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Kuala Lumpur, 17 January 2008 - National Geographic
Channels International (NGCI), the Ministry of Culture, Arts and
Heritage of Malaysia and the National Film Development Corporation
of Malaysia (FINAS) today jointly announce the launch of the premiere
of Malaysia Special: SMART Tunnel, an one-hour
National Geographic Channel exclusive on the making of the world's
first storm water tunnel with a built-in motorway. This is the final
of two made-in-Malaysia high-definition documentary programmes produced
under the USD 400,000 "Malaysia to the World" NGCI-FINAS
High Definition (HD) Documentary Fund 2006. The first documentary
"Becoming a King" premiered in August 2007 was the most
watched documentary programme across all international factual entertainment
channels in Malaysia for the week of 27 August to 2 September 2007.
"It is yet another milestone for local filmmakers to showcase
Malaysia to the World as we embarked on this highly anticipated
documentary programme. This partnership with National Geographic
Channels International - an award-winning global documentary television
channel renowned for its high-quality engaging visuals, compelling
storytelling and factual accuracy marks another accomplishment in
the development of our local filmmaking talents and documentary
production capability," says Yang Berhormat Datuk Seri Utama
Dr. Rais Yatim, Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage of Malaysia.
Encik Mohd Mahyidin Mustakim, Director-General of FINAS says, "This
ongoing partnership with National Geographic Channels International,
the undisputed leader in documentary filmmaking has truly given
Malaysian filmmakers the confidence and direction to successfully
produce documentary programmes of exceptional caliber. We are pleased
to be playing a key role in nurturing our Malaysian filmmakers and
producing high-definition documentary programmes for the global
audience."
Mr Bryan Smith, Executive Vice-President of Productions at National
Geographic Channels International says, "Today we celebrate
the premiere of Malaysia Special: SMART Tunnel
as we continue to push the boundary of the way we understand our
modern world. We mark yet another proud moment for the Ministry
of Culture, Arts and Heritage of Malaysia, FINAS, the Malaysian
filmmaking community and all Malaysians around the world as we showcase
the world's first engineering marvel of our time to National Geographic
Channel's global audience of 250 million homes."
"As Malaysia's leading multimedia broadcaster of International
channels and producer of Malay, Chinese, Indian and English language
programming content, Astro is delighted to showcase National Geographic
Channel's Malaysia Special: SMART Tunnel on its
platform to over 2 million of our customers. Astro is deeply committed
to local and localised content through subtitles, voiceovers, local
talents and programs that will promote Malaysians and Malaysia on
Astro's platform."
This partnership between National Geographic Channels International,
the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage of Malaysia and FINAS
in association with Astro to encourage local filmmaking industry
in Malaysia, has presented a unique platform to nurture, preserve
and advance the filmmaking industry in Malaysia. The collaboration
has resulted in creating dramatic, relevant, entertaining and factually
accurate documentary programmes for National Geographic Channel's
global audience.
MALAYSIA SPECIAL: SMART TUNNEL
Annually, floods besiege Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital city. It'll take an
ultimate engineering feat to tame nature -a storm water tunnel that can divert
flood waters from the problematic Klang River away from the city centre. The
world's first storm water tunnel with a built-in motorway, capable of turning
even the motorway into a secondary flood channel. With the help of the largest
tunnel boring machines in Southeast Asia, plus an impressive artillery of
technology and knowledge, the SMART tunnel is set to end the city's major flood
woes.
Malaysia Special: SMART Tunnel will premiere exclusively on National Geographic
Channel in Asia (including Malaysia on Astro Channel 553) on 25 January 08,
Friday, at 10pm (HKG/ SGP/ MAL). It repeats on 27 January 08, Sunday, 8pm and 1
February 08, Friday, 4pm.
About National Geographic Channels International
National Geographic Channels International (NGCI) invites viewers
to re-think the way they see television - and the world - with smart,
innovative programming. A business enterprise owned by National
Geographic Television (NGT) and FOX Entertainment Group, NGCI contributes
to the National Geographic Society's commitment to exploration,
conservation and education. Globally, National Geographic Channel
(including NGC U.S. which is a joint venture of NGT and Fox Cable
Networks Group) is available in 250 million homes (including day-part
households) in 166 countries and 34 languages.
In Malaysia, National Geographic Channel is available exclusively
on Astro Channel 553.
About National Film Development Corporation of Malaysia
(Perbadanan Kemajuan Filem Nasional Malaysia)
Perbadanan Kemajuan Filem Nasional Malaysia (FINAS) was
established in 1981 to encourage, to preserve and to facilitate
filmmaking industry in Malaysia. FINAS has since set up numerous
facilities to promote the industry, including a credit facility
scheme which enables young and untiring film-makers to test their
potential.
A further incentive to local film-makers is that they are invited
to make television programmes either in film format or video format.
There are now more than 300 film companies registered with FINAS.
To promote documentary makers in Malaysia, FINAS encourages documentary
production with Malaysian cultural, historical and socio-economic
themes.
About ASTRO
Astro is Malaysia's leading multimedia broadcaster and producer
of Malay, Chinese, Indian and English language programming content.
It owns and operates the only direct-to-home satellite TV service
with access to some 10 million viewers in over 2 million homes,
representing 39% of TV homes in Malaysia, making it one of the largest
multi-channel TV businesses in Asia. It currently offers over 100
TV channels, including 25 Astro-branded channels of original and
aggregated content of various genres in multiple languages. Astro
is deeply committed to content localisation through subtitles, voiceovers,
local talents and programs that will promote Malaysia on Astro's
global platform. Reflecting our commitment to local content, Astro
increased our in-house production to over 1,700 hours of entertainment,
information and news programmes in 2007. The service also provides
a range of interactive TV content and services.
Astro is the trademark of Measat Broadcast Network Systems, a subsidiary
of ASTRO ALL ASIA NETWORK plc. The Group operates out of the All
Asia Broadcast Centre, a fully-integrated digital broadcast and
production complex in Kuala Lumpur.
For more information, please visit
www.astro.com.my
For more information, please contact:
National Geographic Channel Asia (Singapore)
Basil Chua / Esther Ng
Tel: +65 6325 3848 / +65 6325 3810
Email: basilc@ngcasia.com
/ estherng@ngcasia.com
National Geographic Channels International (Washington DC)
Cherry Yates/ Victoria Kirker
Tel: +1 202 912 6689/ +1 202 912 3204
Email: cyates@ngs.org /
vkirker@ngs.org
National Film Development Corporation of Malaysia (FINAS)
Subaidah Md. Jop / Mohd Nazrul Shah
Tel +603 4108 5722
Astro
Tammy Toh
Head, Communications (MCTV)
Tel: 603 9543 6688 ext 2046
Mobile: 012 322 5184
Email: tammy_toh@astro.com.my
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