Dubai-headquartered AI video production company Prodigi Connect, which operates production capabilities in India, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Lokanima, the creative venture of Indonesia’s Singhasari Special Economic Zone (SEZ), to develop animated content around Fun Cican, a popular Indonesian children’s entertainment property built on music and characters.
The agreement signals a growing role for Indian AI-production talent in international intellectual-property development—moving beyond traditional outsourcing into creative technology, storytelling, and character-led content creation.
A Cross-Border Creative Partnership
The collaboration combines Prodigi Connect’s AI-native production pipeline and India-based production expertise with Lokanima’s local creative direction, IP relationship, and access to Indonesian animation talent. Fun Cican is an established Indonesian children’s property centred on characters and music. Earlier efforts to adapt it into animation were reportedly halted because conventional production proved too expensive and time-consuming to sustain. Prodigi Connect believes AI-enabled workflows can change that economics. The company has already produced an approximately one-minute animation sequence as an early demonstration of the project’s direction.
AI Changes the Production Math
The partnership aims to address long-standing barriers in animation—high costs, long timelines, and the difficulty of maintaining consistent characters, performance, visual continuity, and synchronised dialogue across scenes and languages. Lijo Ittoop, Founder of Prodigi Connect, said, “Somebody tried to animate this character once and had to stop, because it cost too much and took too long. That maths has changed. ” He added that AI is not replacing creative decision-making, but removing the cost barrier that previously made those decisions unviable, “AI has not replaced the creative decisions. It has removed the reason those decisions were unaffordable.” The model is designed to keep Indonesian creative teams at the centre of the project, pairing local cultural understanding with technology-led production expertise.
What Each Side Brings?
Under the MoU, Prodigi Connect will contribute its AI-native production pipeline, workflow methodology, quality standards, and India-based production capability. Lokanima will bring the Fun Cican intellectual-property relationship, local creative direction, and access to Indonesian production talent. While brand and campaign production remains Prodigi Connect’s core business, the Lokanima partnership marks its expansion into international character-based IP development.
Part of a Larger India–Indonesia Creative Corridor
The MoU was signed during a bilateral India–Indonesia creative economy launch in Jakarta. The event was opened by Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, with remarks from Creative Economy Minister Teuku Riefky Harsya. India was represented by Bijay Selvaraj, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Indian Embassy.
The wider Indonesia–India Creative-Tech Corridor initiative at Singhasari SEZ covers AI applications, IP creation, creative technology, and international distribution of audiovisual content. Other partners in the broader ecosystem include Fun Cican creator Wahyu Aditya, LPP TVRI, Cinépolis Indonesia, Xelta, Galleri5 India, and Collective Studios.
Why It Matters for Indian Startups?
For India’s startup and creative-technology ecosystem, the deal highlights an emerging opportunity: Indian companies can now participate in global entertainment projects not merely as production vendors, but as technology and creative partners. The Fun Cican project will test whether AI-native production can make established regional IPs commercially viable for animation—potentially opening a pathway for Indian studios to help bring local stories from Indonesia, and other markets, to global audiences. With the first Fun Cican sequence already produced, Prodigi Connect and Lokanima have taken the first step toward proving that AI-powered production and local creative participation can revive intellectual properties that conventional animation economics once left on the shelf.
By: Sejal Thakur
