For our Indonesian friends!

For our Indonesian friends. Thanks for your support. To read the article, click here.

Moving to a new market

In business, we are always facing changes. Whenever there is a change, it's like a Tsunami. It wipes out those who cannot hold on when it comes. Entrepreneurship is about persistence. Its about holding on and staying alive during these times. As long as you are fast to identify the new wave and move with the change. There is a chance to survive.

Diversification is a must for survival. You need to have multiple revenue streams. So that if one stream is facing danger, you have other streams to depend on.

In Tiny Island, we are always looking at new advance technology that has potential to propagate. Technology means nothing without Creativity. We treat Technology like a pencil. By understanding how the technology works, we can creatively create new engaging product.

But R&D in new technology could mean spending indefinitely with no results if not handle with care. This is especially difficult for small companies.

So what we do in Tiny Island is we form alliance with technological and business partners so that we can provide a variety of services which makes us more competitive.

For Example: We team up with consulting agencies who are strong in locating MNC clients. At our end, we use our creativity to push the technology beyond its boundaries with the help of our technological partners. With this, we provide a list of new media solutions. (Stereoscopic 3d, Auto-stereoscopic 3d, AR, VR, MR etc) to our clients. We leverage each others strength and form a strong consortium. Together, we appears to be a much bigger organisation which helps us engage a variety of new businesses and opening new markets.

Many startups die within the first few years. Or many never even reach the sea and stay within the shore. (Keep depending on local market) We started the company with zero external investment till today. Through this strategy, it helps us pull through 10 years and many tough times. Believe it or not, we are now getting outsource work from countries like Vietnam and China even though we are from Singapore (ranked as the most expensive country in the world) You may wonder why. In order to survive, one need to provide a unique service that others cannot provide. Else why should others pay you a premium if all you can provide is what others can already do and even at a cheaper cost than you. Moving to new market is the key.

Dream Defenders VR Phase 2

We are in progress with the 2nd phase of our plan. That is to bring Dream Defenders Series into the world of Virtual Reality. A whole new experience of storytelling that allows the audience to participate in the story. 

Not only will it allow you to look around in 360, but you can also walk, run, jump and fight side by side with Zane and Zoey against the evil queen Icela and her momoks (The nightmare monsters). You will be able to fire laser beams at the momoks, just by staring at your targets like Cyclops in X-Men.

In the 3rd phase, we plan to allow audiences to decide their own path in the story. And also allow multiple audiences to go into the same world simultaneously.

Now we are waiting for Microsoft's Hololens to be released in Asia. Next, it will be bringing Dream Defenders into the world of Hololens.

In July, we will be making another announcement of our 4th entry into the US market. The first 3 entries were 3net, Hulu and Discover Family. Together with our new US partner, we will be launching a campaign for Dream Defenders in the next 9 months.

Next stop will be China. In August, we will go to Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing to go into the 2nd phase of partnership discussion.

Currently the series is distributed by DreamWorks and the series has reached out to 80 countries world wide.

Stay tuned for more news coming up.

YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/i_JzLPPIs_M

Featured in Animation: A World History: Volume III: Contemporary Times

Both CG Protege and Tiny Island including Dream Defenders were mentioned in Mr Giannalberto Bendazzi book (Animation: A World History: Volume III: Contemporary Times) Honoured to be recorded as part of Singapore Animation History.

Available on Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Animation-World-History-Contemporary-Times/dp/1138854824

"A continuation of 1994’s groundbreaking Cartoons, Giannalberto Bendazzi’s Animation: A World History is the largest, deepest, most comprehensive text of its kind, based on the idea that animation is an art form that deserves its own place in scholarship. Bendazzi delves beyond just Disney, offering readers glimpses into the animation of Russia, Africa, Latin America, and other often-neglected areas and introducing over fifty previously undiscovered artists. Full of first-hand, never before investigated, and elsewhere unavailable information, Animation: A World History encompasses the history of animation production on every continent over the span of three centuries.

Volume III catches you up to speed on the state of animation from 1991 to present. Although characterized by such trends as economic globalization, the expansion of television series, emerging markets in countries like China and India, and the consolidation of elitist auteur animation, the story of contemporary animation is still open to interpretation. With an abundance of first-hand research and topics ranging from Nickelodeon and Pixar to modern Estonian animation, this book is the most complete record of modern animation on the market and is essential reading for all serious students of animation history."

4th Entry into the US, Expansion into South East Asian markets, VR plans.

Dream Defenders is going strong. Just received news that the Dream Defenders Series is potentially expanding to South East Asian territories and also in Africa & the Middle East (including Pakistan). This is on top of the 80 countries we have reached out so far.

We have also recently seal our 4th deal in the US. This marks our 4th entry into US.

We are also now planning a Virtual Exhibition showcasing The Art of Dream Defenders in a VR world. Followed by launching the actual exhibition. Its all getting very exciting. Stay tune.

Dream Defenders – animated in Singapore for the world

Coverage in FutureReadySingapore, a publication of EDB

When he founded Tiny Island 13 years ago, David Kwok hoped that by making a direct reference to the island nation of Singapore, the fledgling animation studio would one day put the country on the world map.

Today, Tiny Island is a major player in Asia’s vibrant animation industry. Its 26-part series, Dream Defenders, made its United States debut on 3net - a 3D network jointly owned by Sony, the Discovery Channel and Imax – in 2011, and has also been aired on major European networks such as German television network Super RTL and Planeta Junior. Closer to home, Dreamworks TV Asia has also acquired the rights to air the series across 19 countries in the region.

Photojournalist Calvin Wong takes a closer look at Tiny Island’s work in a walk through the animation studio. (Click here to read the whole article)

CEO's Thoughts: Its the journey that matters. Not the destination.

Building this company has brought me to places I never dared to dream of. One thing that I have learnt is that you need to keep trying no matter how impossible it may seem. The dream keeps you alive and keeps you going. Someday you may get there. Even if you don’t, it’s the journey that matters. Not just the destination. Stepping into Dreamworks Animation was one of those “impossible” dreams of mine. This is probably not a big deal to those who works in the US industry, but for someone like me from this “tiny island”, it was something beyond my wildest imagination. (...read more)