Finas reduces bureaucracy to avail funding

KUANTAN: The Malaysian National Film Development Corporation (Finas) is going to the ground in an effort to reduce the bureaucracy of applying for the Malaysian Creative Industry Stimulus Package (PRISMA) fund, says Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah.

He said among the initiatives taken was the Komuniti@Finas (KoFi) programme, which enables funds to be channelled more quickly to new talent to produce creative content such as short videos and documentaries for digital platforms.

"Through KoFi, we plan to go down to each state by organising workshops for applicants before they pitch their ideas to Finas, and this is followed by the evaluation process and the issuance of fund offer letters.

"The implementation period (of this funding method) is within about three weeks, where previously, the process took at least three months. This is also one of our methods of speeding up and simplifying the fund withdrawal process.

"This move was made after we learned from past experience, which saw a half of the allocation of RM550 million under the 11th Malaysia Plan (RMK-11) for creative content funds remain unused," he said at a press conference after handing out offer letters for PRISMA micro-financing worth a total of RM1.5 million for digital content to 116 individuals in conjunction with the Finas Production Management Division's Outreach Programme here today.

Also present were Finas chairman Zakaria Abdul Hamid and Finas chief executive officer Dr Ahmad Idham Ahmad Nazri.

Meanwhile, Saifuddin also encouraged creative industry players to produce national-themed films that highlighted elements of culture and religion for the purpose of promoting Malaysia.

-- BERNAMA