Suzhou technology team looks to build links
Suzhou technology team looks to build links
with Kiwi digital media companies
22 May 2008, Wellington – New Zealand’s thriving digital media industry will have the opportunity to develop closer links with China’s technology powerhouse during a high-level visit later this month.
A delegation from China’s Suzhou Industrial Park’s (SIP) Suzhou International Science Park (SISPARK), will be in Wellington for X|Media|Lab, an internationally acclaimed digital media think-tank and creative workshop.
Located 80 km from Shanghai, SIP is the largest co-operation project between China and Singapore government and one of the most successful and fastest growing economic zones in China. SISPARK is an international incubator and campus for hi-tech and creative industries in SIP. It is home to 270 hi-tech companies with over 14,000 employees.
Leading the delegation will be
SISPARK Deputy Director, Ms Li Gao (Daisy), who is
responsible for promotion of the hi-tech, digital media and
creative industries and selecting projects that might be
interested in expanding into Suzhou. She has worked with
many Fortune 500 companies, including 3M, Bosch, GE, and
Ingersoll-Rand.
“New Zealand’s digital media
companies have a reputation throughout the world for great
ideas and technical excellence. We are looking forward to
meeting New Zealand’s top digital media innovators,
finding out more about their projects and exploring ways in
which we can build closer ties with them,” says Ms
Gao.
The delegation will also include two of her
colleagues from SISPARK, Senior Supervisors Mr Nan Xiao and
Mr Jin Zhang.
“X|Media|Lab is a unique opportunity for
NZ digital media companies to explore co-operation and
business opportunities with China, the world’s most
dynamic digital media market. We are honoured to bring the
first digital media delegation from China to Wellington
since the historic signing of the NZ – China FTA last
month,” say X|Media|Lab Director Megan Elliott.
Ties between Suzhou Industrial Park and New Zealand’s digital media industry were boosted on 8 May when Wellington film and entertainment lawyer Michael Stephens was made an Honorary Adviser of the animation industry for the Suzhou National Animation Industry Base.
“Increasingly,
the world of digital media is looking to Suzhou and New
Zealand for leadership and innovation. The potential for
co-operation on 2D and 3D Animation and Games projects
between these two digital media hot spots is immense,”
says Mr Stephens.
Mr Stephens is a Board Member of a
number of the New Zealand film production and digital post
facilities for the Wingnut Group of Companies, the producers
of the Academy Award-winning Lord of the Rings film
series.
He has an interest in the future of East-West
co-productions and funding for film and other digital media
projects. Mr Stephens is currently Chairman of the New
Zealand-Asia Pacific Film Fund, Co-Chairman of the Korean
Cinerama Trust of New Zealand (www.koreanfilmfestival.co.nz ) and an
Honorary Adviser for the New Zealand-China Film Festivals.
Fourteen companies from across New Zealand have been
selected to participate in X|Media|Lab’s two-day intensive
workshop. They will be mentored by some of the world’s
leading digital media powerbrokers who will help them
develop their ideas and get their products to market.
Companies from Germany and Australia will also be taking
part.
X|Media|Lab Wellington begins with a one-day
Keynote Conference on Friday 30th May at Te Papa, where the
International Mentors will present on “Commercialising
Ideas”.
The international mentors include Tom Duterme,
Head of New Business Development at Google; Chris Deering,
Chairman of Codemasters and formerly President of Sony
Computer Entertainment – Europe; Chris Adams, new media
pioneer and Co-founder of Participant Productions (Syriana,
Murderball, North Country), and Sam Morgan, Founder and
General Manager of TradeMe.
X|Media|Lab is supported by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, as part of its work to help grow New Zealand’s digital content industry and build its international competitiveness.
Registration for the Keynote Conference can be done online at: www.xmedialab.com
About
X|Media|Lab
X|Media|Lab is the
internationally acclaimed think tank and creative workshop
for digital media professionals across the emerging digital
media disciplines in computer games, animation, digital
cinema, interactive content and entertainment, and mobile
applications. X|Media|Lab brings together the world’s
leading digital media practitioners, power-brokers, and
innovators in a unique creative environment that helps local
companies and project teams improve their own digital media
ideas, get their products to market and achieve commercial
success.
In 2008 X|Media|Lab will be held in Suzhou, Wellington, Seoul, Melbourne, Singapore, Shanghai, Mumbai and the Middle East.
X|Media|Lab was created in 2003 and has been held at some of the world’s most iconic venues including the Sydney Opera House and the Great Hall of the People, Beijing. It has been held in conjunction with the Sydney Film Festival, the Melbourne International Film Festival, the Asia Media Festival, the Asia Games Developers Summit, Broadcast Asia, FICCI FRAMES - Asia’s largest Entertainment Event, Virtual Worlds Forum Europe, and China’s International Cultural and Creativity Expo in Beijing.
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