News & Events

13.08.2021

Categories: 2021, industry, mdec, MDWW, MYDigital Workforce Week, people

#MyDigitalWorkforce Week of MTM’21 Set to Offer 5,000 Job Vacancies, Digital Skilling Opportunities to the Malaysian Workforce

Week Three of Malaysia Tech Month 2021 sees the return of #MyDigitalWorkforce Week, a virtual event featuring webinars on digital jobs and upskilling opportunities
The Digital Jobs Expo is expecting more than 5,000 job vacancies from more than 100 companies including KPMG, Dell Technologies, Shopee and Petronas Digital
#MyDigitalWorkforce Week offers 20 webinars from hiring companies focusing on several digital job tracks and softskills for jobseekers, on top of more than 70 satellite events in collaboration with various partners

CYBERJAYA, 13 AUGUST 2021: For Week Three of Malaysia Tech Month 2021 (MTM’21), Malaysia Digital Economy Malaysia (MDEC), Malaysia’s lead agency in digital transformation, will be bringing back the #MyDigitalWorkforce Week.

Happening from 16 to 30 August 2021, #MyDigitalWorkforce Week is a virtual event featuring a series of webinars on digital jobs and career awareness, reskilling and upskilling opportunities, and a jobs expo all aimed at preparing the Malaysian workforce for jobs in the digital economy.

The objectives of #MyDigitalWorkforce Week are to match job seekers with companies looking for digital talents, as well as creating digital jobs awareness among job seekers. Additionally, the week-long event brings digital upskilling and reskilling opportunities to jobseekers and employees.

#MyDigitalWorkforce Week is headlined by the Digital Jobs Expo, which is expecting more than 5,000 job vacancies from more than 100 companies that include the likes of KPMG, Dell Technologies, Shopee and Petronas Digital, The Digital Jobs Expo is set to run from 16 to 30 August.

Kicking off #MyDigitalWorkforce Week will be a keynote panel session that includes speakers from Intel, MDEC, Korn Ferry, Malaysian Digital Association and Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation to provide jobseekers with a realistic view of the job market, and what they can do to better equip themselves for jobs in the digital economy.

Beyond that, the week-long event also features a total of 20 webinars with more than 40 speakers from hiring companies, with each day of the week focusing on different tracks. They are:

Day 1: Software Development
Day 2: Software Development & Data
Day 3: Cybersecurity
Day 4 & 5: Digital Global Business Services

These webinars feature speakers from renowned organisations that include AXA Affin, CIMB, Zalora, Oracle, Karuna (Sarawak) and PPG Coating.

MDEC is also working with various partners to hold more than 70 #MyDigitalWorkforce Week satellite events, including training companies and industry experts who will be offering webinars, panel sessions, and training in digital tech areas. Among the participating companies are 42KL, HELP University, General Assembly, Trainocate (M) Sdn Bhd and Open Learning Global (M) Sdn Bhd.

These satellite events, which are set to run for two weeks from 16 to 30 August 2021, will cover relevant topics including artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, data science, robotic process automation (RPA) and other emerging technologies.

#MyDigitalWorkforce Week comes at a time of increased relevance. COVID-19 has greatly shifted the job landscape and the way people work. The pandemic and the resulting lockdowns have also increased Malaysia’s unemployment rate, which rose to 4.8% in 2020, compared to 3.3% in 2019.

#MyDigitalWorkforce Week follows several of MDEC’s initiatives to empower jobseekers and employees with digital skills and to embrace the digital workforce.

“The third week of the Malaysian Tech Month is going to be all of about jobs and skills for the digital economy. Participants will get a chance to interact with prospective employers, training providers, and MDEC executives, all working together to provide practical guidance on re-skilling and up-skilling for fast growing digital jobs,” said Dr. Sumitra Nair, MDEC’s Vice President and Head of Digital Skills and Jobs.

On 5 April 2021, MDEC introduced MyDigitalWorkforce Work in Tech (MYWiT), which incentivises companies to hire unemployed workers in digital tech or services roles. The initiative provides jobs and helps to upskill unemployed Malaysians while providing support to hiring employers through salary and training incentives.

Besides that, MDEC has expanded the Digital Skills Training Directory to now include Work & Learn, Career Upgrade and Learning on Demand courses. To date, the initiative has more than 250 courses covering focus areas that include data science, cybersecurity, animation, games development, software development and the newly-added digital global business services (DGBS) and 9 online learning platform partners.

MDEC is also bringing back its Let’s Learn Digital Campaign, following a successful run last year in collaboration with Coursera. This year, Let’s Learn Digital has kicked-off with free Digital Marketing courses and certification from Facebook, Google, and LinkedIn.

Day 1 of #MyDigitalWorkforce Week will include a webinar titled “Let’s Learn Digital: Level Up Your Digital Skills” to explore more on the campaign’s robust offerings.

To sign up for #MyDigitalWorkforce Week and for more information on the event, visit https://mydigitalworkforceweek.my/

#MyDigitalWorkforce Week falls on Week Three of Malaysia Tech Month 2021, a month-long virtual curation of electrifying digital and technology events geared promoting investments in the digital economy. It features over 40 events and more than 300 local and international industry speakers and investors, which are rolled out across four themed weeks encapsulating MDEC’s NADI Digital pillars– New Skills, Adoption, Disruptors, and Investments.

For more information on Malaysia Tech Month 2021, visit corpwebv3prd.wpengine.com/mtm2021. Visitors and participants will be able to keep track of MTM’21’s many events and talks as well as network with fellow attendees via the Hubilo Events app, which can be downloaded on Google Play as well as the Apple App Store.

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About Malaysia Tech Month 2021
Malaysia Tech Month 2021 (MTM 2021) is a virtual, month-long curation of electrifying digital and technology keynotes, workshops, discussion panels and business-matching sessions. It will feature distinguished group of local and international industry speakers and investors to share their expert thoughts and experiences in 4IR-driven digital economy.

MTM 2021 will see exciting programmes that will allow the spotlight to be shone upon digital ecosystem leaders and creators, leading-edge companies as well as talents, enabling all stakeholders to discover new perspectives on domestic and global trends in artificial intelligence, drone tech, data analytics, fintech and digital workforce.

Drawing out new tech conversations from public sector and enterprise decision makers, entrepreneurial and academic circles, MTM 2021 aims to drive MDEC’s aspirations in establishing Malaysia as the Heart of Digital ASEAN and further reinforce Malaysia’s position as the first-mover for the rise of the digital economy in the present and post-pandemic era.

About Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC)
Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) is the agency under the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia Malaysia leading the nation’s digital transformation for 25 years. MDEC’s agenda is Malaysia 5.0, enabling a nation deeply integrated with technology, providing equitable digital opportunities to the people and businesses.

In order to achieve this, we will focus on four key DIGITAL thrusts, New skills, Adoption, Disruptors and Investments. This forms the basis of our NADI Digital brand campaign, that will drive our core programmes for the rakyat, business and investors. MDEC’s aim is for Malaysia to become a globally competitive digital nation, anchored on inclusivity, sustainability and shared prosperity, firmly establishing Malaysia as the Heart of Digital ASEAN.

#Malaysia5.0 #NadiDigital #SayaDigital #MHODA #MyMDEC

To find out more about MDEC’s Digital Economy initiatives, please visit us at www.corpwebv3prd.wpengine.com or follow us on:
Facebook: @mymdec
Twitter: @mymdec

For media queries, kindly contact:
Dashika Gnaneswaran – dashika.gnaneswaran@mdec.com.my
Simon Yap – simon.yap@mdec.com.my

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				Wed 9 Nov 2022 \| 11:00 – 11:45 PANEL SESSION : SOUTHEAST ASIA – DIGITAL CONTENT TALENT POWERHOUSE Cita Ballroom Description The digital content sector, broadly covered as animation, games, visual effects and its related production, development, distribution and commercialisation ecosystems, is essentially a creative industry driven by innovative studios and talented individuals and teams. The very nature of these individuals, skillsets and capabilities are the fuel of the creative industry. The Southeast Asian landscape for these talents is as diverse as the multi-ethnic cultures, languages and traditions of over 680 million people in the region. This panel session will talk about recent research, led by MDEC in partnership with more than ten regional industry associations and over 150 studios and schools.
Nazliyah Ali Sector Head, Industry Partnership, Talent Corp Malaysia				Nazliyah primarily oversees the Oil, Gas and Energy (OGE) and Communications Content and Infrastructure (CCI) in TalentCorp’s Industry Partnership department. She has established profound relations with key players, large organisations, and leading associations of the OGE and CCI sector to drive collaborations for talent development. With over 12 years of client management, business development and sales experience in property development, advertising and banking, Nazliyah started out in TalentCorp in 2012 working on the Malaysian professional and student diaspora programmes, before transferring to Industry Partnership where she continues to engage employers, focusing on addressing mismatches between the talent market supply and demand. Prior to TalentCorp, Nazliyah was a Client Management Manager at a public relations agency where she managed prominent corporate accounts in several sectors. Nazliyah holds an Honours Degree in Business Administration (Marketing) from Universiti Teknologi MARA.

Eka Chandra AINAKI, Indonesia				Eka Chandra is the Secretary General of AINAKI and CEO of IOTA Studio. He has been involved in the creative industry for more than 10 years. Their latest development is a platform called IOTA Kids which helps studios or creators monetize their IPs in Indonesia and the SEA market.

Cris Dumlao SIKAP, Philippines				Cris Dumlao is one of the founding members of SIKAP and its current Vice President. She has 20 years industry experience, having produced content being shown in the Asian region. She is also a multi-award creative entrepreneur, representing the Philippines in pitch competitions worldwide. Cris is currently an independent animation producer, a 3D animation specialist, and an animation consultant for Kampilan Productions, LLC and Animation Vertigo, Inc.

Nop Dharmavanich TACGA, Thailand				Nop Dharmavanich is an animation director, Motion graphics designer, and brand builder, the founder of award Tomogram studio and former President of the Thai animation and computer graphics association (TACGA) Nop graduated from Savannah college of art and design majoring in Computer Art. He has worked in almost all aspects of the industry from interactive, motion design, animation, and VFX. One of his well-known works as a director was “The story of Mahajanaka” an animation that involved more than 14 animation studios in Thailand. Nop was a president of TACGA from 2018-2022, which gave him opportunities to work with many private and public organizations, both domestic and international, in developing and strengthening the animation industry, studios as well as digital content education in Thailand. Now, he is a vice president of TACGA and a committee of the National Film Board of Thailand.

Jasni Zain (Moderator) Head, Research & Partnerships MDEC				Jasni is the Head of Research & Partnerships for Digital Content Development within the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC). Currently overseeing industry research and exploring partnerships opportunities, he also has led national and industry strategy formulation and funding programs for industry and studios within the space of animation, games, visual effects and new media. He has over 22 years experience across a range of industries, and has served the last 13 years in the public sector concentrating on tech, outsourcing, national economic planning and the creative content industry.

Wed 9 Nov 2022 \| 11:00 – 11:45 PANEL SESSION : SOUTHEAST ASIA – DIGITAL CONTENT TALENT POWERHOUSE Cita Ballroom Description The digital content sector, broadly covered as animation, games, visual effects and its related production, development, distribution and commercialisation ecosystems, is essentially a creative industry driven by innovative studios and talented individuals and teams. The very nature of these individuals, skillsets and capabilities are the fuel of the creative industry. The Southeast Asian landscape for these talents is as diverse as the multi-ethnic cultures, languages and traditions of over 680 million people in the region. This panel session will talk about recent research, led by MDEC in partnership with more than ten regional industry associations and over 150 studios and schools.
Nazliyah Ali Sector Head, Industry Partnership, Talent Corp Malaysia Nazliyah primarily oversees the Oil, Gas and Energy (OGE) and Communications Content and Infrastructure (CCI) in TalentCorp’s Industry Partnership department. She has established profound relations with key players, large organisations, and leading associations of the OGE and CCI sector to drive collaborations for talent development. With over 12 years of client management, business development and sales experience in property development, advertising and banking, Nazliyah started out in TalentCorp in 2012 working on the Malaysian professional and student diaspora programmes, before transferring to Industry Partnership where she continues to engage employers, focusing on addressing mismatches between the talent market supply and demand. Prior to TalentCorp, Nazliyah was a Client Management Manager at a public relations agency where she managed prominent corporate accounts in several sectors. Nazliyah holds an Honours Degree in Business Administration (Marketing) from Universiti Teknologi MARA.

Eka Chandra AINAKI, Indonesia Eka Chandra is the Secretary General of AINAKI and CEO of IOTA Studio. He has been involved in the creative industry for more than 10 years. Their latest development is a platform called IOTA Kids which helps studios or creators monetize their IPs in Indonesia and the SEA market.

Cris Dumlao SIKAP, Philippines Cris Dumlao is one of the founding members of SIKAP and its current Vice President. She has 20 years industry experience, having produced content being shown in the Asian region. She is also a multi-award creative entrepreneur, representing the Philippines in pitch competitions worldwide. Cris is currently an independent animation producer, a 3D animation specialist, and an animation consultant for Kampilan Productions, LLC and Animation Vertigo, Inc.

Nop Dharmavanich TACGA, Thailand Nop Dharmavanich is an animation director, Motion graphics designer, and brand builder, the founder of award Tomogram studio and former President of the Thai animation and computer graphics association (TACGA) Nop graduated from Savannah college of art and design majoring in Computer Art. He has worked in almost all aspects of the industry from interactive, motion design, animation, and VFX. One of his well-known works as a director was “The story of Mahajanaka” an animation that involved more than 14 animation studios in Thailand. Nop was a president of TACGA from 2018-2022, which gave him opportunities to work with many private and public organizations, both domestic and international, in developing and strengthening the animation industry, studios as well as digital content education in Thailand. Now, he is a vice president of TACGA and a committee of the National Film Board of Thailand.

Jasni Zain (Moderator) Head, Research & Partnerships MDEC Jasni is the Head of Research & Partnerships for Digital Content Development within the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC). Currently overseeing industry research and exploring partnerships opportunities, he also has led national and industry strategy formulation and funding programs for industry and studios within the space of animation, games, visual effects and new media. He has over 22 years experience across a range of industries, and has served the last 13 years in the public sector concentrating on tech, outsourcing, national economic planning and the creative content industry.

				Wed 9 Nov 2022 \| 14:15 – 15:00 PANEL SESSION : UNDERSTANDING THE METAVERSE – FUD & FOMO (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt & Fear Of Missing Out) Cita Ballroom Description Learn how IP & Brand Owners can work together with Metaverse Platforms and what are the future prospects.
George Wong CEO Reactive Labs				George Wong is the Head of Malaysia & Singapore of The Sandbox, a leading decentralized virtual world and a subsidiary of Animoca Brands. Concurrently, he’s the Chief Executive Officer for Reactive Labs, a blockchain advisory covering corporate structuring, tokenomics & Web 3.0 implementation, the Sub-committee Chairperson for NFTs & Metaverses in ACCESS Blockchain Association Malaysia, the Chief Technology Officer for Finnax Asia and the Honorary Secretary for Women in Blockchain Asia. His early MNC corporate career in Sony Malaysia, saw him managing up to a MYR120 million business portfolio, winning internal domestic and & international awards for explosive business growth & marketing innovation. Prior to this, he has ventured more than 20+ start-ups and initiatives from retail to publishing & most notably in the investment and blockchain space. He has managed a variety of investment-related firms, supported the growth of a regional investment community, and even successfully completed an ICO in 2018

Noriman Saffian Head of Monsta MetaLabs Monsta				Noriman Saffian is the Head of Monsta MetaLabs. With 12 years of experiences in the animation industry, he’s been involved in multiple Monsta’s IP (BoBoiBoy, Mechamato, Papa Pipi) projects from the production to the marketing of the animated shorts, TV series, full length animated movies and even branded content. He now leads a new division in Monsta, that builds and develops immersive digital experience of Monsta’s IP in the metaverse for audiences to interreact, socialize and play.

Jazni Zain (Moderator) Head, Research & Partnerships MDEC				Jasni is the Head of Research & Partnerships for Digital Content Development within the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC). Currently overseeing industry research and exploring partnerships opportunities, he also has led national and industry strategy formulation and funding programs for industry and studios within the space of animation, games, visual effects and new media. He has over 22 years experience across a range of industries, and has served the last 13 years in the public sector concentrating on tech, outsourcing, national economic planning and the creative content industry.

Wed 9 Nov 2022 \| 14:15 – 15:00 PANEL SESSION : UNDERSTANDING THE METAVERSE – FUD & FOMO (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt & Fear Of Missing Out) Cita Ballroom Description Learn how IP & Brand Owners can work together with Metaverse Platforms and what are the future prospects.
George Wong CEO Reactive Labs George Wong is the Head of Malaysia & Singapore of The Sandbox, a leading decentralized virtual world and a subsidiary of Animoca Brands. Concurrently, he’s the Chief Executive Officer for Reactive Labs, a blockchain advisory covering corporate structuring, tokenomics & Web 3.0 implementation, the Sub-committee Chairperson for NFTs & Metaverses in ACCESS Blockchain Association Malaysia, the Chief Technology Officer for Finnax Asia and the Honorary Secretary for Women in Blockchain Asia. His early MNC corporate career in Sony Malaysia, saw him managing up to a MYR120 million business portfolio, winning internal domestic and & international awards for explosive business growth & marketing innovation. Prior to this, he has ventured more than 20+ start-ups and initiatives from retail to publishing & most notably in the investment and blockchain space. He has managed a variety of investment-related firms, supported the growth of a regional investment community, and even successfully completed an ICO in 2018

Noriman Saffian Head of Monsta MetaLabs Monsta Noriman Saffian is the Head of Monsta MetaLabs. With 12 years of experiences in the animation industry, he’s been involved in multiple Monsta’s IP (BoBoiBoy, Mechamato, Papa Pipi) projects from the production to the marketing of the animated shorts, TV series, full length animated movies and even branded content. He now leads a new division in Monsta, that builds and develops immersive digital experience of Monsta’s IP in the metaverse for audiences to interreact, socialize and play.

Jazni Zain (Moderator) Head, Research & Partnerships MDEC Jasni is the Head of Research & Partnerships for Digital Content Development within the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC). Currently overseeing industry research and exploring partnerships opportunities, he also has led national and industry strategy formulation and funding programs for industry and studios within the space of animation, games, visual effects and new media. He has over 22 years experience across a range of industries, and has served the last 13 years in the public sector concentrating on tech, outsourcing, national economic planning and the creative content industry.

Wed 9 Nov 2022 \| 16:15 – 17:00 PANEL SESSION : FUNDS & GRANTS – SHOW ME THE MONEY (Hybrid) Cita Ballroom
Vincent Paolo Naval (Virtual Appearance) FPO Program Supervisor, FDCP Film Philippines Office Vincent Paolo Naval is from the Film Philippines Office under the Film Development Council of the Philippines. He has been with the agency for a year and have been exposed to much of the industry of Film Financing and Grants. He currently works on the financial and service assistance programs of the film commission in the Philippines and would be happy to share with what they have to offer, from Film Grants, Locations, and even production assistance.

Walid Omar Executive Producer Lil Critter Workshop Walid Omar founded Lil Critter Workshop after a successfully running a studio for 12 years. He has executive produced and funded two original Lil Critter series, Hogie the Globehopper (Netflix, Discovery Kids) and the Asian TV Award-winning Buck and Buddy (CITV, Cartoon Network APAC) and grown the Lil Critters Workshop studio in Kuala Lumpur as a go-to destination for animation service work. The former MIPTV Producer to Watch is setting up a UK animation development studio in the UK this year.

Tang Chi Sim Founder & CEO Omens Studio Chi Sim is a tech and media entrepreneur who was technical co-founder of Amoeba Interactive and earth9.com, which he helped built and exited, and currently devotes his time as Founder and CEO to award-winning animation and digital media company Omens Studios and film company Taipan Films. Chi Sim is primarily responsible for financing, business and product development. A graduate of the National University of Singapore’s Computer Science department, Chi Sim previously worked as an engineer at Microsoft before venturing into entrepreneurship. He enjoys the creative process and holds a patent for collaborative group information management.

Mohan Low (Moderator) Director MDEC Director of Digital Creative Content at MDEC, he helps drive the mission to develop the digital creative content industry in Malaysia. He has over 15 years of experience in the digital content space, leading teams across games development, games commercialization and ecosystem building. Mohan has launched over 30 games during the course of his career. His passion has also led him to mentor over a 100 game projects and organize gaming culture events. He currently works towards building Malaysia into a regional digital content hub.

Wed 9 Nov 2022 \| 09:45 – 10:45 DIGITAL CONNECTIONS: GLOBAL KIDS’ MEDIA TRENDS Cita Ballroom
Sam Harris Director Auger Insights Sam is a deeply experienced researcher and strategist with a background in media, youth audiences, and platform development. Using a range of classic and modern research methodologies – and utilising his background in marketing, consulting, and content creation – Sam regularly works with brands to unlock powerful insights about core consumers and their ever-evolving needs.

Ligia Talludec Director 121 Insights Brazil A language specialist and trained UX and qualitative researcher with over 15 years of experience in the industry, Ligia is praised for her ability to combine fresh, innovative thinking with marketing clarity to answer big business questions. For over a decade, Ligia was part of Kantar’s qualitative team, focused on International and institutional inter-company projects. She is a champion for UX and CX areas, conducting F2F and online IDIs to test different interfaces (from e-commerce websites to mobile prototype apps), working with highly demanding key clients in the Technology Industry

Bonnie Wang Researcher & Semiotician Freelancer Bonnie is an experienced strategist, qualitative researcher and semiotician with an education background in visual sociology, strategy and management in HK and Europe. She started her career with consumer and market knowledge in P&G Germany, before joining The Behavioural Architects to understand the irrationality of human behaviour. After 4.5 years in Flamingo connecting brands with Chinese culture, she worked at InnateMotion helping brands defining their social purposes, before she started freelancing in London and Shanghai. Bonnie specialised in media and entertainment, fashion, beauty, tech, and placemaking. Some of her key clients include Dior, Adidas, Dyson, and Mercedes

Pam Goldfarb Liss Founder LitBrains With more than 30-years of experience, Pam enjoys the never-know-what’s-coming-next fun of interviewing consumers especially kids, teens and their parents. She has interviewed on subjects from pasta, hamburgers and tax software to prescription drugs, hospital stays, baby bottles and online privacy with clients including Philips Avent, Barilla, Bayer, Coca Cola, Deluxe, General Mills, Google, Glaxo-Smith-Kline (GsK), Horizon Organic, Microsoft, Nickelodeon, Procter & Gamble, United Healthcare and Zillow. An industry advocate devoted to ensuring kids and teens are not just productive in focus groups but feeling safe and encouraged to be. For more than a decade, Pam created and taught a course: ‘Moderating Kids and Teens’ at RIVA Market Research Institute. Now, Pam has taken this course online with more live and on-demand workshops on moderating with kids and teens in her new Mission Kid Possible powered by LitBrains-Igniting Ideas! at www.litbrains.com. Pam is also an active industry speaker and presenter. She has served four years as a board director on the Qualitative Research Consultants Association. Pam also participates in other annual events devoted to creativity including the Creative Education Foundation and its Creative Problem Solving Institute (CPSI) and also enjoys attending their partner event, the Florida Creativity Institute.

Haruna McWilliams Head Of Accounts Tokyoesque Haruna is a Strategist with 20+ years with global experience in Japan, UK, US, Singapore and now the Netherlands. A native Japanese, who grew up in Europe and was educated at an international school, made her very curious about how cultures around the world are different but also similar. Her experience in advertising, branding and media also made her an expert in ‘making sense’ of what’s happening in cultures and societies, and predicting where cultures are shifting to. She is currently Head of Accounts at Tokyoesque, where she makes Japan make sense for the world, and vice versa.

Alexander Brown Marketing Assistant Tokyoesque Alex is the marketing assistant at Tokyoesque. Having graduated in 2021 with a Master of Arts in Japanese from the University of Edinburgh, during which time he studied in Japan’s ancient capital of Kyoto, he has since worked in manga translation with Amimaru before joining Tokyoesque at his current position. The cultural studies aspect of his degree, and also his time spent studying and working in Kyoto, allowed him to tackle manga translation with a wealth of cultural knowledge to draw upon, helping him to rapidly advance to higher projects.

Debbie Bray Co-Founder Hook Research Debbie has been carrying out qualitative research for 20 years for the UK’s biggest media brands. She is a youth audience expert and her experience means that she is regularly asked to talk at conferences and contribute thought leadership about the media lives of young consumers. Debbie has supported the biggest youth audience content owners in the UK and globally – working across a range of new and classic IPs to help her clients produce content that speaks to the ever-evolving tastes of young people around the world.

Nick Fisher Co-Founder Hook Research Nick has 20 years experience in media consultancy. In this time, he has specialised in research, strategy and creative development for media providers. He has a huge deal of kids experience, having worked with many of the major kids platforms and channels around the world (Warner, BBC, Disney, Viacom). In particular, Nick has developed a deep expertise in the global animation landscape, having worked on a vast range of heritage and new IP launches over the course of his many years in the industry.

Tue 8 Nov 2022 \| 17:15 – 18:15 PANEL SESSION : THE BUSINESS OF DIGITAL COMICS – FUTURE TRENDS AND THE NEXT BEST THING! (Virtual) Cita Ballroom
Stu Levy Founder & CEO TOKYOPOP Stu Levy is an international entrepreneur, producer, director and writer across mediums including graphic novels, film, television and new media. Founder of the pioneering media company TOKYOPOP, Stu is known for establishing the manga market in North America. As a producer, Stu has a number of live-action and animated feature films and television shows in various stages of development, including adaptations of Alex Unlimited and Mail Order Ninja. He produced English adaptations of television and home video anime series including the hits Initial D, GTO, and Rave Master. His first major studio feature film as Executive Producer was Priest, released theatrically worldwide in 2011 through Sony Pictures. Stu has directed two feature films (his feature documentary Pray for Japan and his award-winning feature debut Van Von Hunter), the 8-episode docu-reality series America’s Greatest Otaku, and several music videos. Stu wrote the Princess Ai and Juror 13 graphic novels, as well as Karma Club and Sailor Moon novels. Fluent in Japanese and a licensed California attorney, Stu served as chair of the Producers Guild of America’s International Committee, its Online Video Committee, and the PGA Producers Showcase (ProShow); and a Board Member of its New Media Council. His philanthropic activities over the years have included Japan’s Tohoku tsunami recovery, projects with Make-a-Wish Foundation, and literacy advocacy. Besides speaking at numerous industry events and guest lecturing to students, Stu’s a melted ball of paddy for his two little children, an avid endurance athlete who compares himself to the Energizer bunny sans ears, a very amateur composer, and an iPhone-photo-trigger-happy foodie.

Hieu Tran Co-founder & Head of Operations INKR Global Hieu is the co-founder and head of operations at INKR Global (inkr.com), a fast-growing digital comics platform with a simple mission: to make comics universally accessible. They help bring amazing comics and manga to the world by working directly with the creators and publishers, helping to localize the content and distribute it on their platform. INKR is currently with over 100+ leading publishers and creators from Japan, Korea, China, US, South East Asia, distributing over 1,700 diverse comics, and they hope to work with more and more talented creators and publishers around the world.

Usamah Zaid Yasin (Speaker/Moderator) Founder & Executive Director WAU Animation Usamah Zaid is the Founder & Executive Director of WAU Animation, the studio behind Ejen Ali, the highest viewed animation series across all FTA TV stations in Malaysia. Partnering with Media Prima, a local media giant, Ejen Ali stormed into the scene alongside 2 gaming apps and has won numerous accolades, including “Best Short Animation” at the Malaysia Film Festival. Usamah has been in the industry for over 16 years. Prior to WAU, he was one of the pioneers of Les’ Copaque and co-created Malaysia’s iconic twins, Upin & Ipin after graduating from Multimedia University with a degree in Film and Animation.

Tue 8 Nov 2022 \| 11:00 – 11:45 PANEL SESSION: FRAMED MEMORIES – TELLING YOUR STORY THROUGH MUSIC Cita Ballroom Andrew Bong CEO, Media Music Composer & Producer, Ventura Interactive, Laundry Music Andrew Bong is a media music composer & producer from Sarawak (Borneo), Malaysia. He is known for his music works in Upin & Ipin: Keris Siamang Tunggal (in The Best Animated Feature Film Oscar 2020 shortlist). To date (2022), he has composed music for many Malaysian animations. The titles include Framed Memories, Kuihpocalyse, and The Dalang’s Last Tale, featured in Hollywood Variety news as the Spectrum Trilogy (a co-production with the best animation studio in Singapore) (2019). These animated short trilogy garnered many awards and became official selections in many film festivals such as the Spark Animation 2019 (Oscar-qualifying). Andrew’s recent music scoring works include “Sebayan”, “Borih: The Bidayuh Paddy Priestess”, and “The Pillar of Strength”. He also penned the music score for MIFFEST (Malaysia International Film Festival 2022) opening film, Driving Mr.Palarae starring Bront Palarae (Stone Turtle) & Calvin Wang (Crazy Rich Asian). In July 2022, he wrapped up an original score for a Taiwanese feature film that premiered recently at The Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN 2022 Edition) in Korea, “Warning From Hell”, directed by Danny Pang.

Irwan Junaidy (Speaker/Moderator) Chief Creative Officer The R&D Studio Irwan Junaidy graduated with an architecture degree from the UK. He has a passion for telling stories and building make-believe worlds, particularly those that are inspired by the people, arts and cultures of South East Asia. Irwan is the co-founder of The R&D Studio, an award-winning content development studio based in Malaysia. The studio produced Wizards of Warna Walk – the first long form scripted live action television series by Disney in South East Asia. He also directed the animated short films Batik Girl and The Dalang’s Tale, which has travelled to over 70 film festivals and won 12 international awards around the world.
Mclelun Lee Mixed Media Artist / Developer The R&D Studio Mclelun studied computer programming but has a passion and talent for design and arts who happens to be colour-blind. He enjoys painting, game development and experimenting with a variety of softwares.

				Tue 8 Nov 2022 \| 11:00 – 11:45 PANEL SESSION: FRAMED MEMORIES – TELLING YOUR STORY THROUGH MUSIC Cita Ballroom
Andrew Bong CEO, Media Music Composer & Producer, Ventura Interactive, Laundry Music				Andrew Bong is a media music composer & producer from Sarawak (Borneo), Malaysia. He is known for his music works in Upin & Ipin: Keris Siamang Tunggal (in The Best Animated Feature Film Oscar 2020 shortlist). To date (2022), he has composed music for many Malaysian animations. The titles include Framed Memories, Kuihpocalyse, and The Dalang’s Last Tale, featured in Hollywood Variety news as the Spectrum Trilogy (a co-production with the best animation studio in Singapore) (2019). These animated short trilogy garnered many awards and became official selections in many film festivals such as the Spark Animation 2019 (Oscar-qualifying). Andrew’s recent music scoring works include “Sebayan”, “Borih: The Bidayuh Paddy Priestess”, and “The Pillar of Strength”. He also penned the music score for MIFFEST (Malaysia International Film Festival 2022) opening film, Driving Mr.Palarae starring Bront Palarae (Stone Turtle) & Calvin Wang (Crazy Rich Asian). In July 2022, he wrapped up an original score for a Taiwanese feature film that premiered recently at The Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN 2022 Edition) in Korea, “Warning From Hell”, directed by Danny Pang.

Irwan Junaidy (Speaker/Moderator) Chief Creative Officer The R&D Studio				Irwan Junaidy graduated with an architecture degree from the UK. He has a passion for telling stories and building make-believe worlds, particularly those that are inspired by the people, arts and cultures of South East Asia. Irwan is the co-founder of The R&D Studio, an award-winning content development studio based in Malaysia. The studio produced Wizards of Warna Walk – the first long form scripted live action television series by Disney in South East Asia. He also directed the animated short films Batik Girl and The Dalang’s Tale, which has travelled to over 70 film festivals and won 12 international awards around the world.

Mclelun Lee Mixed Media Artist / Developer The R&D Studio				Mclelun studied computer programming but has a passion and talent for design and arts who happens to be colour-blind. He enjoys painting, game development and experimenting with a variety of softwares.

				Wed 9 Nov 2022 \| 16:15 – 17:00 PANEL SESSION : FUNDS & GRANTS – SHOW ME THE MONEY (Hybrid) Cita Ballroom
Vincent Paolo Naval (Virtual Appearance) FPO Program Supervisor, FDCP Film Philippines Office				Vincent Paolo Naval is from the Film Philippines Office under the Film Development Council of the Philippines. He has been with the agency for a year and have been exposed to much of the industry of Film Financing and Grants. He currently works on the financial and service assistance programs of the film commission in the Philippines and would be happy to share with what they have to offer, from Film Grants, Locations, and even production assistance.

Walid Omar Executive Producer Lil Critter Workshop				Walid Omar founded Lil Critter Workshop after a successfully running a studio for 12 years. He has executive produced and funded two original Lil Critter series, Hogie the Globehopper (Netflix, Discovery Kids) and the Asian TV Award-winning Buck and Buddy (CITV, Cartoon Network APAC) and grown the Lil Critters Workshop studio in Kuala Lumpur as a go-to destination for animation service work. The former MIPTV Producer to Watch is setting up a UK animation development studio in the UK this year.

Tang Chi Sim Founder & CEO Omens Studio				Chi Sim is a tech and media entrepreneur who was technical co-founder of Amoeba Interactive and earth9.com, which he helped built and exited, and currently devotes his time as Founder and CEO to award-winning animation and digital media company Omens Studios and film company Taipan Films. Chi Sim is primarily responsible for financing, business and product development. A graduate of the National University of Singapore’s Computer Science department, Chi Sim previously worked as an engineer at Microsoft before venturing into entrepreneurship. He enjoys the creative process and holds a patent for collaborative group information management.

Mohan Low (Moderator) Director MDEC				Director of Digital Creative Content at MDEC, he helps drive the mission to develop the digital creative content industry in Malaysia. He has over 15 years of experience in the digital content space, leading teams across games development, games commercialization and ecosystem building. Mohan has launched over 30 games during the course of his career. His passion has also led him to mentor over a 100 game projects and organize gaming culture events. He currently works towards building Malaysia into a regional digital content hub.

				Wed 9 Nov 2022 \| 09:45 – 10:45 DIGITAL CONNECTIONS: GLOBAL KIDS’ MEDIA TRENDS Cita Ballroom
Sam Harris Director Auger Insights				Sam is a deeply experienced researcher and strategist with a background in media, youth audiences, and platform development. Using a range of classic and modern research methodologies – and utilising his background in marketing, consulting, and content creation – Sam regularly works with brands to unlock powerful insights about core consumers and their ever-evolving needs.

Ligia Talludec Director 121 Insights Brazil				A language specialist and trained UX and qualitative researcher with over 15 years of experience in the industry, Ligia is praised for her ability to combine fresh, innovative thinking with marketing clarity to answer big business questions. For over a decade, Ligia was part of Kantar’s qualitative team, focused on International and institutional inter-company projects. She is a champion for UX and CX areas, conducting F2F and online IDIs to test different interfaces (from e-commerce websites to mobile prototype apps), working with highly demanding key clients in the Technology Industry

Bonnie Wang Researcher & Semiotician Freelancer				Bonnie is an experienced strategist, qualitative researcher and semiotician with an education background in visual sociology, strategy and management in HK and Europe. She started her career with consumer and market knowledge in P&G Germany, before joining The Behavioural Architects to understand the irrationality of human behaviour. After 4.5 years in Flamingo connecting brands with Chinese culture, she worked at InnateMotion helping brands defining their social purposes, before she started freelancing in London and Shanghai. Bonnie specialised in media and entertainment, fashion, beauty, tech, and placemaking. Some of her key clients include Dior, Adidas, Dyson, and Mercedes

Pam Goldfarb Liss Founder LitBrains				With more than 30-years of experience, Pam enjoys the never-know-what’s-coming-next fun of interviewing consumers especially kids, teens and their parents. She has interviewed on subjects from pasta, hamburgers and tax software to prescription drugs, hospital stays, baby bottles and online privacy with clients including Philips Avent, Barilla, Bayer, Coca Cola, Deluxe, General Mills, Google, Glaxo-Smith-Kline (GsK), Horizon Organic, Microsoft, Nickelodeon, Procter & Gamble, United Healthcare and Zillow. An industry advocate devoted to ensuring kids and teens are not just productive in focus groups but feeling safe and encouraged to be. For more than a decade, Pam created and taught a course: ‘Moderating Kids and Teens’ at RIVA Market Research Institute. Now, Pam has taken this course online with more live and on-demand workshops on moderating with kids and teens in her new Mission Kid Possible powered by LitBrains-Igniting Ideas! at www.litbrains.com. Pam is also an active industry speaker and presenter. She has served four years as a board director on the Qualitative Research Consultants Association. Pam also participates in other annual events devoted to creativity including the Creative Education Foundation and its Creative Problem Solving Institute (CPSI) and also enjoys attending their partner event, the Florida Creativity Institute.

Haruna McWilliams Head Of Accounts Tokyoesque				Haruna is a Strategist with 20+ years with global experience in Japan, UK, US, Singapore and now the Netherlands. A native Japanese, who grew up in Europe and was educated at an international school, made her very curious about how cultures around the world are different but also similar. Her experience in advertising, branding and media also made her an expert in ‘making sense’ of what’s happening in cultures and societies, and predicting where cultures are shifting to. She is currently Head of Accounts at Tokyoesque, where she makes Japan make sense for the world, and vice versa.

Alexander Brown Marketing Assistant Tokyoesque				Alex is the marketing assistant at Tokyoesque. Having graduated in 2021 with a Master of Arts in Japanese from the University of Edinburgh, during which time he studied in Japan’s ancient capital of Kyoto, he has since worked in manga translation with Amimaru before joining Tokyoesque at his current position. The cultural studies aspect of his degree, and also his time spent studying and working in Kyoto, allowed him to tackle manga translation with a wealth of cultural knowledge to draw upon, helping him to rapidly advance to higher projects.

Debbie Bray Co-Founder Hook Research				Debbie has been carrying out qualitative research for 20 years for the UK’s biggest media brands. She is a youth audience expert and her experience means that she is regularly asked to talk at conferences and contribute thought leadership about the media lives of young consumers. Debbie has supported the biggest youth audience content owners in the UK and globally – working across a range of new and classic IPs to help her clients produce content that speaks to the ever-evolving tastes of young people around the world.

Nick Fisher Co-Founder Hook Research				Nick has 20 years experience in media consultancy. In this time, he has specialised in research, strategy and creative development for media providers. He has a huge deal of kids experience, having worked with many of the major kids platforms and channels around the world (Warner, BBC, Disney, Viacom). In particular, Nick has developed a deep expertise in the global animation landscape, having worked on a vast range of heritage and new IP launches over the course of his many years in the industry.

				Tue 8 Nov 2022 \| 17:15 – 18:15 PANEL SESSION : THE BUSINESS OF DIGITAL COMICS – FUTURE TRENDS AND THE NEXT BEST THING! (Virtual) Cita Ballroom
Stu Levy Founder & CEO TOKYOPOP				Stu Levy is an international entrepreneur, producer, director and writer across mediums including graphic novels, film, television and new media. Founder of the pioneering media company TOKYOPOP, Stu is known for establishing the manga market in North America. As a producer, Stu has a number of live-action and animated feature films and television shows in various stages of development, including adaptations of Alex Unlimited and Mail Order Ninja. He produced English adaptations of television and home video anime series including the hits Initial D, GTO, and Rave Master. His first major studio feature film as Executive Producer was Priest, released theatrically worldwide in 2011 through Sony Pictures. Stu has directed two feature films (his feature documentary Pray for Japan and his award-winning feature debut Van Von Hunter), the 8-episode docu-reality series America’s Greatest Otaku, and several music videos. Stu wrote the Princess Ai and Juror 13 graphic novels, as well as Karma Club and Sailor Moon novels. Fluent in Japanese and a licensed California attorney, Stu served as chair of the Producers Guild of America’s International Committee, its Online Video Committee, and the PGA Producers Showcase (ProShow); and a Board Member of its New Media Council. His philanthropic activities over the years have included Japan’s Tohoku tsunami recovery, projects with Make-a-Wish Foundation, and literacy advocacy. Besides speaking at numerous industry events and guest lecturing to students, Stu’s a melted ball of paddy for his two little children, an avid endurance athlete who compares himself to the Energizer bunny sans ears, a very amateur composer, and an iPhone-photo-trigger-happy foodie.

Hieu Tran Co-founder & Head of Operations INKR Global				Hieu is the co-founder and head of operations at INKR Global (inkr.com), a fast-growing digital comics platform with a simple mission: to make comics universally accessible. They help bring amazing comics and manga to the world by working directly with the creators and publishers, helping to localize the content and distribute it on their platform. INKR is currently with over 100+ leading publishers and creators from Japan, Korea, China, US, South East Asia, distributing over 1,700 diverse comics, and they hope to work with more and more talented creators and publishers around the world.

Usamah Zaid Yasin (Speaker/Moderator) Founder & Executive Director WAU Animation				Usamah Zaid is the Founder & Executive Director of WAU Animation, the studio behind Ejen Ali, the highest viewed animation series across all FTA TV stations in Malaysia. Partnering with Media Prima, a local media giant, Ejen Ali stormed into the scene alongside 2 gaming apps and has won numerous accolades, including “Best Short Animation” at the Malaysia Film Festival. Usamah has been in the industry for over 16 years. Prior to WAU, he was one of the pioneers of Les’ Copaque and co-created Malaysia’s iconic twins, Upin & Ipin after graduating from Multimedia University with a degree in Film and Animation.

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