Global Production: How the Digital Media Industry Has Expanded Its Borders to Stay Competitive

Friday, 18 December | 7:30 AM - 9:15 AM | Level 1 - Main Hall

Digital content production is an intensively competitive industry. Companies are constantly trying to ncrease quality and productivity while reducing overhead costs. Many companies find they need to outsource for cheaper and faster results. 

Four years after opening its first and only studio outside northern California, Lucasfilm is now incorporating contributions from its Singapore studio in all of its productions: visual effects for ILM, the "Clone Wars" television series, portable games for LucasArts and most recently feature animation. Xavier Nicolas, General Manager of Luscafilm Singapore, explains how in-sourcing production to Singapore has allowed Lucasfilm to extend its capacity and flexibility, by leveraging and training regional talent, sharing pipelines and processes across projects, and establishing a strong platform for further creative and technology development.

Based in Tokyo, Polygon Pictures taps into a vast pool of talent and creativity, but it is operating in one of the world’s most expensive cities. To remain competitive, Polygon applies production-efficiency improvement measures and outsources part of its production to studios in China and India.  Shuzo Shiota, Polygon's president and CEO, discusses venturing into international markets by fusing Japanese sensibilities and aesthetics with universal storytelling, supported by internationally accepted production practices. He also evaluates the benefits of creating a Polygon studio in less expensive regions, outside Japan.

DJL Worldwide’s core business is to match international game businesses with partners in China.  Based in Shanghai, DJL helps clients find the right publishing partners and developers.  DJL also provides in-depth industry analysis for investors and high-end management consulting for game studios. DJL CEO Billy Hsu explores how international companies can benefit from global collaboration that provides more than just cost reduction and production efficiencies. By establishing a presence in China, companies can learn from Asian online game producers, which have outpaced ther Western competitors in several areas such as business models, player management, and game design.

Xavier Nicolas
Lucasfilm Singapore 

Shuzo Shiota
Polygon Pictures, Inc.

Billy Hsu 
DJL Worldwide