Middle East Distributor Front Row Hires Former Disney Exec, Expands Into...
Dubai-based Middle East distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment is expanding into production to capitalize on the potential of the nascent Saudi market and has hired former Disney exec Nicolas...
View ArticleFormer 03 Chief Fadi Ismail Launches Shingle With Eye on Saudi Arabia...
Dubai-based Middle East producer Fadi Ismail, the former general manager of Saudi-controlled broadcaster MBC’s 03 Productions arm, is launching his own company with a slate largely made up of TV...
View ArticleAsian Streamer iflix Abruptly Exits Middle East
Asia-based streamer iflix is pulling out of the Middle East after entering the region with some fanfare two years ago in a partnership with Kuwait-based mobile and data services operator Zain....
View ArticleArab Genre Films Get Boost From Beirut’s Maskoon Lab (EXCLUSIVE)
Just as Netflix tries to gain traction in the Middle East by backing local genre series, such as its first Arab original, “Jinn,” from Jordan, and Egypt’s upcoming “Paranormal,” Beirut’s Maskoon...
View ArticleMBC Studios to Launch Arabic TV Series ‘Blood Oath,’ Written by Britain’s...
MBC Studios, the Saudi-owned production unit of top Middle Eastern free-to-air satellite network MBC Group is set to launch “Blood Oath,” an Arabic crime series written by Britain’s Tony Jordan...
View ArticleU.S. Exec Michael Garin Appointed CEO of UAE Media Hub Twofour54
Veteran U.S. film and TV executive Michael Garin has been appointed CEO of Abu Dhabi’s twofour54, the outfit that provides infrastructure and incentives to more than 500 entertainment companies and...
View ArticleCoronavirus Shutters Cinemas in India, Poland & Lebanon as WHO Declares Pandemic
India, Poland and some territories in the Middle East are the latest areas where movie theaters are rapidly being shuttered as the World Health Organization on Wednesday declared a global coronavirus...
View ArticleCinemas and Theme Parks Shut Across Most of Middle East Due to Coronavirus
Due to coronavirus concerns movie theaters have been shuttered across most of the Middle East where the United Arab Emirates, which is the region’s top market, on Saturday also announced closure of...
View ArticleMovie Theaters, Indoor Entertainment Facilities Reopening in Dubai
Movie theaters and other entertainment facilities are set to reopen in Dubai on Wednesday, as the United Arab Emirates begins to lift coronavirus lockdown restrictions. Vox Cinemas, the top exhibition...
View ArticleVOX Cinemas Chief on ‘Tenet,’‘Mulan’& Driving Audiences Back to Middle East...
Middle East exhibitor VOX Cinemas has reopened around 71%, or 391, of its 550 screens amid the coronavirus crisis. “Tenet,” which bowed on Aug. 26 in the region, is currently playing on 209 of those...
View ArticleNetflix Reaches Out to Lebanon With Relief Fund and Local Films Package
Netflix, as it ramps up Middle East operations, has announced two initiatives to reach out to Lebanon’s film and TV community: an emergency fund providing grants to below-the-line crew facing economic...
View ArticleNetflix Inks Multi-Picture Deal With Saudi Arabia’s Telfaz11 Studios
As it begins to ramps up production in the Middle East Netflix has announced a partnership with Saudi Arabian digital media studio Telfaz11 to produce eight new feature films. The deal segues from the...
View ArticleMore Than 125 Entertainment Professionals Sign Open Letter Urging Peace in...
As tensions continue to flare in the Middle East, Creative Community for Peace, an apolitical, non-profit entertainment industry organization, has come together to issue a collective call for “peace,...
View ArticleFront Row to Release Potentially Explosive doc ‘ENOUGH! Lebanon’s Darkest...
Prominent Middle East distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment has acquired all Middle East and North Africa distribution rights for potentially explosive documentary “ENOUGH! Lebanon’s Darkest...
View ArticleMiddle East Distributor Italia Film Reaches Two Million Admissions in Saudi...
Italia Film, the prominent Middle East film distributor with close Hollywood ties, has reached more than two million admissions this year to date in Saudi Arabia, which it says marks a milestone. The...
View ArticleCould ‘Eternals’ Move the Needle in the Middle East By Putting an Openly Gay...
When “Eternals,” the first movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe featuring a gay superhero, rolls out in the Arab world on Thursday, the Disney-distributed blockbuster will, unsurprisingly, skip...
View Article‘Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce’ Set for Groundbreaking Arabic-Language...
NBCUniversal Formats has partnered with Dubai and Cairo-based production company S Productions on the first international adaptation of comedy drama series “Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce,” which will...
View ArticleBader Al Shuaibi, Bashar al-Shatti Signed as Sony Music Middle East and...
Sony Music Entertainment Middle East and Kuwait-based music studio and video production company Ghmza have forged a partnership to produce music and promote emerging pop artists from the Gulf...
View ArticleMiddle East Box Office Is Recovering Faster Than Other Global Regions Largely...
Theatrical box office returns in the Middle East are recovering faster than most other regions in the world largely thanks to Saudi Arabia’s box office growth and proliferation of screens. That is the...
View ArticleCNN Debuts High-Tech Middle East Hub in Abu Dhabi
CNN on Monday went live from a new state-of-the-art broadcasting facility in Abu Dhabi being touted as a new chapter in the network’s commitment to the Middle East. The new high-tech CNN bureau, with...
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