Manga Productions announces partnership with NEOM for second season of Saudi animation series, Future’s Folktales

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 22 December 2020 – Manga Productions, a
subsidiary company of Mohammed bin Salman “Misk” Foundation, announced
today a partnership agreement with NEOM, where the events of season 2 of the
Saudi animation series “Future’s Folktales” will take place, following
the great success of the first season among Arab and international audiences, with
views exceeding the seventy million mark around the world.

Commenting on the partnership, Dr. Essam Bukhary, CEO of Manga
Productions, said: “We are delighted to collaborate with NEOM, the setting of
the second season of Asateer — Future’s Folktales. This partnership brings
Saudi Arabia’s creative industry together with NEOM, an incubator of creative
capabilities and ground-breaking technologies that embodies the Kingdom’s
Vision 2030. The partnership supports our goal to inspire the future generation
to be part of the development of NEOM and build a bright future for all
humanity.”

Engineer Nadhmi Al Nasr, CEO of NEOM, said: “We are pleased that
NEOM will be the setting of season 2 Asateer — Future Folktales, as
entertainment, media and culture are some of the main sectors we are promoting.
We are committed to fostering and inspiring local and international talent, and
we encourage those in the creative industry around the world to participate in
Manga’s competition which will be held in 2021.”

The partnership comes after the launch of Future Folktales series last January in
partnership with Toei Animation in Japan which introduced Saudi culture to
audiences around the world and celebrated the Arabic language while
connecting children with Arab heritage and values and to future technologies
through creative content.

The series aired across 19 streaming regional and international platforms
including TV channels in Japan, China, Taiwan, Ireland, UK and the United
States, where Japanese animation series are popular, contributing to the
dissemination of the Saudi culture across the world.

As part of the partnership, Manga announced preparations to launch
a competition in 2021 inviting creatives around the world to submit prop
designs to be featured in one of the episodes of “Future’s Folktales”. This
competition will empower local and international talents to unleash their
creative potential and showcase their work to Arab and international audiences.

Engineer Abdulaziz
Al-Naghmoush, Business Development Manager at Manga, commented: “Since its
establishment, Manga has been committed to investing and developing talents to
enrich Saudi Arabia’s creative industry. Our partnership with NEOM supports
this commitment by being the home and future of dreamers and doers, which
places NEOM as one of the best environments for the second season of Asateer —
Future’s Folktales.”