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LOS ANGELES - 01/08/04 - An up-and-coming Hong Kong animation company has been picked by one of Hollywood's top studios to play a key role in a prestigious television series.
 
DreamWorks, which has maestro film-maker Steven Spielberg and former Disney executive Jeffrey Katzenberg among its principals, gave the contract to Imagi after being impressed by work the animation studio had already done, according to industry sources.

Imagi IP Holdings will handle computer-generated animation services, including modelling, character animation, lighting effects, compositing, and rendering for "Father of the Pride," a comedy about a pride of white lions that perform in the American gambling city of Las Vegas.

It is a major coup for Imagi, which set up its animation operation only three few years ago, with a staff of 10 people. The work from the Hong Kong animators was so highly rated that word spread fast: a cartoon series called Zentrix was shown in France and Japan and ultimately caught the eye of the DreamWorks team.

Imagi now has160 staff, many of whom will be deployed on the Hollywood project, scheduled for airing on prime time television in the US. Among those voicing the characters for "Father of the Pride" will be comedian John Goodman.

"We put a lot of resources into our projects and a lot of energy. It was the quality, detail and competitive price that helped us," said Terry Tse, development director of IMI Global Holdings, parent company of Imagi.

"We are very excited for Hong Kong and for all our colleagues. Now we will work even harder! This project with DreamWorks will take us 12 to 18 months and the next project we do will probably be our own again."

Tse said he thought Imagi's distinctive style was a result of the wide cultural influences animators in Hong Kong were exposed to daily.

"Hong Kong is unique because people here have a lot of chances to watch animation from all different parts of the world with different styles - from the United States, Europe and Japan," he said. "Hong Kong is very cosmopolitan.

"When we started we had only ten staff but have expanded since then. It is important to get people with the right attitude and potential. We give them three to six months in-house training."

Imagi is also set to benefit from closer ties with mainland China under the CEPA (Closer Economic Partnership Agreement), but "for the present its operation will remain in Hong Kong, with its animation series targeted at international audiences," Tse said.
 
"We are so excited to have been asked by DreamWorks," said Francis Kao, Imagi Group chairman and chief executive officer. "We are pleased to be able to bring state-of-the art, high quality computer animation never before seen on prime time television."

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