Sabah's creative talents can produce world class animation

 By Olivia Miwil - September 29, 2021 @ 5:14pm

Sabah Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation Permanent Secretary, Jasmine Teo. - Pic screengrab from SCENIC Facebook

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah has talents who can produce world-class animation, said permanent secretary of the state Science, Technology, and Innovation Ministry Jasmine Teo.

She was referring to part of the Sabah Creative Economy and Innovation Centre's (SCENIC) five-year blueprint in propelling the state's animation industry as Malaysia's first Toon Boom Authorised Training Centre.

Toon Boom is an innovative animation software that is used by world-class animation companies such as Disney, Nickelodeon, and Warner Bros. Animation.

The training centre has started working with Toon Boom Animation - an animation software company based in Canada and specialising in animation production and storyboard software.

"There is no shortage of creative potential in Sabah. It is not impossible that we may one day be able to produce world-class animation on par with international production.

"In addition, by training animation talents in Sabah we can also provide more job opportunities to them due to the network support available to Toon Boom and its community.

"The state government is very pleased with this cooperation and welcomes the involvement of experts from various industries as well as institutions of higher learning to jointly drive the development of the technology and innovation agenda in Sabah to increase the state's economic results," she said during the virtual launching of SCENIC's five year blueprint.

The launch was also attended by Deputy Permanent Secretary 1, Zainudin Aman and Deputy Permanent Secretary 2, Henry Idol and SCENIC general manager Viviantie Sarjuni.

The virtual event was also witnessed by Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) chief executive officer Mahadzir Aziz, Studio Ace Production chief executive officer Sinn Chun Hou @ Geoffrey, and a representative from Toon Boom.

Speaking on Sabah's animation industry, Sinn said the state needed a platform to provide local talent with opportunity and exposure to compete with the global market.

"We are proud to see the Malaysian flag among other international countries like the United States, Italy, and Canada on the Toon Boom website.

"This means there is plenty of opportunity to be a competent global talent and to upgrade our profile to build more demand for our work."

Viviantie said SCENIC's key thrusts were Creative Chamber, Technology and Innovation, and Innovation Driven Entrepreneurship.

The blueprint has also identified 13 main strategies and 26 initiatives that cover aspects of human capital development and how talent, the discovery of new technologies, and innovations can help drive Sabah's economy.

"We hope these initiatives can be carried out successfully for Sabah people through the collaboration of various stakeholders because the work of developing a state, in which the demographics are very different from other states, is not an easy task," she added.