BroadcastAsia, Singapore—Jun 17, 2005
Mega Media Announces 1st Digital Cinema Encoder in Southeast Asia
Mega Media is pleased to announce the
acquisition of the DSR Digital Film Agile Encoder from GDC Technology. This
initiative was made with the support of the Media Development Authority of
Singapore (MDA) and the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, and makes
it the 1st facility in Southeast Asia and 6th in the world to offer digital
cinema encoding for 2K digital films in the GDC format.
GDC is the leading cinema server provider in the world with more than 300 GDC
equipped screens in Asia. There are currently 23 servers in Singapore, 153 in
China and 124 in India.
Mega Media believes that Digital Cinema will change the face of filmmaking and
represent new opportunities for young independent filmmakers in Asian and the
world. With the lower production, post-production and distribution costs
involved in Digital Cinema, smaller and independent players in the filmmaking
industry can increase their presence in the global film stage. All these
advantages will generate a more robust media industry in Singapore.
Commenting on the making of Singapore as a leader in digital and High Definition
(HD) productions, the MDA’s Director of Industry Development, Mr Seto Lok Yin
said, " In our move to develop Singapore into a global media city, it is
essential for us to be equipped with the necessary facilities, resources and
talents to support the entire value chain of media production. World media
players are strongly pushing into the HD domain and demand is growing. The
availability of an encoding service in Southeast Asia would definitely help
drive Singapore to be a leader in digital and HD productions.”
“IDA is pleased to collaborate with the MDA in developing the digital cinema
industry in Singapore. The launch of Mega Media’s Digital Cinema Encoding
Facility paves the way for content to be processed and managed through
Singapore. With this facility, content owners and advertisers can now look
forward to a cost effective solution to bring their content to digital cinema
screens. This will advance Singapore’s position as a digital exchange hub,
providing key services in digital processing, distribution and management of
digital content,” said Mr Khoong Hock Yun, Assistant Chief Executive, Industry,
Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore.
This month, first-time feature director, Han Yew Kwang’s film will be premiering
at the Shanghai International Film Festival on the 2K GDC format. This digital
feature, titled “Unarmed Combat”, is a project of the Film Incubator Programme,
and is presented by the Digital Media Academy and Singapore Film Commission, in
association with Mega Media. Under this programme, young filmmakers are selected
to produce their 1st digital feature with production cash and resources provided
by the mentioned group. A film project such as this often faces difficulties
when featuring at larger film festivals due to the high costs of a 35mm blow-up.
Today, the encoding process offers a low-cost solution that has enabled this
low-budget film to achieve international theatrical release.
The Encoder is housed at Mega Media’s campus at the Digital Media Hub,
Singapore’s first one-stop film production centre. Other complementing
facilities available at the DMH include Singapore’s first and only Dolby
approved Motion picture Sound Mixing Stage. The Mega Media Group is also
acquiring High Definition Camera and editing facilities in the 3rd quarter of
2005.
