Malaysian media/entertainment group, Prodigee Media, has turbocharged its global content creation and distribution initiatives, aiming, among other things, to drive a billion views a month to its online entertainment platform WebTVAsia by this time next year.

Celebrating Prodigee's 10th anniversary this year, group chief executive, Fred Chong, outlines a plan that will also double WebTVAsia's channels from 500 to 1,000 over the next 12 months, roll out a WebTV Asia-branded mobile video platform, and align resources from across Asia to "help content creators in Asia to reach bigger audiences".

The slate of five MoU's signed in Kuala Lumpur in October pair the 10-year-old Malaysian group with media companies and investors from China, Korea, the U.S. and France.​ ​

Partners include Youku Tudou's film unit Heyi Pictures, Stellar Mega Pictures and Wanda Pictures, which are backing Chinese theatrical film, "Teacher's Diary" (ContentAsia Insider, 24 October 2015)​. The film is based on a popular Thai movie. Prodigee Media acquired remake rights for China and brought in the three Chinese co-production partners. Production is scheduled to begin after Chinese New Year 2016.

Four of the five agreements announced involve digital content.​ ​Prodigee/WebTVAsia will work with multichannel networks, StyleHaul and Dailymotion, as well as Korean multi-channel network CJ E&M's DiaTV, to drive digital content creation in Asia as well as global distribution.​ ​Among the projects under discussion is the co-creation of a web series for Asia.

The fourth MoU involves a strategic partnership between Prodigee and China Media Capital's Whaley Technologies to source, acquire, co-produce, localise and distribute digital video content globally on Whaley’s Smart TV platform as well as on international digital video platforms.

The digital migration is a natural extension of Prodigee's decade in music, movies and artist management. Theatrical titles include Wee Meng Chee's (popularly known as Namwee) "Nasi Lemak 2.0" (2011), about a young chef who struggles to get his restaurant up and running; horror comedy "Hantu Gangster" (2012), also directed by Wee Meng Chee, about a thief who steals a haunted ring during a gangster's memorial ceremony; and drama "Kara King" (2013), about a Hong Kong singer whose wife mysteriously disappears.

Chong says the latest initiatives "combine all the experience we have over the past 10 years. Something interesting is happening and it's a good time for us to go from being a successful Malaysian media entertainment company to becoming a regional company".

Chong has his digital eye on major markets such as China, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Vietnam, and plans to use his experience with "Little Apple" to drive multi-platform exposure across the region.

Prodigee has the rights to the "Little Apple" song outside of China, and has created multiple versions for markets such as Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Korea. Chong says fans have created more than 30,000 versions of their own on YouTube.

"We are joining forces to help content creators in Asia reach bigger audiences," Chong says.

These new fan bases open up infinite possibilities, he adds. "The trend now in China and many parts of the world is that sucessful IP – web series, animated series, comedy online – builds a fan base that can be turned into a feature film... That's the path that we want to create. They are all interconnected."

His plan for WebTVAsia is a premium platform – "a multi platform business rather than a multi-channel business – that will both create and provide a home for premium content from Asia.

Much of this will be brand supported. Chong says less than 10% of brands' budgets right now are invested in creators. "We want to grow that," he says, adding that the only reason brands will invest more is if content quality improves."

"We are content producers, that's what we do best," he says.

"On one hand, we have the web and the online platform producers and on the other we have the biggest movie companies in China and we are come together around interesting content," Chong says.

2 November 2015