Next Media to animate the US market

Next Media's at times controversial animation news service has opened a sales office in the US as it eyes opportunities outside its core markets of Hong Kong and Taiwan.The expansion comes as Next Media Animation offers its quirky and sometimes bizarre interpretations of news events for an English audience. As part of the move Next has formed an international editorial team to offer its animation services to external clients in Hong Kong and worldwide.Its website now offers dual language services via a host, Li Anne, who's animated video details her strange attempts to gain employment before arriving at Next Media. NMA has also introduced a newsletter service and amassed some 22,000 fans on Facebook.News of the US expansion was announced with Next Media's annual results, where its Internet Division reported a segmental loss of close to HK$50 million in the past year, down from a loss of HK$73.4 million in the previous year.Next said the loss will be mitigated in the coming months, when Apple Daily, Taiwan Apple Daily and Next Media Webcast begin to pay commercial rates for the animated work the Internet Division does on its behalf.If you missed NMA's doomsday animation video, complete with bong smoking aliens, it's a classic.