Star Wars studio Lucasfilm establishes base in Singapore

Asian Economic News, August 9, 2004

SINGAPORE, Aug. 3 Kyodo

U.S. film producer Lucasfilm Ltd., known as the maker of the Star Wars movies, announced Tuesday it has established its first base outside the United States in Singapore.

The company has set up Lucasfilm Animation, a digital animation studio, to produce content, including films, television shows and games, for global audiences, in the city state in a joint venture that is 75 percent owned by Lucasfilm and 25 percent by a consortium led by the Economic Development Board, a Singapore governmental agency, local electronics manufacturer Creative Technology Ltd. and investment firm Stardust.

The company hopes that having a base in Singapore will enable it to create a new style of animation that will blend east and west.

Michelin Chau, president and chief operating officer of Lucasfilm Ltd., in Singapore for the announcement, said the company chose Singapore over other locations in Asia because of the country's ''growing talent base, the cosmopolitan flavor, and its attractiveness as a place to live.''

The Singapore company will begin work almost immediately by working in concert with the company's animation unit in California.

The company's decision to set up a base is seen as a coup for Singapore's efforts to promote its digital media industry as part of a bid to wean the economy away from dependence on manufacturing amid fierce competition from lower-cost producers such as India and China.