Bicinema, the studio behind Indonesia and Southeast Asia’s all-time animation box office champion Jumbo, is using its JAFF Markets platform to urge the country’s entertainment sector to prioritize long-term IP creation, with CEO Helly B. Salim calling for a shift away from one-off projects and more government support to help local players compete globally.
“When we talk about evergreen IP, it’s not just the end product that we’re trying to sell. It’s about storytelling[as a medium]to build a sustainable creative ecosystem,” he told Variety. “When you create a story-telling product, you have to think about IP, not just a one-off.”
Salim, who gave a mini-talk show on the future of the Indonesian film industry at the JAFF Market Bicinema booth, talked about how mainstream film products have become. In other words, it will be similar to FMGC (Fast-moving Consumer Goods). “The way people consume these (movie) ‘products’ will definitely reach a standard,” he added.
With the industry growing rapidly, Salim emphasized the importance of not only becoming a consumer of film products themselves, but also daring to compete globally. “Yes, we consume a lot of foreign products, but what do we gain by just consuming them?”
Mr. Salim strongly believes in the strength of creating entire intellectual property and is also seeking desirable support from the government. Malaysia’s animation industry has proven to be thriving ever since the Digital Economy Corporation created a subsidy program for digital content production, including the production of animated films. He said: “When you make an animated film in Malaysia, the government subsidizes some of the costs. How can we thrive and compete with such programs if we don’t go through the same support system?”
“We need to understand who our audience is,” Salim added. The studio released the teaser for “Na Willa (2026)” at its second annual JAFF Market booth. The film’s release was previously announced in November, reuniting the production team behind the animated hit Jumbo.
The studio’s upcoming feature continues the essence of its previous hits, emphasizing the tagline “For us, our children, and our inner children.” According to Salim, this theme is an important part of Visinema’s DNA. “It’s all about storytelling.”
