Tag Archives: Mediapolis

It will have centres for interactive digital media, computer-generated imagery, games, animation and more

IMAGINE flashing billboards, colourful media screens, film shootings on the streets and red carpet activities galore. This is not downtown Manhattan nor Tokyo. Come 2020, Singapore’s very own Mediapolis may be home to a vibrant suite of film, television and animation clusters.

The 19-hectare Mediapolis is set to become a self-contained media ecosystem comprising soundstages (left) with green screen capabilities, digital production and broadcast facilities and media schools (next).

Of course, Mediapolis will not replicate the street scenes of these cities entirely. Internationally renowned architect Bernard Tschumi was clear that he wanted to preserve Singapore’s tropical uniqueness even as he brought in elements from these cities.

And distinct the Mediapolis will be. Mr Tschumi’s works are commonly associated with a post-modern form of architecture called deconstructivism, where buildings take on non-rectilinear shapes or non-uniform surfaces to stimulate a sense of controlled chaos.

He has also introduced this concept to the Mediapolis masterplan – sides of buildings facing the central street will have glass facades and billboards, while the other sides will have to be constructed with other types of material such as steel or wood to create a contrast.

For a project that involved so much creative effort, what exactly is the Mediapolis?

What the Mediapolis is

Located in one-north, the 19-hectare Mediapolis was launched in December last year. It is set to become a self-contained media ecosystem comprising soundstages with green screen capabilities, digital production and broadcast facilities and media schools.

There will also be centres for activities in interactive digital media and research and development; computer-generated imagery and visual effects; games and animation; and intellectual property creation and digital rights management.

Mediapolis was created in response to Singapore’s expanding media sector. In 2005, it reported an annual turnover of $18.2 billion, contributing $4.9 billion value added to the country’s GDP. It also employed close to 55,000 people.

Media funding has also grown with about $1 billion anchored here. Award-winning films, games and animation and major international co-productions such as the filming and production of Mark Burnett’s Contender Asia and The Contender 4 also took place in Singapore.

Global media giants such as Lucasfilm, Linden Lab, EA, Ubisoft and Rainbow SpA have also set foot here. And more media activities such as the upcoming shoot of Jan de Bont’s Point Break 2 will take place this year.

The government therefore came up with Mediapolis to position Singapore as a media hub. Four agencies – JTC Corporation, the Media Development Authority (MDA), the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) and the Economic Development Board (EDB) – were involved.

‘JTC is pleased to be part of this multi-government agency effort that propels Singapore ahead as a trusted global media capital,’ said Philip Su, JTC’s assistant chief executive. ‘We are glad to contribute to building the critical pieces, which will complement each other in the growth of a vibrant media ecosystem.’

JTC is also the master developer of one-north. The Mediapolis will be the third strategic industry cluster in one-north, after Biopolis (biomedical sciences) and Fusionopolis (infocomm, media, engineering and physical sciences).

‘Mediapolis will also be able to leverage on the creative community in the neighbouring Wessex Estate, and tap on the synergies and world-class expertise within one-north,’ said Mr Su.

MDA chief executive Christopher Chia also expressed great hopes for the Mediapolis. It is ‘an essential piece of a comprehensive media ecosystem that we are building’, he said. ‘Over the years, Singapore’s media industry has made great strides, particularly in media financing and international co-productions. To elevate ourselves to the next level, we are finding ways to add scale and synergy to what we already have.’

The government also consulted an International Advisory Committee in the conceptualisation of Mediapolis. The panel comprised media industry insiders such as Dune Entertainment chairman and chief executive Greg Coote, Warner Brothers Pictures president of physical productions Steve Papazian, and film maker and director Shekhar Kapur.

Mediapolis will be developed in two phases. For phase one, JTC has reserved a 1.2-hectare plot of land for works to begin in the first quarter of this year. Local media production company Infinite Frameworks (IFW) will invest in and develop a soundstage complex here.

Controlled chaos: Street-facing sides of buildings will have glass facades and multi-media awnings, while the other sides will be built with other materials for contrast

Cutting edge

IFW is a producer of cutting-edge computer graphics and visual effects for television and feature films. The complex is expected to cost $80 million to $120 million and could house three soundstages when completed in two years.

‘The soundstage at Mediapolis presents a unique opening for Infinite to further augment our distinctive range of specialist services for the film and television industries,’ said IFW managing director Mike Wiluan.

The second part of phase one’s development would start after Ayer Rajah Camp relocates in 2011 and could be completed in 2020 at the latest. No date has been set for works on phase two to begin.

The entire Mediapolis could take as long as 20 to 30 years to complete. According to Chan Yeng Kit, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts, the speed of development will depend on demand from the media industry.

Source : Business Times – 10 March 2009

Singapore aims big with billion-dollar media hub at one-north

Locals could be rubbing shoulders with movie stars and Hollywood bigwigs at the one-north cluster in the near future.

And films like box-office hit 300, part of a new wave of films that rely extensively on state-of-the-art digital movie studios, could be spawned from studios coming up in a new 19 hectare Buona Vista enclave, called Mediapolis@one-north.

In the frame: Mr Chan, second from left, with MDA, JTC and IDA officials yesterday

Singapore’s new media hub is a billion-dollar mega project that could see more than a dozen buildings sprawled across a lush landscape by 2020.

Announcing Mediapolis at the Asia Television Forum trade show yesterday, Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts Lee Boon Yang said the hub will be a ‘crucible’ for creating and distributing content from Singapore to the world.

Mediapolis will sit on land roughly the size of 19 football fields adjacent to Portsdown Avenue, a plot now partly occupied by the Ayer Rajah military camp.

It will ‘have facilities not found elsewhere in Singapore and become the ideal home for international and local media companies, media schools and R&D (research and development) firms’, the minister said.

At yesterday’s media briefing, Chan Yeng Kit, chairman of the Mediapolis steering committee, said that Mediapolis is proceeding despite the financial downturn because demand for co-production expertise and facilities remains robust.

Mr Chan, who is also the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (Mica), added: ‘In some ways, the downturn does provide a window of opportunity for us, with construction costs coming down. By prepping the ground now and strengthening the whole ecosystem for media with scaled-up infrastructure and greater depth, we will be ready to catch the tide and gear up for the next stage of growth when recovery comes.’

The media industry is ‘fairly recession-proof’, he noted, because consumers will still continue to spend on entertainment in a downturn.

Four government agencies will jointly steer Mediapolis. They are the Media Development Authority (MDA), JTC Corporation, the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and the Economic Development Board (EDB).

Commercial developers are expected to undertake most of the development at the park, alongside JTC. The total gross floor area will come to around 400,000 square metres, according to a JTC spokesman.

Construction will kick off in the first quarter of next year on a 1.2 hectare plot of land. Local media production firm Infinite Frameworks will be Mediapolis’ first developer.

The firm yesterday announced that it will be investing between $80 million and $120 million to build Singapore’s first purpose-built soundstage complexes. These are hanger- like studios that can be fitted with movie sets and so-called green screens, which are used by studios to create the illusion of on-location shooting.

When completed by 2020, Mediapolis will have movie studios, digital production and broadcast facilities, research labs, games and animation studios, offices, service apartments and high-tech hotels.

There will also be a sprawling park that can host outdoor movie screenings and provide location settings for film companies.

According to JTC assistant chief executive Philip Su, Mediapolis could swell by another 18 hectares in a future second-phase development after 2020. This will likely be sited south of the current 19 hectare plot.

Mediapolis is expected to stoke an already bullish Singapore media industry. According to a joint statement, between 2000 and 2005, this industry reported an annual turnover of US$13.4 billion in revenue, contributing 4.5 per cent, or US$3.6 billion, to Singapore’s gross domestic product and employing 53,500 people.

There has also been an influx of overseas projects, with the upcoming shoot of Jan de Bont’s Point Break 2 here next year an eye-catching example. A number of global media giants such as Lucasfilm, Linden Lab, EA, Ubisoft and Rainbow SpA have also set up facilities in Singapore.

Source : Business Times – 11 December 2008