Hon. Qarase - Launching of Fiji's first digital animation program and the 3D movie: "The Great North Pole Elf Strike"
Apr 1, 2005, 15:00

Honourable Laisenia Qarase
Prime Minister and Minister for Fijian Affairs, Culture & Heritage,
Minister for National Reconciliation & Unity; ALTA & Sugar Industry Reform; and Minister for Multi-Ethnic Affairs


The Chairman & Director of the Fiji Institute of Technology
Honourable Ministers
Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Chairman of the Fiji Audio Visual Council
Distinguished Guests
Ladies, Gentlemen and Students

We have much to celebrate this afternoon. Here at the new Animated Film School, part of the Fiji School of Arts, Culture and Design, Fiji’s first 3D digital animation program is up and running.

World-class production facilities are in place, and our first computer-animated movie, “The Great North Pole Elf Strike”, is nearing completion. This is a major achievement for Fiji.

We now have entry to the burgeoning world of animation and digital entertainment, and we are moving steadily forward in the development of an industry that can become a star performer. In laying the foundations for a local film industry, this Government was quick to recognise the huge potential for multi-media technologies in Fiji.

In 2001 we established a one-stop authority – the Fiji Audio Visual Commission – chaired by Mr Joe Mar, and introduced what we believe are among the best tax incentives in the world to embrace film, TV, video, music, IT and e-commerce projects. The first company to take advantage of these was Sony Pictures. In September last year, in Hollywood, it was my pleasure to hand Sony executives the equivalent of $3.75 million dollars Fijian, based on their substantial expenditure in Fiji on the production of Anacondas II. The venture brought wide benefits to Fiji’s economy, and to large numbers of our people.

I am pleased to know that more big projects are currently under discussion. The setting up of state-of-the-art animation facilities in Fiji is a continuation of our drive to build the economy and create more jobs.

The FAVC has brought together top US industry professionals and the Fiji Institute of Technology to give Fiji students certificate qualification, and hands-on experience in international 3D animated movie production.

In return for providing the basic facilities and support services, FIT receives revenue from course fees and a possible share of future production budgets. The animation company supplies the lecturers, technical expertise and equipment, and gets its movies made at a fraction of the US cost. This, we believe, is the only such business model in the world, and I congratulate those involved in making it happen.

The movie now being produced here is the first funded under Government’s new F-1 tax incentive. This allows Fiji taxpayers to channel some of their tax liability into finance for an audiovisual production, and earn a 150% tax deduction. They can also share in revenues earned from the film, with the first 60% of those earnings being tax-exempted. To give an indication of the possibilities, box office receipts for ‘Shrek 2’ totalled $436 million US dollars. It was the world’s highest grossing film for 2004.

Let me take this opportunity to thank the local investors in this first Fiji project. It is not surprising that the companies that have taken the lead in this new field are some of our most successful commercial enterprises.

I urge others in the business community to support this new industry through similar investments in films, and in infrastructure and services.

The producers of our first animated movie are Film Brokers International, of Burbank, California. We welcome owner and producer Lance Thompson to these celebrations, and we thank him sincerely for bringing us this tremendous opportunity.

The production company is Modern Cartoons, headed by its founder, Chris Walker, the California-based producer, director and computer animation pioneer.

Mr Walker has made a substantial commitment to Fiji, and brings with him many years’ experience at the cutting-edge of patented animation technology. We are very fortunate to have the benefit of his expertise, and that of several of his US industry colleagues, at our new Animated Film School.

Ladies and gentlemen, there is now the prospect of a well-paid future in Fiji for artistically-inclined young people who participate in the new course.

More than 70 students have already done so. Response has been particularly strong from indigenous Fijians, and I commend them and their fellow students also, on their ambition and interest. As well as real work experience, each of them can exit their course armed with a certificate, samples of their work to demonstrate their specialist talents, and job search strategies and contacts to help gain that vital first foothold in the workplace.

The Director of FIT, Kolinio Meo, believes the potential of the arts as the basis for a career has been ignored for too long in Fiji. He points out the same was once true of sports, now gaining recognition as a legitimate and often highly lucrative career path. I share the confidence of Mr Meo and of many others here this afternoon, that the Fiji movie industry will soon provide good work opportunities for significant numbers of our people.

As well as more films, this facility at Raiwai can look forward to producing local documentaries, and dramas with local themes. Mr Meo, and the Head of School of Arts, Culture & Design, Mr Meli Tuqota, see it as a valuable resource also for the preservation and promotion of Fiji’s various cultures, through films recording the music, dance and customs of our different ethnic groups. I agree wholeheartedly. This is a bonus, important for all our communities.

Ladies and gentlemen, I have mentioned the vast sums of money that can be made by today’s animated movies. We in Fiji have shown many times, in other fields, that we can equal or better the world’s best. Just recently, in Hong Kong, our Sevens boys made that point convincingly. It is not beyond the realms of possibility that an animated movie produced here in Raiwai will one day be a world-beater also.

They tell me “The Great North Pole Elf Strike,” is based on an internet game where elves stand-in for bowling pins. Fiji looks forward to being similarly bowled over, by what this great joint-venture holds in store for us! I now have the pleasure of officially launching Fiji’s first digital animation program, and our first computer-animated 3D movie.

Vinaka vakalevu, and God bless you all.

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