exported.
"We are very glad to be able to receive capital and distribution assistance from our Japanese part-ner," Chang said, adding that many Taiwanese animation houses are very creative but their production and marketing budgets are tight and they lack the know-how for global distribution.
Hideo Aihara, president of Planet, said yesterday that he first saw the prototype Panda Monium at the 2003 Tokyo Animation Festival held earlier this year.
He said Panda Monium will also be used in computer games and in licensed merchandise.
TVbeans, with NT$50 million in initial capital and some 20
employees, plans to raise its capitalization to NT$100 million by the end of the month, Chang said.
More than half the company is held by a group of investors including Giga Venture Partners & Co (
A government official said an alliance with international partners is necessary for the nation to promote its digital-content industry.
"The local market is too small," said Patricia Chang (
"Taiwanese digital-content makers must look at the global market for further development," she said.
But the sky-high production costs for a successful animation character could prove to be a heavy financial burden if the market is unimpressed with the character, an investor said yesterday.
"The average cost of producing a 30-minute animation episode is about NT$8 million," said Larry Chang, a Giga Venture executive.
"Therefore, forming partnerships with various investors, production houses and distributors are necessary to lower the investment risk," he said.
The digital-entertainment industry, including digital movies, animation and games, has been designated as a potential sector by the government.
The production value of locally made digital-content products was more than NT$150 billion last year and the figure is expected to jump to NT$370 billion by 2006.
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