Studio has big plans for ‘Robozeta’ despite funding setbacks

DESPITE the success of its first season, Robozeta, Malaysia’s first mecha robot-style animation, failed to acquire funding for its second season from the Digital Content Fund (DKD) after its application was rejected for the sixth time.

Red Circle Studio Sdn Bhd, the local producer of Robozeta, previously managed to get RM500,000 for the production of its first season.

The fund is managed by the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas).

“While we are grateful to Finas for funding the first season, we are disappointed that our application for the second season was rejected six times,” its managing director Ahmad Firdaus Abdul Razif said.

Despite the setback, the animation team behind Robozeta was able to complete the second season with funding from other sources through the production of corporate videos, advertisements and campaigns that managed to pull in investment for the show.

The studio had also planned to target the global market as they had received offers from the United States to air the film previously.

The plan, however, was scrapped due to the uncertainty of the second season’s production.

He said the company must make at least three to five seasons of the animated show before it could be sold overseas.

“The process of completing one season of Robozeta takes about 10 months. We are targeting at least five years to complete five seasons.

“After five seasons, we will do a large-scale promotion which will include marketing it abroad,” said Ahmad Firdaus, who is also planning a Robozeta film.

He said although Robozeta was not a high-budget animation show, he was confident of his team’s effort and the show’s ability to penetrate both the local and international markets.

He added that they were planning to produce Robozeta-themed products and merchandise as one of the strategies to increase the company’s revenue for future projects.

In 2020, the first season of Robozeta was shown on the Astro Ceria and Singapore Media Corp channels. It is still awaiting screening approval from a TV station for its second season.