ABU DHABI // Film and television producers in the Emirates are hoping to cash in on the growth of internet TV following this month’s introduction of Netflix to the UAE.
Netflix vice president for communications Joris Evers said that the US streaming service had teamed up with UAE-based producers to create exclusive content. In the final quarter of last year, Mr Evers said viewers watched 12 billion hours of Netflix, an increase of 45 per cent over the same period in 2014.
After witnessing similar windfalls for production houses in Europe and the United States, chief executive Michael Garin of Image Nation expected similar growth in the UAE.
“The vast majority of content investment is spent during Ramadan, and this creates the opportunity for a long-term series during the other 11 months of the year, which broadcasters have basically abandoned.”
In the US, Mr Garin said, internet TV was allowed to fill a gap left by major networks, whose season runs from the autumn to late spring.
“They basically paid for nine months of programming and they spread it out over 12 months,” he said.
“Here, that hasn’t been an issue because viewers haven’t had any options until now. This will begin to change the landscape in very significant ways that are very healthy for broadcasters too,” he said.
Mr Garin would not comment on any deals with Netflix, but left the door open to collaboration.
“We are one of the leading content creators in the entire Arab region,” he said.
“Who else are they likely to come to as content partners early in the conversation?”
Mr Evers said Netflix would be making announcements on the matter this year.
“We had some people at Dubai International Film Festival looking to find great stories, so we’ve done some business,” he said. “Stay tuned.”
In looking for potential partners, he said, the company was looking to create and licence content for a global audience.
“If we can find great programming, great stories, great storytellers in this region, then we would love to have their works on Netflix and bring them to a global audience where we can find people that will love what they’ve created.”
In addition to the unannounced projects, Netflix has a stake in the upcoming Brad Pitt film War Machine, recently shot in Abu Dhabi.
Operating with a different strategy, Dubai-based icflix is aiming to produce content in-house for a distinctly regional audience.
“Mena is a vast region with vast cultural, linguistic, and social differences,” said chief executive Carlos Tibi. “What applies in the UAE might not necessarily apply somewhere in Egypt, Nigeria or Lebanon.”
This year, Mr Tibi said, icflix was aiming to release 12 original films and six exclusive TV products.
For its in-house content, he said, the company has been working with local screenwriters and has an continuing relationship with entertainment hub TwoFour54.
With fewer titles emerging from Egypt and Syria – which he said produced more content before unrest began affecting their local industries – he said there were more opportunities for producing Arabic content.
“There is a lack of local content availability from the known production houses and that is what we are capitalising on, to take that and start producing our own because we see growth with it.”
esamoglou@thenational.ae
