New S$100m Media Fund Announced

Singapore subsidiary Salon Media Management has announced at the start of Asia Media Festival 2008 (AMF2008) a new S$100 million Singapore-based Integrated Media Fund aimed at producing a slate of film, TV, animation and related interactive game development content over the next five years.

“It is our hope that this new fund will not only aid productions between Asia filmmakers and Singapore’s new media makers but will also propel Singapore into the pioneering of structured media finance and film services, to provide the required support and funding for Asia media makers,” said Mr Fred Wang, chairman of Hong Kong’s Salon Films Group. Mr Wang was one of the keynote speakers at the Media Financing Forum (MFF), held as part of AMF2008.

Offering legal, financing, insurance and co-production services from Singapore, the fund aims to open doors to foreign companies seeking to produce motion pictures in Asia.

Along with RGM Entertainment’s recently announced US$400 million Film Fund, it is now part of more than S$1 billion worth of funds available for media-project investment, based out of Singapore, noted Dr Christopher Chia, CEO, Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA), during his welcome speech at the MFF.

Dr Chia added that despite a gloomy global economic outlook, the Singapore media financing sector remains rosy.

“The question we should be asking ourselves today is not whether there is money to be made by investing in the media industry, but rather how much?” he said.

Hosted by MDA, AMF2008 continues this week at the Suntec Singapore with events such as the Asia Television Forum, Asia Media Festival Country Showcase, China Film Festival and Asian Television Awards. For more information, go to www.asiamediafestival.com

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