Producer aims to make Upin & Ipin a household name

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KUCHING: Les’ Copaque Production Sdn Bhd (LCP), the producer of Malaysia’s very own state-of-the-art 3D animation television series ‘Upin & Ipin’, aims to follow the footsteps of Disney.

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Burhanuddin (right) with LCP creative director Ainon Ariff viewing a clip from ‘Geng: The Adventure Begins’ after the stage interview.

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Burhanuddin (right) with LCP creative director Ainon Ariff viewing a clip from ‘Geng: The Adventure Begins’ after the stage interview.

Its managing director Burhanuddin Md Radzi said the production team aimed to develop the Upin & Ipin characters to become a household name like Disney’s Mickey Mouse.

“Of course we want it (Upin & Ipin) to become an icon like Mickey Mouse, but it would take time,” he said during a stage interview at the Inspirational Icon Programme (Program Ikon Inspirasi) which was held at the MSAM exhibition here Wednesday.

Burhanuddin also elaborated on their endeavour in bringing ‘Upin & Ipin’ to Indian cinemas this month.

He said ‘Upin & Ipin’ would be translated into Hindi and Tamil language, and screened at 400 cinemas during the school holidays in India.

“The ‘Upin dan Ipin: Geng Pengembaraan Bermula’ has attracted the attention of the Indian film industry. The plan was finalised through a Memorandum of Understanding signed between LCP and Indian company Indiatales Media Private Ltd during a ceremony which was witnessed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak a while back,” said Burhanuddin.

With the collaboration, he said, it would be easier to enter the huge market in India which had a population of over one billion.

So far, he added, more than 70,000 DVDs of the movie had been sold, including in Indonesia.

On another note, Burhanuddin revealed future plans to take ‘Upin & Ipin’ into the Latin American market.

He pointed out that their next production film would be an adventure flick resembling ‘Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean’.

“We will use a new technology – stereoscopic display – for the upcoming production. We will be sending our graphic artists to the United States to study the technology. The new production is expected to be released sometime in 2012,” said Burhanuddin.

Meanwhile, Burhanuddin explained that the bulk of their revenue comes from royalties where investors use their brand name ‘Upin & Ipin’.

“LC Merchandising, a subsidiary under LCP, also handles the production of the merchandise and manages the licensees in manufacturing and distributing a bigger range of the original Upin & Ipin products.

“We create a wide range of products based on our intellectual properties (IP) such as ‘Geng: Pengembaraan Bermula’ and ‘Upin & Ipin’,” he said.

Burhanuddin revealed that their merchandise could be had from many type of products such as stationeries, apparels, bags and many more.

“These products are sold under U & I (Upin & Ipin) Original Merchandise Store and also can be found at various shopping mall such as Giant, Tesco and Jusco,” he added. LCP also has a training centre called LCP Animation Training Centre Sdn Bhd (LCPATC) which was incorporated in February 2008, Burhanuddin continued.

“LCPATC would be able to help LCP spearhead the animation industry in Malaysia by providing the most professional training system as what has been applied in the industry.

“In the  end  our system can create animation of an international standard at a very low cost. As many productions around the world are searching for various ways to cut cost without sacrificing quality, this can interest them to invest in Malaysia’s burgeoning animation industry.

Les’ Copaque Production Sdn Bhd was incorporated in December 2005 to spearhead Malaysia’s animation industry and providing opportunities for local graduates to showcase their talent.

Its latest main project was the production of Malaysia’s first 3D animation film title ‘Geng: The Adventure Begins’ featuring ‘Upin & Ipin’.

The  ‘Geng:  The Adventure Begins’ is a 90-minute fully 3D animation film which cost RM4 million to produce.

The film was locally released in February 2009 and managed to get ticket sales of RM6.3 million.