LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, SKYBOUND Entertainment announces the formation of SKYBOUND Asia, a partnership with Figo Fuad and James Lockard of Moving Images. The new venture is based in Singapore and will include comic distribution, marketing, merchandising, and participation in regional conventions. SKYBOUND Asia will be publishing their titles, including New York Times best-seller The Walking Dead in various local languages, including Thai and Malay, and will build dedicated online properties and operations to aid in distribution. This is the first time an independent creator has established an arm in Southeast Asia, and the undertaking may prove to be larger than that of the major comic houses.
Since the launch in July 2010, SKYBOUND’s success is unmatched. It’s lead series, The Walking Dead, has sold over 3 million copies globally. In addition to Robert Kirkman’s Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series for the title, virtually all three new SKYBOUND titles have sold out their debut issues with continued successful runs: Super Dinosaur, Witch Doctor, and The Infinite.
Countries covered by this new distribution include Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, in addition to their existing presence in South Korea and Japan, and partnership with Madman in Australasia. The first collaboration will be the upcoming Singapore Toy, Game & Comic Convention on August 20-21; last year the event welcomed 72,000 from Singapore and Southeast Asia.
Robert Kirkman, founder and CEO of SKYBOUND, is thrilled about the expansion into the Asian market, “The next step for Skybound and The Walking Dead in particular is the evolution into a global brand. Partnering with Moving Images to form Skybound Asia is the first logical step toward that goal. It will allow us to gain a foothold in emerging markets in order to bring Skybound comics and products to an entirely new fan base.”
Director of Business Development Shawn Kirkham looks forward to what’s to come, “This is a very exciting opportunity for Skybound. The expansion into Southeast Asia provides us countless avenues to showcase our IP’s to a new and eager audience.”
”We are extremely happy to be working with Robert Kirkman and Skybound,” the founder of Moving Images, Figo Fuad, “He has a huge fan base in Asia that is growing by leaps and bounds, the sky is the limit for Skybound Asia.”
ABOUT SKYBOUND: A division of Image Comics founded in July 2010, SKYBOUND is helmed by Robert Kirkman, who handpicks and publishes up-and-coming comic creators for publication and development. Kirkman and SKYBOUND management maintain an active role in the promotion and expansion of their talent pool’s projects, and artist and company alike will be fully vested in the development of their properties into new mediums (e.g. television, film) globally. The first SKYBOUND Original, Witch Doctor, was published Summer 2011 and subsequently sold out, and will soon be followed by a collaboration between Kirkman and Nick Spencer (Morning Glories) entitled Thief of Thieves.
ABOUT MOVING IMAGES: Moving Images is an international media company headquartered in Singapore and Los Angeles. A leader in commercial, television series, new media and feature film production and post production it was founded in 2005 by Figo Fuad in Singapore. Moving Images core business in post-production has expanded into a full service media company. Understanding the look, feel and strengths of both East and West has helped Moving Images shape some of the world's top corporate brand's identity, create genre specific television series and build lasting relationships between Hollywood and Asia.
ABOUT ROBERT KIRKMAN: Robert Kirkman is a New York Times bestselling author known for being the cultural zeitgeist of the comic book industry. Kirkman's SKYBOUND imprint, under the Image Comics umbrella, is committed to fostering up-and-coming talent in the industry, and all acquisitions are hand-picked by Kirkman himself. Kirkman won the 2010 Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series for The Walking Dead. AMC's interpretation of the comic has received glowing reviews from critics and fans alike, and continues to garner the highest ratings for the network, making it a game changer for groundbreaking television on cable.