The Rise of Oko Lele

Charlie Chan, Managing Director, Metal Brain Studio

01-Jul-25 10:00

Pause
Embed

Large-scale productions used to dominate the animation industry, but a new wave of creators is proving otherwise.

We speak with Charlie Chan, Managing Director of Metal Brain Studio, about how Malaysian-made Oko Lele became a worldwide sensation on YouTube, amassing 3.6 million subscribers and over 4 billion views. From monetising content like an independent creator to licensing IP and launching merchandise, we explore the unique path of growing a slapstick series into a scalable business, and what it would take to build Southeast Asia’s next global franchise.

Produced by: Richard Bradbury, Kishan Sivaswamy

Presented by: Richard Bradbury

This and more than 60,000 other podcasts in your hand. Download the all new BFM mobile app.

Categories: Corporates, film, SME

Tags: animation, talent, youtube, funding, grants,

Today’s Shows

6:00 AM

The 6AM Stretch

Thought-provoking discussions on ideas, people and events shaping our lives.

7:00 AM

World Market Watch

Carlos Casanova, Senior Economist, UBP tells us where international markets are heading.

7:15 AM

Morning Brief

We recap global and local headlines from today's papers and portals.

7:30 AM

Morning Brief

Sarah Jane Mahmud, Senior Industry Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, on Singapore banks’ 2025 results and the outlook for 2026.

7:45 AM

Morning Brief

Pushpan Murugiah, CEO of Centre to Combat Corruption & Cronyism (C4), discusses governance and accountability concerning public funds, complaints and anti-corruption.

8:00 AM

The Breakfast Grille

Leo Varadkar, Former Prime Minister (Taoiseach) of Ireland, weighs in on how to best navigate today's geopolitical order.

8:30 AM

Morning Brief

Journalist Erin Cook examines Myanmar’s final election stage and its fairness amid banned parties and ongoing conflict.

8:45 AM

Morning Brief

(REPEAT) Sarah Jane Mahmud, Senior Industry Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, on Singapore banks’ 2025 results and the outlook for 2026.

9:00 AM

Opening Bell

(REPEAT) Carlos Casanova, Senior Economist, UBP tells us where international markets are heading.

9:15 AM

Opening Bell

(REPEAT) We take a look at the FBM KLCI as well as regional capital markets.

9:35 AM

The Property Show

Jimmy Chiam of CCN Consulting and Kyle E of POW Ideas discuss what drives success and failure in retail.

10:05 AM

Open For Business

1.9 Million Vacant Houses: Can Urby’s Upcycling Make Them Liveable Again? Cha-Ly Koh and Stirling Yiin from Urby discuss turning "neglected houses into modern homes" through their fractional ownership and upcycling model. Can upcycling existing assets fix a market that building more hasn't?

11:00 AM

The Workplace

Lalit Jagtiani, Lalit Jagtiani, Author, Transformation Specialist, and Senior Facilitator at Harvard Business Publishing

12:00 PM

Enterprise Explores

Weihan Chen, Head of Insights, Momentum Works

1:00 PM

The Breakfast Grille Repeat

Leo Varadkar, Former Prime Minister (Taoiseach) of Ireland, weighs in on how to best navigate today's geopolitical order.

2:05 PM

Discovery Hour

An eclectic selection of BBC shows, curated with variety in mind.

3:05 PM

Earth Matters

Reef Check Malaysia’s 2025 annual survey paints a worrying picture of the state of our reefs. CEO Julian Hyde joins us to unpack the latest results.

4:05 PM

Health & Living

Walk 10,000 steps a day. Take a 5-minute break and walk around the office. We’re often told to take small steps to improve our health but is walking enough exercise? Tune in to find out.

5:00 PM

Top 5 at 5

A countdown of the 5 biggest stories of the day, to catch you up on all you need to know!

6:00 PM

Big Issue

7:00 PM

Stories of KL

Bukit Kiara and the People Who Protect It

8:00 PM

Cruise Control

Daniel Fernandez, Managing Editor, dsf.my

PROGRAMMES