BroadcastPro ME / March 2020 by CPI Trade Media

ISSUE 117 | MARCH 2020

THE BIGGER PICTURE The UAE's drone masters drive storytelling with bird's-eye view perspectives

Licensed by Dubai Development Authority

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PROINTRO

GROUP Managing Director Raz Islam raz.islam@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0) 4 375 5471 Managing Partner Vijaya Cherian vijaya.cherian@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0) 4 375 5472 EDITORIAL Editor Vijaya Cherian

Welcome

vijaya.cherian@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0) 55 105 3787 Assistant Editor Shifa Naseer shifa.naseer@cpitrademedia.com +971 (4) 375 5478 Contributing Editor Paul Godfrey Sub Editor Aelred Doyle ADVERTISING Group Sales Director Sandip Virk sandip.virk@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0) 50 929 1845 +44 (0) 773 444 2526 DESIGN Art Director Simon Cobon Designer Percival Manalaysay MARKETING Marketing Assistant Aysha Sultan aysha.sultan@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0)4 375 5498 CIRCULATION & PRODUCTION Production Manager Vipin V. Vijay vipin.vijay@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0)4 375 5713 Distribution Manager Phinson Mathew George phinson.george@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0)4 375 5476 DIGITAL SERVICES Abdul Baeis Sadiq Siddiqui FOUNDER

Just prior to going to press last month, I had the opportunity to speak with three people in the content business in the UAE who have in recent months all been granted six-figure dollar sums to produce original content for different markets. These are not heavyweight production houses or consultancies with a lot of marketing muscle or capital. They are mediumsized outfits run by people who have spent years in the industry and now have the connections, the know-how and the ability not just to commission great productions, but to go further with licensing and distribution deals across different markets. After hearing for years that this market doesn’t fund good content, this news is of course testimony to the good times that lie ahead for the content market. There’s no doubt that the media industry is going through tumultuous change, but good content continues to be sought-after by both media houses and viewers alike. So if companies must innovate, create new business models and collaborate to get that great content on board, then so be it. A case in point is StarzPlay, which in recent months has been aggressively announcing content partnerships and licensing deals. I was especially

impressed with the strategy the streaming service adopted to tout a first-class international production as its first Original in the MENA region. It certainly doesn’t have the billions that Netflix invests in productions, but it did have the good sense to collaborate on a Hollywood-calibre production with several big names behind it in terms of skilled writers, producers and cinematographers. More importantly, the scene was set in an Arab country. In short, the production had all the ingredients of a success story – and I bet it was. I have a soft spot for any small- or medium-sized homegrown business that dares to take on global powers with plain strategy and business acumen. There are some other exciting content deals in the market, but I have been sworn to secrecy for now. The mantra for success is primarily good content – but what can really sweeten that whole value chain is great connections and the ability to sign licensing and distribution deals across different markets. You’ll see a lot of that combined action at the Red Sea Film Festival in Saudi Arabia this month.

Vijaya Cherian, Editorial Director

Dominic De Sousa (1959-2015) Published by ISSUE 117 | MARCH 2020

The publisher of this magazine has made every effort to ensure the content is accurate on the date of publication. The opinions and views expressed in the articles do not necessarily reflect the publisher and editor. The published material, adverts, editorials and all other content are published in good faith. No part of this publication or any part

THE BIGGER PICTURE The UAE's drone masters drive storytelling with bird's-eye view perspectives

Licensed by Dubai Development Authority

On this month's cover…

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From left: Rashad Al Safar, SkyVision CEO and Shafi Saidu, Head of Drone Operations at Epic Drone.

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PROCONTENTS

March 2020 Inside this issue

MBC ANNOUNCES KSA HQ

Light up your content

05 NEWS Newly acquired Grass Valley to have independent booth at NAB; Weyyak and WATCH iT reveal first Ramadan Originals; OSN launches food channel; MBC announces HQ in KSA; Red Sea Film Fest details; ADM launches new programmes; new appointments; and more

16 TAKING TO THE SKIES WITH DRONES Drone experts talk about how the little flying machines have revolutionised filmmaking

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24 TO BAGHDAD, WITH LOVE A behind-the-scenes look at the making of Baghdad Central with Executive Producer Kate Harwood

30 KEEPING IT SHORT

Filmmaker Faisal Hashmi discusses his latest short film Amber

ON SET WITH AMBER

36 DRIVING AR WITH 5G A look at how market players can harness AR with 5G for sports broadcast

40 CABSAT 2020 PREVIEW

A sneak peek into what to expect at CABSAT 2020 with Thomas Löffler; and new launches at the show

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48 OPINION Jacques-Edouard Guillemot talks about why the pay TV data revolution must be born in the executive boardroom

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PRONEWS

Abu Dhabi production house opts for GB Labs' FastNAS intelligent storage Abu Dhabi media production house M for Media has chosen GB Labs’ FastNAS shared storage system to manage its media assets. GB Labs' FastNAS F-16 Nitro system, installed by local distributor MediaCast, can be accessed by up to 10 users of Avid Media Composer, simultaneously if required. GB Labs recently introduced even more acceleration for FastNAS storage systems with new 25GbE connectivity. Post Production IT Manager at M for Media, Andre Aouad, said he first heard about GB Labs from the creator of

Andre Aouad says GB Labs addressed the company's storage challenges.

MIMIQ for Avid systems. "He forwarded some information that he thought would interest me. It did, particularly because at the time we had no existing

Nart Bouran appointed CEO of Abu Dhabi firm Nart Bouran, known for heading Sky News Arabia in Abu Dhabi before joining MBN in the US, has returned to Abu Dhabi as CEO of International Media Investment (IMI) Holding, a privatelyowned investment

company. Bouran was the Launch Director of Sky News Arabia in Abu Dhabi and then became CEO and Head of News, where he helped establish the channel as a credible news source. Other roles held by Bouran include Director of Television for Reuters, Director General of the Jordan Radio and TV Corporation, and Director of News Centre for Abu Dhabi TV.

storage and it was rapidly becoming a problem because of the volume of work we were taking in. You can’t keep running back and forth with arms full of hard disks.

It’s unproductive, and it was beginning to show. However, GB Labs soon came up with the ideal solution.” GB Labs CEO-CTO Dominic Harland added: “The engine of the 25GbE-enabled FastNAS is our powerful CORE.4 OS, an ultra-high-performance operating system that serves media files with intelligence layers that deliver high stability and unparalleled quality of service. We are delighted to have been referred to M for Media by acknowledged experts, which is evidence of our growing reputation for excellence.”

Twitter and SNA tie for live Arabic news show Sky News Arabia (SNA) and Twitter have joined forces to launch #OnStream, the first-ever live Arabic news show on Twitter. The five-minute weekly show covering general interest news will air via @SkyNewsArabia. Produced and directed by SNA and hosted by news anchors Carolina Nassar and Chantal Saliba, the show will feature guest experts

and cover trending topics. Relevant tweets will be presented for real-time feedback from viewers who will be invited to join the conversation. Tweet topics will be determined on the day of the shoot as they evolve and will be live streamed and accessible globally to logged-in and loggedout Twitter users. Abdou Gadallah, Deputy Head of

News at SNA said: “#OnStream provides a great opportunity for our viewers to discuss the latest trends from across the globe.” Kinda Ibrahim, Director of Media Partnerships, Twitter MENA added: “We’re excited to partner with Sky News Arabia around a show that’s built for Twitter in terms of content, format and hosts.”

Batelco partners with Vianeos for OTT French multi-screen video platform Vianeos partnered with Bahrain Telecommunications Company (Batelco) last month to launch new OTT services. Under the partnership, the new Batelco TV app, UX design and UI – shaped by Vianeos – will be available on AOSP set-top boxes.

March 2020 | www.broadcastprome.com | 5

PRONEWS

GV to have independent booth at NAB following Black Dragon acquisition Black Dragon Capital, founded by former Avid CEO Louis Hernandez, Jr, has completed an agreement with Belden Inc to acquire Grass Valley. The deal, which will be finalised this quarter, will transfer full control of all Grass Valley assets to Black Dragon, which plans to leverage GV’s intellectual property to lead the industry’s migration to a software-based future. There are no immediate changes planned to Grass Valley’s operational management structure, and Tim Shoulders will continue as President. The deal will see Belden receive $140m up front for the purchase, while a significant portion of the valuation has been deferred and half of that is tied to business performance, Shoulders

told BroadcastPro ME. “We have a very generous transition agreement with Belden. We aim to transition at least 80% of the systems by January 2021 and we have the flexibility to go even longer. Most areas of Grass Valley including the manufacturing, operations, the sales force, and sales engineering and R&D are already pretty well segregated from Belden so the transition should be pretty seamless and end-users should see no difference at all,” he said. Black Dragon CEO Louis Hernandez, Jr said that there is “tremendous opportunity for transformation in the media technology market” and he believes that “Grass Valley is in an ideal situation to lead the market through these changes”. “Black Dragon’s experience

Grass Valley President Tim Shoulders.

leading companies through digital transitions will allow Grass Valley to accelerate its evolution, bringing more innovative products to market faster.” Shoulders added that the fund from Black Dragon is “an evergreen fund that

Weyyak announces first Original for Ramadan Zee Entertainment’s Arabic VOD streaming platform Weyyak has announced its first original content production, Chicago Street, for Ramadan at

a press conference in Syria. Syrian production house Kaband Media has been contracted to undertake the production. Sulaf Fawakherji plays the

Chicago Street is a love story based in Syria.

6 | www.broadcastprome.com | March 2020

protagonist, a freespirited blind woman named Miramar who runs away from her family to follow her dreams. Nadine Samra, Chief Business Officer, Weyyak, said: “We trust Kaband Media to be the right production house for our project. Ramadan is a tough season when broadcasters and VOD players fight for eyeballs. Our content and user experience are crafted to keep our users happy and engaged.”

allows the company to focus on long-term investments”. “We are probably looking at at least half-a-decade and Black Dragon is really focussed on creating value for the business in the long term. Grass Valley has led the market in the transition from SDI to IP and has been diligently pivoting our product lines to cloud-based and SaaS solutions. Black Dragon brings the expertise and vision that will allow us to accelerate this transition to the benefit of our customers who are looking for more robust and flexible models for content production and delivery. We’re excited to bring our customers along with us on this journey.” At NAB, Grass Valley will have an independent booth, where Belden will be allocated space.

Twofour54 appoints Michael Garin CEO Michael Garin, the former CEO of Image Nation Abu Dhabi, has been appointed CEO of twofour54. Before Image Nation, Garin spent four years as a member of the Executive Committee of Abu Dhabi Media Company. His media career began at Time Inc, where he worked for Time, Fortune and Time-Life Television for over a decade.

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MBC signs deal to build new headquarters in Saudi Arabia

From left: MBC Group Chairman Sheikh Waleed Al-Ibrahim and Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan Al Saud.

MBC Group signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia last month to establish its new HQ in Riyadh, as part of the Kingdom's Media City project. The agreement was

signed by Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan Al Saud, Chairman of Riyadh’s Media City project, and MBC Group Chairman Sheikh Waleed. The MoU incorporates

MBC-owned sister news channels Al Hadath and Al Arabiya, which will open new offices in Saudi Arabia. A similar deal will also see Saudi Research and Marketing Group join Saudi Media City in Riyadh’s diplomatic quarter. MBC Group aims to begin conducting business from the new location within five years, the company said in a statement. An agreement was also signed with Jerry Li, founding Partner of eWTP Capital, which is backed by Jack Ma of Alibaba Group.

7.9m radio listeners in UAE in Q4 2019: Nielsen Nielsen’s UAE Radio Audience Measurement revealed that 93% of the total UAE population aged 10 and above tuned into radio every week in Q4 2019, the highest reach levels seen last year. UAE residents and nationals listened to 61.9m hours of radio in this measurement period. The Q4 measurement period extends from October 1 to December 31. The service calculates listenership of 50 radio stations across the country among all persons over ten years old. During Q4 2019, 100% of the population (aged 10+) listened to the radio in an average week in Abu Dhabi, while 90% in Dubai tuned in. The smallest reach

by emirate is in Sharjah, though on average 87% of residents still listen. Comparing key radio listening metrics by nationality, Indians listen the most at eight hours and 35 minutes weekly, followed closely by expat Arabs at eight hours and seven minutes. The highest weekly reach by nationality is by Emiratis, as 100% of the local population tunes in. Expat Arabs are a close second with 99% weekly radio reach. Westerners and Indians showed a significant positive impact on the reach of radio in Q4 2019. The listenership for Emirati and expat Arab nationality groups maintained levels similar

8 | www.broadcastprome.com | March 2020

to those of the previous survey released in Q2 2019. “Once again in Q4 2019, we see the highest levels of radio listening that occur throughout the year,” commented Sarah Messer, Nielsen Director of Media for MENAP. “This marks our third year of Q4 measurement, and we have seen the same trend each time where these three months at the end of the year see the highest listening levels. Q4 is a buoyant time of the year for advertisers, and with the UAE population fully returned from long summer and school vacations, we see significant numbers of people tuning in to their favourite stations for longer.”

Syrian Documentary For Sama wins BAFTA Syrian Documentary For Sama won the Best Documentary award at the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) last month. For Sama is a firstperson account of a 26-year-old female Syrian filmmaker, Waad Al-Kateab. Directed by Al-Kateab and Edward Watts, the film documents her life over five years of the uprising in rebel-held Aleppo. It shows Al-Kateab falling in love, getting married to one of the last practising doctors in the city, giving birth to Sama and saying goodbye to her home, all on camera. The film, which had four nominations at the BAFTAs, was the most nominated documentary in the award's history. “In 2016, three years ago, we were in Aleppo. We were in a basement of a filled hospital, Hamza, me, Sama and Afraa. We even thought, should we bury our footage? Because in case we didn’t make it, this needs to be saved,” Al-Kateab said. She concluded by dedicating the award to her people, “who are still suffering today”.

PRONEWS

First original from WATCH iT

OSN launches food channel

Egypt’s live streaming service WATCH iT will launch its first original production series, Shadid Al Khotoura, starring Ahmed Al Awady and Reem Mostafa, this month. The action/mystery series centres around an investigation into the disappearance of Malek’s wife, which takes place at the same time as an armed robbery in town. Watch iT, which was launched last Ramadan, is a subsidiary of the United Media Group. The stateowned platform has the exclusive digital rights to several Arabic drama series, box-office grossers like The Passage and also, the Egyptian Premier League

OSN Mezze is the network’s first dedicated food channel, launched in celebration of lifestyle channel OSN Living’s second anniversary. The new channel will feature Australian cooking show My Kitchen Rules Australia, Jamie’s Super Food Family Classics, season ten of Martha Bakes, John and Lisa’s Weekend Kitchen, and Sunday Health Spree, among others. Emad Morcos, Chief Content Officer at OSN, said: “We are proud to be launching OSN Mezze. It gives us great pleasure to be showing popular food programmes on the channel, including content from Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver, Martha Stewart and May Yacoubi.”

(EPL) football for the next four years. More importantly, it has the exclusive digital rights to the Egyptian Radio and Television Union (ERTU) and the Egyptian Media Production City (EMPC) libraries. With this deal, WATCH iT has taken responsibility for restoring the content from the libraries thus contributing to the preservation of Arabic

content. The platform also streams Arabic movies in Ultra HD (4K) quality. Moustapha Bekheet, MD of WATCH iT said: “Powered by the latest technology, magnificent library, and limitless talents in all production aspects, WATCH iT aims to lead the SVOD industry in the MENA region in terms of both user base and net profit by 2022 end.”

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PRONEWS

Genomedia accelerates UHD capabilities with Avid

A still from the historic drama series Kingdoms of Fire.

Dubai-based Genomedia revealed last month that the production company deployed an end-to-end Avid post-production workflow with MediaCentral | Editorial Management to accelerate its UHD production capabilities for its first-ever drama series, Kingdoms of Fire. An end-to-end workflow consisting of MediaCentral | Editorial Management interoperating with Media Composer, Pro Tools and three tiers of Avid NEXIS storage gave Genomedia’s on-site editors and off-site producers the ability to boost production output, particularly UHD content. The technology allowed Genomedia to work on the best shots collected from multiple cameras and approve footage simultaneously using just a web browser. With its roots in documentary production, Genomedia needed to streamline the production

process to expand its TV genre capabilities and meet business demand for UHD content. The solution needed to be robust enough to handle the huge amount of data involved. The show – which tells the story of the 16th-century conflict between the Ottoman Empire and the Egyptian Empire – saw a minimum of 6-8TB of raw footage collected every day. Genomedia’s Avid workflow ensured that this footage could be stored, searched and exchanged without a drop in performance. By enabling Genomedia’s editorial teams to collaborate efficiently, multiple editors could easily select and work on the best shots collected from multiple cameras and approve footage simultaneously using just a web browser. With faster turnaround times, review processes are simplified – allowing Genomedia to focus

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more on the creative process. Commenting on the new drama series, Khaled Ben Younes, Head of Post Production at Genomedia, said: “Our previous workflow was encumbered by decentralised production islands and content maintained in numerous storage silos. For a project of this magnitude, we needed a scalable, cost-effective and easy-to-integrate platform that would let our postproduction teams find our assets fast, collaborate seamlessly and create the best story possible under intense time pressures. The usability and performance of Avid’s workflow exceeded all our expectations. This type of post-production environment is still unique in the Middle East, but we’re hugely excited about the opportunities it will unlock in the future.” David Colantuoni, Vice President Product Management at Avid, added: “Transforming Genomedia’s post-production workflow was necessary for this demanding project. With its state-of-the-art Avid infrastructure in place, driven by the intuitive MediaCentral | Editorial Management platform, Genomedia will be able to continue making content to the highest production standards while also setting an example for the region in terms of growth and creativity for many years to come.”

Cinegy heads to Turkey Cinegy GmbH has opened a new office in Istanbul. Cinegy Medya AS will service customers in the region. Cinegy’s customer base in Turkey includes media groups, training institutions and corporate customers. Cinegy MD Daniella Weigner said: “Turkey has always been at the forefront of new technologies, research and practice for us and we’ve helped carry out a number of important projects there. We’re proud to have Murat Küçüksaraç heading up Cinegy Medya AŞ as Chief Operating Officer, who is building an innovative and experienced team.”

Sanjay Raina joins Abu Dhabi Media

Sanjay Raina has joined Abu Dhabi Media Company as Executive Director of its Commercial Department. Raina's remit includes overseeing all commercial operations and ensuring that ADM will optimise its commercial responsibility and proposition in the market.

PRONEWS

PWL lights WEGA Global Games in Doha Painting with Light (PWL) undertook the lighting for the opening ceremony (OC) of the first Qatar eSports WEGA Global Games, held at the Khalifa Stadium in Doha last month. The ceremony will be followed by the WEGA Champions in March 2020 and the QATAR Esports WEGA Global Games and Global Games Great Final in December 2020. PWL’s Creative Director Luc Peumans was part of an all-Belgium technical design and Imagineering team including OC technical director Ludo Vanstreels from Trimex for the project. Peumans’ design was based around seven 16-metrehigh towers, three upstage and four downstage to the sides to provide a sense of depth and a basic structural

At the WEGA Global Games, Khalifa Stadium, Doha.

framework around the 80-metre-wide oval-shaped performance space. These towers also served as useful lighting positions. Upstage had a 1000-plussquare-metre, 12-metrehigh back video wall. The stage surface was mapped for projections and the holographic images were beamed onto massive

Mohammad Rasoulof to feature at Berlin Film Festival with There Is No Evil The 70th Berlin International Film Festival will see Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof’s There is No Evil, co-produced by Kaveh Farnam, CEO of Dubaibased distributor Advanced Media, take part in the main competition. This year’s

International Jury will be headed by prominent British actor Jeremy Irons. The festival will take place between February 20 and March 1 in the German capital, with Irons and his jury judging the festival’s competition line-up.

special holo-scrims. Peumans chose 100 Robe MegaPointes as his main effects lighting fixtures. These were distributed on different levels of all seven towers, as well as along the top edge of the video wall at the back and scattered on the stage deck to work with the combination of VR and cast. In addition, there were

60 Robe Spiider LED wash beams, 36 Cyclops LED washes, 50 Claypaky Mythos and 42 CP Scenius Unicos which helped highlight cast positions from the sides and illuminate specific parts of the projection areas. Claypaky Stormy LED strobes plus beam lights and a variety of other available fixtures all added up to over 500 light sources. Ludo said: “Luc and I have worked together for over 25 years, and this synergy was a huge asset on this project due to the very short notice.” Peumans remarked: “Having all these resources to hand plus everyone’s talent, experience, vision and passion onboard helped enormously in pulling a complex and high profile show together under a lot of pressure.”

Baby Clay announces animated series Lantern Tales for Ramadan this year Media production company Baby Clay has announced a new animated series entitled Lantern Tales, which will be released later this year. The series, slated to air on TV in Ramadan, follows stories rooted in tales of Arabian heritage and wisdom during different eras, in an enticing dramatic context. It will provide an insight into the development of core Arab values such as generosity, sincerity, trust and courage while focussing on the importance of being

Inas Yacoub, founder and Director at Baby Clay.

keen and implementing proper management. Lantern Tales aims to invigorate a sense of Arab identity and the extent of this identity’s influence on Western

cultures. It also hopes to affirm the dignity and morality which Arabs are known for from the days that predate Islam, and after its emergence.

March 2020 | www.broadcastprome.com | 11

PRONEWS

CNCI’s Chiraz Latiri receives Arab Cinema Personality of the Year award

Former General Director of CNCI Chiraz Latiri.

Sennheiser and Bose collaborate Sennheiser and Bose Professional have announced the Bose ES1 Ceiling Audio Solution, an in-ceiling conferencing solution for unified communication platforms. The bundle consists of the Sennheiser TeamConnect Ceiling 2 microphone and three Bose products: the ControlSpace EX-440C conferencing digital signal processor, the EdgeMax EM180 in-ceiling loudspeaker and the PowerSpace

P2600A amplifier. The solution ensures a transparent and reliable experience with no audio devices on the walls or tabletops. “We are proud to deliver a conferencing solution together with Bose Professional that has been designed to provide a perfect conferencing experience,” said Charlie Jones, Global Business Development Manager for Sennheiser’s Business Communication segment.

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The Arab Cinema Center (ACC) selected Chiraz Latiri, former General Director of the Centre National du Cinema et de l’Image (CNCI), to receive the Arab Cinema Personality of the Year award, presented by The Hollywood Reporter. Latiri received her award during a reception held by the ACC at the Berlin International Film Festival 2020 (Berlinale), hosted from

February 20 to March 1. Chiraz Latiri contributed to the Tunisian film industry when she served as General Director at CNCI from 2017 to 2019. She founded the SENTOO programme that focusses on developing Arab and African film projects, and also created the Arab Film Platform, launched as part of the Manarat Mediterranean Film Festival.

Netflix acquires six Saudi short films Netflix has acquired rights to six short films from Saudi Arabian start-up Telfaz11 Studios for a worldwide release on the streaming platform. The collection of films was made available to watch in 190 countries from February 27. The shorts are compiled under the title Six Windows in the Desert and look into several social issues from Saudi directors’ points of view. The films include 27th of Shaban, Wasati, Is Sumyati Going to Hell?, Predicament in Sight, The Rat and Curtain. The movies shine a light on topics that are universal in nature. Telfaz11

A still from Predicament in Sight.

has offices in Saudi Arabia and the UAE specialising in locally-relevant entertainment content from the Middle East. Commenting on the acquisition, Nuha ElTayeb, Director of Content Acquisition at Netflix, said: “It is our strong belief that a great story can come from anywhere and be loved everywhere. With the vast number of local talents and

creators all over the world, the potential for diverse and interesting stories is endless.” Alaa Fadan, Chief Executive Officer at Telfaz11 Studios, remarked: “It gives us immense pride to have six of our short films brought onto Netflix. We are excited to bring the work of local Saudi talents to 167m subscribers around the world.”

THE FILM & BROADCASTING POWER HOUSE AT THE FOREFRONT OF BROADCAST INNOVATION FOR THE MENA REGION

PRONEWS

Red Sea International Film Festival reveals details, partners with MBC The first Red Sea International Film Festival will take place from March 12-21 at the UNESCO World Heritage Site in Jeddah. The festival will shed light on local talent as well as bring a diverse selection of films to Saudi Arabia. A new partnership with MBC Group will also see the festival’s opening ceremony broadcast on MBC TV on March 12. MBC will also support a Shorts Pitch Competition, where ten short film projects will be selected from KSA and the MENA, with filmmakers being given a one-day workshop to prepare for a pitching session. Italian director and producer Stefano Tealdi will train the candidates to strengthen their skills and give them tips for better pitches before they present them at the Red Sea Souk. Upon conclusion of the competition, MBC will award up to four projects. The festival will open with the premiere of Saudi feature film Shams al-Maaref from the Godus brothers. Directed by Faris Godus, and produced by and starring his brother Suhaib, the film captures the spirit of a generation whose lives were transformed by the internet. The Red Sea Film Festival Foundation supported the film through a $500,000 production grant via the Tamheed Fund. The festival selection will include 16 films incompetition, seven outof-competition titles, 15 Retrospectives and Classic

A total of 107 features and short films will be screened at the festival.

works, three Generation titles, five Immersive/VR experiences, 11 pictures in New Saudi/New Cinema, 13 titles in the shorts competition, 23 Best of the Year films and 17 Tajreeb titles – a collection of experimental films. Countries participating in this year’s competition include Angola, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Colombia, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Kosovo, Lebanon, Mongolia, Nigeria, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Spain and the US. There will also be a master class series called Transmissions, which will be led by Arab and international cinema icons such as Spike Lee, William Friedkin, Abel Ferrara, Khairy Beshara and Yousry Nasrallah. A New Saudi/New Cinema programme will introduce new filmmakers and artists. The selection showcases the new voices shaping the Saudi cinema scene. In addition, there will be a Untitled Omnibus Feature anthology, directed by five female Arabic filmmakers. The Immersive Cinema

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programme featuring sitespecific installations on the Red Sea will include holographic experiences and two-channel experiments. A special master class on virtual reality and immersive art, On Site, On Mind, will be led by Vishal Dar, Joan Ross, Nic Koller and Weston Rio Morgan. The festival will also host a special screening on March 13 of Spike Lee’s Malcolm X, which has scenes shot in Mecca. Apart from this, one of Youssef Chahine’s iconic films, The Choice, has been restored by the Red Sea Film Foundation. This will also be screened at the festival. Besides the screenings, a series of industry panels titled Perspectives will bring together filmmakers for discussions on the animation industry, the Saudi independent film scene and Arab international cinema, exploring European/Saudi co-productions and the future of Arab film production. Cash grants totalling $250,000 will be awarded for winning films in various

competition categories. The Golden Yusr Trophy for Best Feature carries a $100,000 cash prize and the Silver Yusr Trophy for Best Director comes with a $50,000 award. Silver Yusr Trophies will be awarded for Best Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Cinematic Contribution. A prize of $50,000 will go to the winner of the Audience Award. An additional Golden Yusr Trophy will be presented to the Best Short Film, which also brings a $50,000 investment for a future project plus a fivemonth creative residency in Jeddah’s Old Town. American three-time Academy Award-winner Oliver Stone will head the jury overseeing the festival competition. Commenting on the selection of films at the festival, Festival Director Mahmoud Sabbagh said: “We have a strong desire to push diversity, particularly in women’s position in public spaces, and for a more open society. The films present a strong look at what makes society function and the relationship between the individual to patriarchy and hegemony. We worked hard to ensure that the films being presented showcase Saudi Arabia’s emerging film industry and encourage a more open cultural exchange. This isn’t just about exporting our stories; we are bringing different perspectives, new conversations into Saudi Arabia too.”

PRONEWS

Abu Dhabi Media launches 60 new programmes across platforms Abu Dhabi Media (ADM) has unveiled a range of new programmes and shows across its platforms, as part of its strategy to focus on audience-centric content and user-friendly digital distribution. The stateowned media network has also relaunched three of its applications: ADTV, AD Sports and AD Radio. The strategy is based on the results of a series of qualitative and quantitative research and field studies conducted by Abu Dhabi Media, including all segments of society in the

Calrec appoints new Middle East business head Graham Murray has been appointed Business Development Manager for the Middle East at Calrec. He will further develop Calrec’s business in this territory. Murray has more than 30 years of sales experience in broadcast, studio and post-production industries in the UK and globally. He previously worked for Calrec in APAC, managing the sales efforts in the region and then went on to work for Studer, with a focus on MEA.

UAE and the Arab world. On this occasion, Sultan Bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of State and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Abu Dhabi Media, said: "The new strategy revolves around an ambitious vision to develop all Abu Dhabi Media platforms, with a primary focus on responding to the aspirations of our leadership and the public in the production of content. Renewing the company's brands aims to keep pace with the constant change in the global media landscape, enhance its digital platforms

and content offering and ensure that it is equipped to cater to the company’s pan-Arab audience.” As part of this transformation, Abu Dhabi Media has updated the websites of all its channels, launched corresponding digital platforms and Apple TV-enabled applications that incorporate the latest technologies; offering live broadcasts and catch-ups, as well as the integration of iOS and Android-enabled "Alexa" and "Press Reader". The Abu Dhabi TV Channels Network, that

includes ADTV, Emirates TV and AD Drama, and the AD Sports Channel have updated all of its websites; and launched the "ADTV" App and the AD Sports App, respectively; available through the platforms Android TV, Apple TV, Apple Store and Google Play. AD Radio has also relaunched its app and begun a transformation towards full digital services; starting with Emirates Radio and Star FM. Both are now available on Alexa and streams live shows through the Emirates Radio and Star FM.

Cedars Art collaborates with Disney Cedars Art Production (Sabbah Brothers) has collaborated with Disney for an Arabic adaptation of the ABC American TV series The Golden Girls. The original US series aired a total of seven seasons and 177 episodes. The Arabic version will be directed by Egyptian director Wael Ehsan, from a screenplay by Amin Gamal. Called Nissa’ Menn Thahab, it will offer Arabic viewers a first on-screen encounter of Egyptian movie icons Nadia AlGendy and Nabila Obaid. Season one will have 30 guest stars in 30 episodes.

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The world of filmmaking has undergone dramatic change thanks to the evolution of the drone. With a camera on top, these little flying machines have extended the horizon for filmmakers and cinematographers. Dubai-based drone experts Rashad Al Safar of SkyVision, Epic Droneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Shafi Saidu and Egyptian filmmaker Amr Ghandour speak to Shifa Naseer about the rising influence of drones on the region's film scene

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PROCOVER

A DJI M600 Pro drone mounted with the ZCAM is one of the go-to drones in the market today.

Breaking through the clouds and zooming in to landscapes, gliding over a lake, chasing fast cars, narrowing down focus to one subject ... a straight-down view of the Earth below like never before, with nothing but a flying device and a camera perched on top. That’s what drones offer to the world of filmmaking. Scenes of a film or TV show are shot from the characters’ point of view (POV), which leaves the rest to a viewer's imagination. What if that limit can be removed by expanding the viewer’s line of sight? This is precisely the lure of drone filmmaking. But let me take you back a bit. If you were impressed with the opening motorbike chase in the James Bond film Skyfall or the pool party on Long Island in Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street, that’s because they were both shot using a drone. In the last decade, drones have inspired cinematographers to create a whole new world perspective at potentially a fraction of the cost – one that could not have been possible with aerial filming. Drones have been used in most big-budget films in recent years, including Captain America, Transformers: Age of Extinction and instalments of the Harry Potter and Mission: Impossible franchises. Mounted with a camera and properly piloted, drones offer degrees of freedom (including a first-person view) that no other camera device can – camera cranes, Steadicams and camera tracks all have specific physical constraints. “Drones and filmmaking go hand in hand nowadays,” says Rashad Al Safar, a drone enthusiast and CEO of Dubai-based SkyVision. “Every establishing shot is filmed using a drone, where you see the location before you get a close-up so that the audience feels that they are part of the narrative. It sucks them into the story. Drones are useful in creating that effect.” Today, filmmakers rely more and more on such devices to compose shots that would otherwise be impossible or prohibitive to produce. SkyVision is known for producing aerial videography and photography content in this market. Al Safar says his passion for filmmaking led him to found SkyVision around five years ago. “In 2014, drones were not so common as the technology was just starting. My brother and I worked on a film together back then and had to build our own drone to shoot certain scenes,” he says, adding that his love for drones stems from their ability to create unique perspectives.

“I prefer creative cinematics, especially car shoots. I love tracking cars at close range with a drone flying over them. Earlier, helicopters were required to shoot such angles, but now drones have rendered them obsolete because they are so cost-effective.” The Los Angeles Times reports that it costs as little as $5,000 a day to operate a filming drone, as opposed to $25,000 for a helicopter. “Drones have almost eliminated the need for helicopter shoots for filmmaking, owing to their flexibility and affordability. You cannot fly a helicopter through two buildings, but you can do that with a drone. There are so many instances when you require an aerial shot. In such cases, when we want a single uncut shot, somebody grabs the drone as it’s coming down, carries it through into the house, for instance, or follows the subject. That’s when drones get creative,” says Al Safar. Aerial perspective – the bird’s eye view – is always a “wow factor” when it comes to a visual experience, according to Shafi Saidu, Head of Drone Operations at Epic Drone. “While aerial shots ensure audience appreciation, helicopters are huge, expensive and cannot offer the angles that drones can.” Based in Dubai, Epic Drone’s clients include Dubai Tourism, Abu Dhabi Tourism, DEWA and Emaar. The company also has drone operations in India and Georgia, mostly for feature films. “Initially, we started using small drones which can carry the GoPro with a modified lens system. There were no heavy lifter drones readily available back then, so we ended up building drones with engineers to fly professional cameras for unique shots. But now easy-to-operate drones are readily available, which has contributed to their popularity among filmmakers,” reveals Saidu. Drone sales are expected to top $12bn in 2021, according to BI Intelligence. A big chunk of that figure is predicted to come from the sale of drones used for filmmaking, recording, photography and gaming by everyday tech-savvy enthusiasts. In the UAE alone, around 300 to 500 consumer drones are sold monthly for aerial imaging including photography and videography, according to Pejman Ghorbani, Senior Product Manager at Dubai-based distributor Advanced Media. “For high-end filmmaking, I can say the number stands between 10 to 20 per month.” What can be done with drones is limited only

March 2020 | www.broadcastprome.com | 17

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The plan and selection of the drone category for shooting is based on the filming requirement and budget, says Saidu.

by one's imagination. The technology is relatively new, but even in the initial stage, drones provided better shots than ground cameras. One remarkable technology incorporated within drones is the gimbal. This pivoted supporting device allows the mounted camera to tilt while in flight, creating unique perspectives. It compensates for unwanted movements such as vibration, wind and other factors that could potentially make a camera unstable. “This technology has come around the same time as drones, which is lucky for us. Now, it’s all about the gimbal. You can get smooth shots as if someone is holding the camera. You can do shots that previously required big truck tracks. That is kind of a breakthrough,” says Al Safar, adding that “the camera and drone technologies have improved so dramatically” that the team “can now prop ARRI Alexis, RED Epics or other huge cameras with huge lenses on these drones as well”. Amr Ghandour, an Egyptian filmmaker based in Dubai, concurs on the potential of the gimbal: “It is because of the gimbal and the endless possibilities that drones offer in cinematography that the technology is emerging as an absolute favourite with filmmakers.” Ghandour has worked on several films for corporate companies, using the innovative aspects of drones to bring new perspectives to his most recent films. One of the films on which he worked, Crime For Love, is scheduled to be released in the UAE soon. “I have been using drones since 2016,” he explains. “The idea to use drones for filmmaking came to me when I was planning to update my equipment and wanted to try something new for my work. Drones are not new in cinema – over time, their technology has evolved. Now drones allow for different shots of the actors and the scenes up

“Drones are now replacing the high-jib crane for aerial perspectives. It’s not a trend anymore; it’s essential” Shafi Saidu, Head of Drone Operations, Epic Drone close, from various perspectives.” Filmmakers use drones for a variety of shots, including close-ups that track out to film the entire scene without a cut. “It has led to an improved cinematic experience where a shot spans out like a full narrative. The

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fact that we can achieve that now has increased the scope for young filmmakers to experiment with their work,” Ghandour adds. With the endless possibilities that drones afford, Saidu notes that “DoPs and film directors increasingly began considering an aerial perspective for their films … Drones are now replacing the high-jib crane. It’s not a trend anymore; it’s essential.” Depending on the nature of the production, a filmmaker can easily find a drone that suits their budget and needs. “We usually

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The Epic Drone team sets up the DJI M600 Pro drone with a camera for filming in the desert in Dubai.

provide drone services for regional film production companies. Once the production house approaches us with specific requirements, we then chart out a plan and select our drone category based on the filming requirement and the budget,” says Saidu. There is no shortage of drones on the market: some are small and cheap, while others are advanced but expensive. According to Advanced Media’s Ghorbani, the DJI Inspire 2 with DJI X7 camera (35mm, 6K, exchangeable lens) is the most popular drone

among resident filmmakers. “For projects that require a heavy lifter drone to support a RED Digital camera or the ARRI Alexa Mini, the DJI Matrice 600 Pro or the Freefly ALTA along with a DJI Ronin MX or the Freefly MoVI Pro Gimbal are used,” explains Ghorbani. Epic Drone uses DJI Inspire 2, M600Pro and custom-built heavy lifter drones, and Saidu agrees with Ghorbani that the Inspire 2 drone is probably the hot favourite of most filmmakers. SkyVision mainly uses DJI drones, but smaller drones like the Phantom and the Inspire 2 with X7 camera are an essential part of the kit. “Sometimes we

do indoor shoots with the DJI Inspire 2 drone. We’ve done shoots indoors for the Ferrari World theme park. Such shoots require smaller drones, so we use something like a Phantom or a Mavic,” remarks Al Safar. However, mastering these devices to create the desired sequences in potentially changing environments requires a significant amount of time and practice. One cannot just buy a drone and start filming, especially in the UAE, given the strict safety regulations set by the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA). “You need a licensed company to

March 2020 | www.broadcastprome.com | 19

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Drones have given scope for young filmmakers to experiment with their work, says Ghandour.

“It is because of the gimbal and the endless possibilities that drones offer in cinematography that the technology is emerging as a favourite with filmmakers” Amr Ghandour, filmmaker do aerial cinematography. Unless you have a licence, you cannot charge for your services,” says Al Safar, who secured his licence from the SANAD Academy in the UAE. The academy tests trainees on high-wind manoeuvrability, drone stabilising, landing on points and making loops. “Once you go through rigorous training and are certified by SANAD, you can go in three directions: You could either be a hobbyist, a professional or use the skill set commercially, which means you’re licensed to provide full commercial operations with the drone,” Al Safar explains. This is not as easy as it looks. There are a number of permissions to acquire before starting filming in the UAE. Al Safar takes us through the process. “You need liability insurance. There is an elaborate application process as well. First, we apply to the Dubai TV and Film Commission for every shoot. From there, the application will go over to the Ministry of Defence. Once the ministry approves it, it is then passed on to the DCAA. Here, they approve the height that you’re flying, what drone you’re using; you will be fitted with a tracker to monitor the height and location.” All these steps are in place for safety as, at the end of the day, people need to be responsible, notes Ghandour. “Flying a drone

Local distributor Advanced Media organised a workshop in collaboration with DJI for Mavic Mini and RoboMaster S1 drones at Warehouse Four, Al Quoz, Dubai last month. More than 80 drone enthusiasts from the GCC attended the workshop, which often familiarises attendees with new features and products while also updating them on regional rules and regulations with regards to drone usage.

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SkyVision CEO Rashad Al Safar manoeuvres the DJI Inspire 2 drone, which is fitted with an X7 camera.

is easy. But one must have quick control skills and safety measures in place before manoeuvring a drone. If one is not careful, a drone can be dangerous, both to the people nearby as well as to property.” Safety cannot be stressed enough, seconds Al Safar. “Because of course, if a drone flies into an aeroplane, it’s serious. So, if we’re filming near the Metro station or the Metro line, or any public transport or within proximity to busy roads, we need permission from the RTA as well. There is a lot involved in terms of the procedure

to fly drones commercially, but the UAE is supportive of those going through the legal process,” he says. Epic Drone goes the extra mile to plug all loopholes and ensure the safety of its equipment and pilots. “All our pilots at Epic Drone are commercially certified by DCAA as well as the GCAA. All drones are insured for liability and accident. We have technicians on board to provide support on film sets. We have been maintaining the international standards of safety and conducting preflight checks. We also perform calibration and test flights periodically,” says Saidu.

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While these measures address safety concerns, drone shooting also gives rise to privacy issues in generic outdoor filming. “In the UAE, if you’re focussing on a site or a building, you need a NOC from the building owner. It goes down to the basic level. Generally, you can get permission to shoot in public areas, but you cannot start filming anywhere,” says Al Safar. “For example, we have a big shoot coming up that includes all the landmarks in Dubai like Burj Khalifa, Burj Al Arab, the Emirates Towers, so we need NOCs from Emaar, Meraas, etc.”

PROCOVER There is a lot involved when it comes to flying drones commercially, but the UAE is supportive of those going through the legal process, says Al Safar.

Asked how long it takes to get the paperwork done, Al Safar says: “It depends. We can get an application approved within 10 days. But if it’s a larger production with lots of locations involved, then we need more NOCs, which takes around three to four weeks.” Filmmakers are happy to oblige and put the necessary precautions in place as long as the business is profitable. “I am an entrepreneur, I have five to seven companies to my name, and SkyVision is one of my top four profitable companies,” reveals Al Safar.

“In 2014, drones were not so common … my brother and I worked on a film together back then and had to build our own drone to shoot certain scenes” Rashad Al Safar, CEO, SkyVision For Ghandour, drones are an added bonus for a talented filmmaker. “Filmmaking will make you money if you’re good, and drones help in improving the cinematic experience.

The only factor to weigh in is how good you are at using them to the best of your ability.” Despite their contribution to quality and commercial filmmaking, drones have their limits. “Usually, within a film, a drone is just another tool in a production. There’d be ground cameras, tripods, dollies and jigs. And they’d bring in a drone just for some shots, which can be anything from a half-day shoot to 10-day shoots. It’s getting tougher as there are many companies and freelancers in the market now. It’s expensive to do it correctly and commercially,” says Al Safar. Another limiting factor is the battery life, one of the things drone makers could focus on, notes Saidu. “We once had to live broadcast an endurance race where horses run for 100km a day in the desert. It had to go live on TV. It was a nearly 10-hour shoot every day with drones. It would have been convenient to have a battery that could live up to the challenge.” Weather also limits drone usability. Filmmakers agree that drones could do with improved heavy wind capacity. None of them likes using drones in the rain, as it obstructs the quality of the video being shot and endangers the drones. Crashing a drone worth hundreds of dollars is a sore spot, says Al Safar. “We’ve crashed drones while filming. Sometimes, we were not insured and crashed expensive drones. It’s a financial setback for the company.” Despite the elaborate approval procedures and other challenges, the film industry has embraced drones as offering a fresh and costeffective alternative in the realm of aerial filming. Drones are here to stay; they’re not just a fad. And with improvements to technology, we are certain that it won’t be long before manufacturers dream up new ways for drones to bring fresh perspectives to the world of entertainment.

March 2020 | www.broadcastprome.com | 23

PRODRAMA

MAKING THE CASE FOR BAGHDAD CENTRAL It is 2003. Saddam has fallen and an American-led coalition has taken over Iraq. For millennials resident in the Arab world during the noughties, Baghdad Central recreates an old scenario with incredible familiarity. In an exclusive interview with Vijaya Cherian, Executive Producer Kate Harwood talks about how the team brough this crime drama to life

When homegrown streaming service StarzPlay announced its first original series, Baghdad Central, we expected the traditional route of investment in a locally scripted and filmed production, as has been the wont of most regional and international platforms. But StarzPlay has adopted an alternative strategy, buying into a commissioned drama – though, with others inked with regional entities like Image Nation, it will have more involvement in the storyline. Baghdad Central is a new series that has premiered on the platform as part of its recent partnership with Freemantle. A crime drama set in American-occupied Baghdad in 2003, it has all the ingredients to appeal to both an Arab and a global audience. What elevates it further is that it is produced by a stellar crew of Hollywood calibre and features a remarkably good Arab and international cast. StarzPlay doesn’t disappoint either. By making the sixpart mini-series available as a box set for binge viewing, it is keeping viewers up all night – but it is worth the pain. Based on Elliott Colla’s novel, Baghdad Central is a big-budget drama set in chaos-gripped Iraq. With Saddam captured and Western forces in control of the country, Iraqis can’t distinguish between friend and foe. Palestinian-American actor Waleed Zuaiter plays the protagonist Muhsin Al Khafaji, an Iraqi ex-policeman who must collaborate with American forces to receive medical aid for his daughter Mrooj. He must also search for his missing older daughter Sawsan. This leads him to discover a parallel world and to rediscover himself. Executive Producer Kate Harwood was in Dubai for the

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premiere of the series at Roxy Cinemas, City Walk, along with some of the main cast. She discusses the tasks she oversaw, from identifying the right screenwriter to locations, budgeting, scheduling, casting and crewing, although she quips that in Morocco, “The team usually just wanted me to take them all out to lunch or dinner when I was there.” When Harwood read Colla’s book, she was convinced this story was meant for her. She met the publisher and instantly knew who her screenwriter would be. “We bought the rights very quickly and I took it to Stephen Butchard because he had already done a lot of research on Iraq and Saddam. I ran the department that made House of Saddam, which looks at the rise and fall of Saddam in the style of the Borgia. It was a darkly comic and brutal piece, and Stephen had done an extraordinary job on that. So when I told him I have this novel, he said you have me at Green Zone. “Stephen is also a remarkable writer and can take really complex worlds and make it really accessible. He doesn’t get bogged down, because he sees everything through character. It is amazing how much information you absorb about Iraq in 2003 in Baghdad Central, for instance, without ever feeling that someone is pushing it down your throat.” The story was initially sold to Channel 4 “who commissioned it almost immediately … We then took a very long time to do the script because it was quite difficult to get it right,” she recalls. Harwood has always been inspired by crime stories and Baghdad Central fit right in, she says.

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March 2020 | www.broadcastprome.com | 25

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Kate Harwood with StarzPlay CEO Maaz Sheikh at the screening of Baghdad Central in Dubai.

“Baghdad Central is a fantastic arena for a crime drama. It is not as much about war, because we deal with the war only over the credit sequences. It’s all the other elements – jeopardy, for instance. You can’t step out the front door without the jeopardy. Present jeopardy is especially a big thing. You can do it in a novel, but in a drama, you have a crime and you have the detective trying to solve it, and you have to keep the jeopardy coming – and that wasn’t so difficult within the Iraqi context. “And then there are the other elements that make crime so interesting – the secrets, the long hand of history, the dark path. I’d do it again in a heartbeat because there is so much you can explore in this series.” With Butchard hired to write, Harwood was certain that there would be a greater in-depth exploration of characters. The plot rests heavily on Al Khafaji. “He lives in a world where all alliances have been broken and nobody quite knows who the enemy really is. Here is a man who also has to dig into his past as he tries to find his missing daughter

“Baghdad Central is a fantastic arena for a crime drama. It is not as much about war, because we deal with the war only over the credit sequences. It’s all the other elements” Kate Harwood, Executive Producer, Baghdad Central and look after his younger daughter, and if it means he will have to work with the Americans to solve their crime, then that’s what he will do,” says Harwood, lauding Butchard’s extraordinary ability to bring out

From left: American-Palestinian actor Waleed Zuaiter plays the lead role while July Namir plays his daughter in the series.

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character through the script. Crime drama lends itself to a lot of different fun elements, she says. “The great thing about crime is that you can go anywhere with it. It gives you permission to kick in the door on people’s lives and find the stories within them. You can do big ideas in crime, and you can do very strong characters. Many of the best crime dramas have strong character writing at the heart of them. You can be uplifting. You can be hard-hitting. You can be political and thrilling. There is so much you can do because it is such an elastic genre.” Another important aspect is the location. While the obvious choices for Iraq are Jordan, South Africa and Spain, the team opted for Morocco. “We needed the city of Baghdad in this instance – not so much desert or war. So delivering a city was the primary thing, and from what I know, none of the Jordanian cities looks like Baghdad. And although Johannesburg has been used as Baghdad before, it didn’t work for me. I preferred Morocco, which also has a really experienced film industry. “We chucked a lot of rubble around. We changed the buildings in Morocco from pink to the Baghdad brown. We took out the trees and the Atlas Mountains and put in a river. There was a lot of work in post.”

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PRODRAMA

Harwood says budget for this production is similar to other highend British drama, which costs approx $2.5m per hour to produce.

Perhaps the biggest challenge was the Republican Palace, “partly because it is so well documented”. “We could have tried the big blingy hotels in Tunisia, but we had an international cast and some of them were nervous about travelling there. We eventually managed to find a place in Morocco that worked. Proof of that is when somebody who had worked at the Republican Palace said she was reminded of the place, although she did point out that the toilets in the film were a lot cleaner,” laughs Harwood. Another significant aspect was identifying good Arab talent. The team cast its net wide for this series. “We looked all over the Arab diaspora. It was important to have British Arab actors in it because we have an industry at home we need to look after and it was important to me that we find the right people. Most of the Americans were played by British actors and they did a great job, but there is not a big community of Iraqi actors available internationally. So we only had around five Iraqi actors altogether in the series. “If we were a small indie movie, we would probably have done an open call in Iraq. Our actors,

therefore, come from different parts of the Arab world. July Namir has an Egyptian background and Youssef Kerkour hails from Morocco, and there’s Thaer Al-Shayei. “And many of them live in different countries. Nora El Koussour lives in Holland, for instance, while Leem Lubany, who plays Sawsan Al Khafahi, lives in Munich. We also had leading actors in their home territory like Tawfeek Barhom and Maisa Abd Elhadi, who play small roles in this drama but provide the intensity it required.” The series also gave PalestinianAmerican actor Waleed Zuaiter a much-needed break from the small TV roles he was playing. Tired of

Baghdad Central was screened at Roxy Cinemas, City Walk in Dubai.

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usually being cast as a terrorist, he shines in Baghdad Central. The team had a London-based Iraqi consultant and an Iraqi dialect coach with them from day one to ensure the actors had the right Iraqi accent. “Both were on set all the time, and the cast took that incredibly seriously and worked at it. I obviously can’t tell the difference, but I saw a tweet saying how lovely it was to hear the Iraqi dialect, and that was rewarding.” Such an elaborate series doesn’t come without challenges, and the biggest of them was running such a big production so far from home base, says Harwood. “It took three months to shoot this and they were all in Morocco. It was quite a juggling act bringing actors from all over the world, and Morocco can be quite tough on its visas. We would look at each week’s schedule and see what worked, and in the end, it all came together.” This series is considered a highend drama by British standards, says Harwood, and that means “productions of this scale are in the £2m (approx. $2.5m) per hour mark … This is pretty standard

PRODRAMA

for high-end British drama, although it is considered low-budget for American programmes. We had the British tax break and the Moroccan tax break as well.” Baghdad Central seems to have followed a slightly unusual business model, with three different entities buying into the production at various stages of commissioning. It is a StarzPlay Original in the MENA, where the streaming service operates. Similar arrangements have been made with Hulu and Channel 4 in their territories of operation. With first windows on two different streaming services, we asked if the production team needed to take different angles or shoot differently. “We always imagined that people would watch everything on a big cinema screen or bring the theatre to the home, didn’t we? We never imagined back then that people would be watching more entertainment on their phones, but these opportunities for scale have also brought a new kind of intimacy with the screen.” Harwood says that has been superbly captured by director Alice Troughton and cinematographer Christophe Nuyens. “Alice is a superb director; she pitched a vision for this show and delivered it.

Knowing immediately that this was not a big Hollywood movie, she said that even if we can’t do the great big screen, we can do a point of view of Khafaji’s world. It doesn’t need massive cityscapes; it just needs Al Khafaji to be on the wrong side of the door and keep the focus on him. And Christophe ensures that we never feel hemmed in by the cinematography; the viewer always wants to remain with Al Khafaji. We maintain that intimacy, creating an epic intimacy if you want.” Baghdad Central is a fascinating drama series, and just as significantly, it underscores a new strategy that StarzPlay has explored for funding its productions. As a small but ambitious and aggressive player maintaining its lead position in the market, it knows it will have to continually innovate and strategise to stay ahead of Netflix and Shahid, both with more money behind them. This strategy of pooling into a high-end production and buying into an original production only for the region it operates in may well be a business model that other players will also explore in the future, as it mitigates risk and reduces investment while also helping to achieve the main objective of offering an exclusive to viewers.

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CRAFTING A FILM CAREER

Over the last decade, Faisal Hashmi has built a repertoire of short films and shown a penchant for the horror genre. At the premiere of his newest short film Amber in Dubai last month, BroadcastPro ME caught up with him to explore his journey as a filmmaker, his proclivity for horror and what inspires him on a challenging journey often bereft of funding and support

Amber was screened at the Paramount Hotel in Dubai last month with more than 180 people in attendance.

You’ve been making short films for so long now. What have you learned, and how have you evolved as a filmmaker since your first short? Since I never went to film school, every short film I’ve made has been a learning experience. The most important lesson has been to trust your gut instinct and make the film that you would want to watch if someone else had made it, and never make a certain type of film just to win awards or get into festivals. If you are original and true to your voice, an audience will follow.

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I’ve also learned that it’s better not to try and do everything yourself. Instead, surround yourself with talented crew members so you can delegate jobs to them and focus on just directing actors because that’s what the job is in essence. Every short film has made me more confident as a filmmaker and pushed me to experiment more in the next one. How many shorts have you made in the last decade? And what is your usual role on set? Looking at what I count as my official short films, I have done

PROSHORTFILM

More than 15 professional cast and crew were involved in the making of Amber.

around ten. I don’t count some of my narrative experimental things, brand-sponsored documentaries and others as part of that ten. In all ten of those, I have been the writer, director and editor. These are three roles I’m extremely comfortable with playing and give me creative authority over my films that I would heavily credit to why many of them have been successful. Many times – especially my first few films – I was the cinematographer, sound recordist and sometimes even an actor if needed. But now I have a great crew I can trust with those jobs, although I still do them from time to time should the need arise. Where do you draw your inspiration from? Specifically on your most recent film, Amber. A lot of my ideas come from ‘what if’ scenarios of taking an ordinary person and putting them in extraordinary circumstances and seeing what transpires from there. A man accidentally cuts himself late at night and realises he’s being haunted by something called the blood fairy; a cocky radio host gets a mysterious caller who challenges his world view; a guy stuck at the office at night realises time is skipping forward every time he sneezes; a young woman gets sent a picture attachment from a loved one and realises there’s a supernatural entity now hunting her. It’s all about

finding a unique setting and a unique situation to put a character into, and the rest just builds from there. Amber takes a similar approach and follows a barber who opens his remote highway salon early in the morning and finds himself in a terrifying situation when he realises his first customer of the day isn’t who he seems. It’s a tenminute thriller without a single line of dialogue and inspired by the films of Alfred Hitchcock in how I can crank up suspense in such a setting. It’s my biggest film in scope yet but retains the signature style I’ve built for myself. Give us a behind-the-scenes look at the filming of Amber – the

budget, the people, the gear … Amber is my most ambitious short film to date and one that I had a larger budget to work with to fully realise an idea I’ve had since 2016. The larger budget is all thanks to my friends and collaborators on this film who pitched in their money with me to make the film a reality – Ivor Gracias (who was also production manager on the film), Kurt Barretto (also assistant director), Kane Rodrigues (who did sound recording and design) and Jullz Bek. We shot the film over two days at a real salon on the outskirts of Sharjah. This was a challenge because of the small space we had to work with. It was shot on an Alexa Mini by Dubai-based cinematographer Elias Trad. It was my first time collaborating with him and working with that camera, and the film looks incredible because of it. We had a great cast and crew of over 15 professionals on set, including our two main actors Joaquim Gonsalves and Rik Aby. This is probably the most preparation I have done for a film before the shoot. We had two days of rehearsals for some of the more physically demanding scenes in the film, and I even

Faisal Hashmi with other filmmakers and peers in the industry.

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The aim is to make short films that are self-contained rather than films with obvious sequel endings, says Hashmi.

shot those rehearsals like I would shoot the movie just to take notes and tweak things accordingly. We did multiple days of scouting at the location to figure out the logistics of shooting next to a highway since the shots also involved exteriors. Speaking of exteriors, lighting was definitely the biggest challenge this time around, as we required a huge HMI light that would serve as our artificial sunlight for the whole shoot, as well as other rigged lights. All these powerful lights required a beefy generator truck parked outside too. I’d like to give a shout-out to Action Filmz, which is a production company that was generous enough to offer us all those tools and great lighting and camera crew for a good discount. The shoot was definitely a challenge, but I had a great team to take me through it and I’m very proud of the final product. We also captured a lot of behind-the-scenes footage on set to release after Amber is released online later this year. A big crowd attended your premiere screenings last month. What was the response to your film, and are there plans to make any of your shorts into features? I’m always nervous before a large audience is about to view my film for the first time because I have no idea what the response will be to it. But we held two screenings for almost 180 people including industry professionals like Emirati director Ali Mostafa, actors and our extended network that we wanted to share this film with. The response was wild, as most people really tensed up during the film and stuck around asking questions about it later on, which is exactly the response you would hope for from a thriller. Paramount Hotel Dubai was gracious enough to host us and offer a beautiful screening room for the film, and it was all around a wonderful day for our entire crew.

the three days it was on. What was fascinating was that I was the only non-Arab director in the entire festival line-up, so I really wasn’t expecting an award. But when I won Best Film, it was truly gratifying, and the award ceremony was such a prestigious affair too. There are a couple of other local film festivals the film will be either competing in or have a special screening at, including the Emirates Short Film Festival in March and the White Oryx International Film Festival in April. We are also looking to begin our international festival run soon, so it’s a long road ahead.

“Horror is the most resilient genre in film. It transcends cultures and language barriers, because fear is universal” Faisal Hashmi, filmmaker I generally try to make short films that are self-contained rather than having obvious sequel endings, but my last horror short film, Wicken, was something I developed with a larger feature film in mind because that plot lends itself easily towards a horror movie similar to The Ring. So that’s something I’m actively exploring, and the film just crossed more than 100,000 views on YouTube in under three months, so there’s definitely interest in exploring that. With Amber, we’ll see, because a lot of people feel like there’s more to this story, but it’s too early to tell.

Amber won Best Film at the Al Ain Film Festival. Where else have you entered it? Winning at Al Ain Film Festival was a delight. It was actually the first film festival we submitted to and I was fortunate enough to attend for

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What led you to make Amber? Amber was about taking up the challenge of making a wordless thriller in ten minutes set in one location, and completely changing the context of that location because of what’s now at stake. Not to spoil the film, but a barbershop might seem like an innocent place at the beginning but it’s also a room full of weapons. The film deals with that, and I wanted to make a realistic thriller that really puts you at the edge of your seat but also surprises you with how it unfolds. You seem to focus on making horror films. What’s the fascination with horror? Horror is the most resilient genre in film. It transcends cultures and language barriers because fear is universal. You may watch a Japanese horror film and be equally scared as a Japanese viewer, but you may not find a Japanese comedy as funny as a Japanese viewer. Horror has been around since the beginning of cinema, and good horror films don’t just entertain audiences but also include biting social commentary within the lens of a fun film that everyone can enjoy. I like the idea of scaring people at key moments but also making them think about evils not just outside but within them.

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Some of our greatest directors, like James Cameron, Guillermo del Toro, Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson, began their film journeys with horror films. Which of your films is your favourite? It’s hard to remain objective about your own films. Every time I see them, I always know things that we weren’t able to do on set or little mistakes that only I can spot. But having said that, one of my personal favourite films is a horrorthriller short film called Sleight. It’s set entirely in a radio station with one character on screen, and I’m really happy with its pacing and dialogue. It was also the first short film where I had an actual crew to work with, so it looks nice. Making short films has never been a route to making money, we’ve

been told. Have you ever thought of selling your shorts to platforms that specifically screen short films? Short films are not an ideal way to make a living, and all the short films I’ve made so far except Amber (where my friends pitched in) have been entirely self-funded. The only times I’ve ever made any money is through some cash prizes at competitions or festivals, but even then that doesn’t really cover all the money I put into them. But for me, they’re a training ground to become a better filmmaker and create a portfolio of work that lets people know what I’m capable of doing – so when it comes time to look for financing for a feature film or a larger project, I have a body of work to show. I’ve had offers to sell shorts to various platforms for short films before, but usually the money offered isn’t worth the loss of viewership by not putting it on YouTube or Vimeo. I’ve had much

more success by putting my films on those platforms, where they’ve crossed more than one million combined views. Unless the platform itself has a massive reach like Netflix or a big network, I prefer an audience over monetary return. You still have to make money. I’m a freelance filmmaker and shoot corporate videos, digital commercials and other video content either directly for businesses or brands or through advertising agencies that hire me. This is how I make a living, and being a freelancer allows me to have more time to work on my films and write scripts, as well as to be able to invest in filmmaking gear for my own films, knowing that they can pay themselves back by the work I do on corporate and commercial videos. It’s not always an easy road, as being

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a freelancer in this region has a host of challenges of its own, but I’m happy to take the downsides for the freedom of being able to make films. What are some of the challenges you’ve faced in your career as a filmmaker? When I started out in 2009, there was no film industry to speak of and neither was there access to actors and crew members to reach out to for films. So that’s always been a challenge in this region, but things have changed and there’s a host of talented actors here and crew members too. Finding funding for films has always been a challenge, as well as seeing the shuttering of the Gulf Film Festival, the Abu Dhabi Film Festival and the Dubai International Film Festival towards the latter half of these ten years. This has been incredibly

“Lighting was definitely the biggest challenge this time around, as we required a huge HMI light that would serve as our artificial sunlight for the whole shoot, as well as other rigged lights” Faisal Hashmi, filmmaker discouraging because you cannot have a film industry without a film festival to showcase films. But I’m an optimist at heart and my entire career has been taking these limitations and embracing them by finding a way forward anyway, which is the only reason I’ve been able to consistently make films for the last ten years while so many other filmmakers have dropped out or moved on to other things.

Amber will participate in the Emirates Short Film Festival in March and the White Oryx International Film Festival in April.

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What’s the status of your first feature film? I’m currently working on two feature film ideas at the same time. One is a horror anthology with five interconnected horror stories that take place over one night in Dubai. This one would be relatively easier and cheaper to shoot because I can shoot them as five individual short films and connect them in the edit with an overarching theme, so I’m inclined towards this one. The other is a sci-fi thriller called Fractal set in one location with three characters. This is a wild, high-concept idea I’m very excited about, but it’s also a film I will need some money to be able to do the way I imagine it. Both of them have their scripts written and are currently in revisions, so you will hopefully hear about progress on one of them very soon, based on how the financing goes!

MARCH

PROTECH

With revenue from ARgenerated ads estimated to hit $15bn by 2022, media houses are looking to leverage 5G-connected wearable technologies to secure a piece of the pie, especially within sports, says Niklas Björkén

DEMYSTIFYING THE TECHNOLOGY OF AR FOR SPORTS In the last few years, we’ve seen augmented reality (AR) being adopted into mainstream markets through smartphones. Snapchat filters and interactive gaming (kickstarted by Pokémon Go) immediately became popular because they introduced interactivity never seen before. When you consider that this technology was introduced and available without anyone needing to go out and buy new devices – just use the phones they already owned – it’s unsurprising that AR gained popularity so quickly. Brands were quick to follow, seeing AR as both a great monetisation opportunity and a way of delivering attentiongrabbing content to their audiences. Brands like IKEA and L’Oréal adopted the technology to bring their products into people’s homes. Additionally, broadcasters started seeing the benefits of using AR to tap into second-screen culture.

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According to a report by CivicScience, nearly half of TV viewers browse online while they watch their favourite content. Broadcasters saw the advantages of enhancing the viewing experience by providing users with secondscreen content related to the programme. This has proved particularly suitable for sports rights providers, due to the increasing competition within sports content delivery. Can sports use AR? Keeping sports fans engaged is hugely important in building fan loyalty. They love their teams and often want to know as much as possible behind-the-scenes info and stats. With a huge amount of data already at the fingertips of sports providers, it makes sense to deliver it to the audience. However, delivering swathes of information in an engaging

way has its difficulties. It needs to be digestible and it mustn’t detract from the main screen. If people are spending too long searching for a particular stat, they’re not actually concentrating on the game and are quite likely to close the app and not open it again. Broadcasters can see that using AR and delivering information organically into the audience’s surroundings gains the most interaction. We’ve recently seen

AR and 5G: The bigger picture However, there have always been bigger plans than second screen for AR. The industry has always had goals for AR to be incorporated into technology that is fully wearable, with its images completely integrated into reality. Developing this has certainly been a much slower process, with time being taken to deliver wearable AR items

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broadcasters adopt AR experiences as a secondscreen app, allowing users to easily interact with eventrelated diagrams presented to them. Two of the major platforms used to deliver this capability are Apple’s ARKit and Google’s ARCore. Both platforms identify suitable surfaces which can be used for the placing of AR images and be shared across platforms. This identification of surroundings enables AR apps to blend content into the environment. For example, this could be a 3D image of an athletics track placed on the user’s coffee table. The app could visually show live tracking of specific athletes so that fans at home can follow their favourite sports star around the track. Additionally, this could be used to enhance content delivery. With the athletes already ‘placed’ on the virtual map, why not connect their avatar with their general information and stats? This means information is placed in logical areas of the app and only shown when selected, preventing an overwhelming amount of data from cluttering the view.

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that people will actually want to use. Getting this right raises challenges. For AR to be truly interactive, the device needs to be connected. Up until now, this has been limiting; WiFi has been the only connectivity offering the high-quality bandwidth required. However, with the introduction of 5G, surely this is about to change? When you think of 5G-connected wearable AR tech in the sports arena, the opportunities are endless. An in-stadium mode could give spectators access to live updates and statistics from their season-ticket seats. It could also be used to transform the fan viewing experience at home, with half-time punditry and interviews with coaches displayed in someone’s own home. AR could deliver their favourite player to their kitchen table. Alongside improving the viewing experience and promoting fan loyalty, AR also provides sports entities and broadcasters with monetisation opportunities. Advertisers suddenly have access to a highly interactive mode of displaying their ads within people’s own environments; according to Poplar, the projected revenue generated by AR ads by 2022 is $15bn.

“If people are spending too long searching for a particular stat, they’re not actually concentrating on the game and are quite likely to close the app and not open it again. Broadcasters can see that using AR and delivering information organically into the audience’s surroundings gains the most interaction” Niklas Björkén, Director Innovations, Accedo Why AR delivers within sports AR is really making an impact. People love the interactivity it brings and are happy to embrace it via their smartphones. Sports entities are starting to benefit from AR, through both improved viewing experience and improved monetisation opportunities. Fans are going to have vast amounts of background information available, delivered in a user-friendly AR package. We’re a little way off embracing wearable AR, but significant investment is going into developing devices which can be worn that will blend into the background. Additionally, 5G is delivering opportunities which are now being explored in relation to wearable tech. This is going to deliver countless opportunities for sports providers; they will be able to offer fans a huge amount of interactivity from within the stadium. For now, this connectivity can be used through second-screen AR.

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However, with time, wearable AR tech will deliver a hugely immersive way of enhancing the live viewing experience. AR is transforming the services that sports entities provide by allowing fans to have the best viewing experience while nurturing fan loyalty in an increasingly competitive space.

Niklas Björkén is Director Innovations at Accedo.

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CABSAT 2020 – WHAT’S NEW AND WHY YOU SHOULD ATTEND!

CABSAT 2020 will unite the industry’s creative experts and suppliers, and unveil the latest trends and technologies based on market needs. Thomas Löffler, Assistant VP, Exhibitions and CABSAT Show Manager at DWTC, takes BroadcastPro ME through some of the new features at the show this year

In which halls will CABSAT be held this year, and how many attendees do you hope to attract? CABSAT will take place in Dubai World Trade Centre, Halls 3-8, with around 450 exhibiting brands and approximately 14,000 visitors. We are expecting over 1,500 delegates to attend the Content Congress, GVF SATEXPO Summit, Digital Hub, Esports Congress, Imagescape and the newly launched 5G Focus day conference. Around 75 speakers, including three-time, Primetime Emmy-winning digital series creator, writer, director and producer Bernie Su, will present more than 100 hours of content.

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Whom do you typically attract as attendees to CABSAT, and what new audiences do you hope to attract this year with your enhanced features and showcases? In 2019, we witnessed an increase in total visitor numbers, with more attendees from Saudi Arabia, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Iraq, Oman, Kuwait, Nigeria, Bahrain, Sudan, Turkey, Algeria and Kenya. We believe international participation from buyers will increase further in 2020. CABSAT continues to attract industry professionals from the TV and film, audio, satellite, digital media and photography sectors. We are expanding the show into new

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This year's edition will be 5G-focussed to bring converging verticals like broadcasters, maritime, and aviation together, says Löffler.

areas of interest for the broadcast industry, including the burgeoning esports sector. Esports is a hugely exciting segment which attracts buyers including broadcasters, advertising and marketing agencies, premium brands and game developers. With our content market ContentScape, we are attracting content creators and sellers who will present their readyto-be-released content to content buyers. The last edition attracted brand-new titles from Comedy Central, Eagle Films, Viacom, Rotana, K-Content and Spacetoon. The Middle East and Africa is set to be at the centre of the 5G revolution, with 30 million 5G mobile subscriptions expected in the region by 2024, which is why we decided to have a 5G-focussed conference designed to bring converging verticals together, including broadcasters, aviation, maritime, industrial, government and healthcare, with the telcos and satellite operators to learn more about the impact of this new technology. We will also have a focus day on Africa and have invited delegations from Nigeria, Sudan and Kenya to be part of the show. We will connect our delegates with CABSAT exhibitors through our matchmaking programme and believe it will be very successful. Last year, we facilitated 1,178 meetings between exhibitors and new potential buyers. Could you name some of your new exhibitors this year, and some who have asked for more space? New exhibitors this year include Draka (Germany), Spectee (Japan), Chaloos General Trading (Iraq), Elecard (Russia), Spacebridge (USA), Decibel Systems (USA), NSSL Global (UK), Satamazone (USA) and Novasat (Saudi Arabia), to name a few. Exhibitors who have decided

Byrne, Immersive Studio – Business Director, Imagination.

“The Middle East and Africa is set to be at the centre of the 5G revolution, with 30 million 5G mobile subscriptions expected in the region by 2024, which is why we decided to have a 5G-focussed conference” Thomas Löffler, CABSAT Show Manager to increase their participation include Dubai Studio City, Senna, GSL Professional, Vialite and Pixel Power, just to name a few. We are also pleased to have five international country pavilions at CABSAT 2020. Tell us more about the 5G conference and the key companies that will be part of this exercise. The first 5G Focus Day conference at CABSAT 2020 will showcase live debates, demonstrations and presentations about the future of broadcasting. 5G networks are set to unleash a new wave of innovation, new players and disruption on the existing value chain as video consumption and entertainment become more mobile. Early confirmed speakers include Karthik Raman, Industry Lead, Telcos & Media, IBM; Tamer Azab, Senior Policy Manager, MEA, Access Partnership; Marwan Shehab, Vice President, MEA, Qwilt; Aaron Duckmanton, Global Head of Marketing & Content, Grabyo; Abdulaziz Aldhaher, Director of Sales, MENA, OneWeb; and Rory

Can you elaborate on the Imagescape feature and the companies you’ll be working with on this? What will Advanced Media's role in this feature be? Imagescape has been created to provide videographers and photographers a space to learn about new equipment and hear inspiring stories from international experts who will give advice and showcase innovative products that can spark their creativity. Advanced Media is helping the show to bring together the world’s top brands and their unique products, where the audience can compare a range of products and services during the 90-minute training sessions. Early confirmed trainers include Dedo Weigert, 1990 Academy Award-winner for Best Technical Achievement and 2002 Academy Award-winner for Scientific and Technical Award, who will discuss Dedolights, which have been referred to as the most innovative lighting system ever developed for motion pictures and television. His session will cover lighting effects, new systems and equipment, concentrating on various aspects of light streaming, studio equipment and asymmetric lighting. Regional photographer, videographer and filmmaker Jordan Bostock’s session will cover Rotolights, the RGBWW LED light fixture and the involvement of Titan X2. Last year, you had a great introduction to esports. Who are some of the high-profile people within this sector who will attend this year, and how are you looking to enhance this part of the event? Esports Congress will take place on the Content Congress stage on day 3 of the exhibition. The event is held in in cooperation with the

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Middle East Esports Association and led by Saeed Sharaf, CEO of the Esports Middle East ESME, Regional Manager of the World Cyber Arena, and Board Member of the World eSports Consortium. Esport event organisers and teams from Nasr Esports, Yalla Esports and FATE Esports, together with publishers from Tencent Games – who have recently launched in the region – will be involved, as well as immersive game experience experts from EVS. Investors and consultants will discuss how the industry is looking to monetise regional esports, while we will also hear industry perspectives from endemic and non-endemic brands. I hear international broadcasting organisations are making another bid to come back to the UAE; with Saudi Arabia having held Prodex last month, how is CABSAT looking to strengthen its presence in the regional market to maintain its leading position?

“New exhibitors this year include Draka, Spectee, Chaloos General Trading, Elecard, Spacebridge, Decibel Systems, NSSL Global, Satamazone and Novasat, to name a few” Thomas Löffler, CABSAT Show Manager Last year, CABSAT launched various new content in order to attract professional international buyers to the event, including PhotoScape (now Imagescape), ContentScape, Esports and Digital Hub. In 2020, we are adding 5G and Beyond, a 5G-focussed conference day that will show broadcasters and media professionals the implications of 5G on our industry. After its huge success in 2019, we are working with our partners mena.tv to organise an even larger gathering of content sellers and buyers and more screenings in 2020. We are expecting buyers including

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Abu Dhabi Media, DISH Network, Rotana Media, Sharjah Media Corporation, Quest Arabiya, Sony Pictures Television, Turner Broadcasting Arabia and many more to source the latest content. In 2020, we have even more ambitious goals. We will organise a focus day regarding content creation and production in Africa this year, and have invited buyer delegations from Sudan, Nigeria and Kenya, while we will continue to focus on African markets and Saudi Arabia to make sure we bring relevant buyers to CABSAT to source the latest technologies from our valued exhibitors. Competitive events will always be there. We appreciate competition, as it will increase the quality of events and that is good for the industry. With our new show content, I believe we will attract more buyers from the UAE as well as from abroad, and we look forward to welcoming them to Dubai at CABSAT 2020.

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Interra Systems will demo video quality with advanced QC, monitoring and analysis at CABSAT At CABSAT 2020, Interra Systems will demonstrate its content quality control, monitoring, analysis and classification solutions in delivering a superior quality of experience on every screen. Stand highlights will include the Orion suite of solutions, Baton, Winnow and the Vega Media Analyzer. The Orion-OTT monitoring solution boasts a rich feature set that offers support for the latest standards in closed captions, ad insertion monitoring, ABR manifest file validation, audiovideo checks and real-time alerts, among others. For IP-based delivery infrastructures, Interra

Systems offers the ORION real-time content monitoring solution, which provides video analysis of linear channels. ORION complements the company’s OTT offering, looking at all aspects of video streams including closed captions, ad-insertion verification, quality of service (QoS) and quality of experience (QoE). Also demonstrated will be the revamped Orion Central Manager (OCM), which provides an aggregated view of linear and OTT services. OCM includes near-realtime status of all channels across the network, channel performance trends, support for Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)based authorisation, executive

reports, email notifications, alert aggregation and more. OCM helps digital network operations centres to deliver content with the highest QoE and meet viewer expectations. The entire Orion suite is supported on Linux. A new Baton automated tool for lip-sync detection and verification of audio with captions will be shown, as well as photosensitive epilepsy testing and correction. In addition, BATON includes support for the VAST format, HDR quality checks and set-up in Amazon cloud and on-premises, as well as improved audio language and caption detection capabilities. Integrating BATON with Winnow,

the company’s solution for content classification and identification, allows video service providers to prepare content for different target markets and geographies. Interra Systems will also feature a new updated version of the company’s Baton Media Player on display. This includes new features such as support to overlay timecode information on video, performance enhancements in J2K playback, the option to export a video clip without re-encoding, improvements in real-time playback, support for playback of growing Material eXchange Format (MXF) files, and many more. Stand 303

BTS brings ad-sales module for integrated linear and digital ad campaigns to show

Broadcast Traffic Systems (BTS) has launched an advertising module that enables integrated linear and digital ad scheduling from one platform. The Digital Ad-Sales module is included in its Enterprise Channel Management System but can also be added to its Express solution. The Digital Ad-Sales

module allows advertising executives to fully integrate digital advertising on the major platforms into their linear campaigns. Broadcasters are able to manage advertising campaigns covering all media types. The module integrates both with broadcast automation solutions and with any ad platform server, to ensure broadcasters can

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deliver and monitor the entire linear and digital campaign. The solution also makes it easy for broadcasters to deliver addressable ads across multiple platforms, targeted at different demographics depending on the platform and needs of the advertiser. Craig Buckland, Technical Director, Broadcast Traffic Systems, commented:

“Advertisers are increasingly looking to book an integrated ad campaign covering all media types. This represents a great opportunity for broadcasters to maximise monetisation options; however, the very complex nature of digital campaigns, coupled with the lack of integration to existing workflows, is causing them a challenge. With this solution, we are aiming to make it simple for broadcasters to deliver and monitor an integrated ad campaign for their customers.” BTS will be demonstrating its Digital Ad-Sales module at CABSAT from 31 March to 2 April, where it will be exhibiting in the British Pavilion (G3-203) as well as the Qvest Media booth. Stand F3-23

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Argosy promises 360-degree support to MENA customers Argosy, a regular exhibitor at CABSAT, continues to provide support for the MENA media market, offering a one-stopshop for systems engineers and designers. Argosy specialises in every aspect of media infrastructure, from cables and connectors to active hardware devices such as network switches, fibre transport and KVM switches. At CABSAT, it will showcase a range of its offerings, including its own manufactured patching and termination panels, equipment racks, and tactical fibre and SMPTE camera cables. The company will also showcase products from BES, Canare, Cliff Connectors, Ghielmetti and Neutrik. Experts from Austrian vendor kvm-tec will also be available on the Argosy stand, explaining how the latest generation of highbandwidth, IP-connected KVM (keyboard, video and mouse) solutions can deliver secure connectivity with low latency while linking multiple workstations to multiple computers. Such solutions reduce clutter in operational areas by requiring only one set of keyboard, mouse

and monitor while instantly accessing multiple services. This also helps to reduce cost by eliminating multiple monitors, which contributes significantly to an improvement in environmental performance. “With the media world changing so rapidly, demanding more outputs and higher resolutions, we know our customers need to be able to rely on suppliers to ensure they have the right infrastructure hardware, now and for the future,” commented Chris Smeeton, CEO of Argosy. “We have a strong and longstanding presence in the Middle East, and our many customers know that we are much more than just cable stockists – we can help finalise the details of installations, ensuring that the system works first time and stays working.” “CABSAT is a great opportunity for us to talk to our client base in the region,” Smeeton added. “They know us as problem-solvers, and we enjoy finding solutions for them that are reliable, practical and, in an atmosphere of increasing environmental concerns, as green as we can make them.” Stand F3-21

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LiveU focusses on IP at CABSAT

LiveU will demonstrate its live IP bonding technology at CABSAT, to show how it takes advantage of the faster speeds and guaranteed high bandwidth offered by 5G networks. The upcoming Tokyo Olympics and Euro 2020 offer opportunities for leveraging 5G bonding technology for roundthe-clock coverage of the teams, athletes and fans. There will be daily demonstrations of LiveU’s next-generation IP content management and distribution solution, LiveU Matrix. LiveU Matrix has been adopted by news organisations including CBS, CNN, Cox Media Group, Meredith Corporation, Quincy Media and Sinclair Broadcast Group. It is ideal for sports producers looking to live stream events to multiple platforms. Other solutions will include a portfolio of HD/1080p60 and 4K HEVC video solutions, including its flagship LU600 HEVC portable transmission solution that reportedly delivers flawless video with extreme bandwidth efficiency; its compact, robust LU300 HEVC unit for live streaming; and the 1U 4K HEVC rackmount, LU610 4K HEVC for vehicles and fixed

locations will be demonstrated. The LU600’s HEVC 4K-SDI edition offers 4Kp50/60 streaming for top-quality production, supporting VR and 360 applications. The compact, robust LU300 HEVC unit for live streaming is tailored to customers requiring a smaller field unit for high-quality video-on-the-go. Highly flexible, the LU300 can also serve as a stand-alone video encoder or be used as a LiveU DataBridge mobile hotspot for general connectivity in the field. The LU610 4K HEVC for vehicles and fixed locations is a powerful encoder based on LiveU’s LU600 4K HEVC technology and offers a hybrid solution for SNG trucks, point-to-point and point-to-multipoint distribution. LiveU will demonstrate its wireless at-home production solution, which allows multi-camera live events to be covered with simplified logistics. The latest applications, such as Tally Light, enabling field reporters to know instantly when they’re live on air, and LiveU Control, enabling simple remote control of LiveU units via smartphones, will be showcased. Stand E3-21

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PROGUEST

Why the pay-TV data revolution must be born in the executive boardroom Data is a core component of every business on the planet; it enables small retailers to efficiently manage their inventory and multinational financial institutions to understand global market changes. While many industries have taken great strides to harness the power of data, the pay-TV industry has historically lagged behind. This is in part due to old business practices. Automation, improving customer service operations, reducing churn, delivering more targeted advertising, personalising content recommendations, and helping to optimise the full value and cost of their content portfolio – these actions are all crucial for modern pay-TV operators. And yet many are failing to accelerate this kind of change, simply because they do not fully understand the magnitude of what is at stake, especially when the biggest industry competitors are Facebook and Fortnite. The transformational impact of data on a pay-TV operator could be likened to when Peugeot decided to go from pepper grinders to bicycles to cars; while the core technology remained the same, everything about the business shifted around it. This kind of business transformation must be harnessed and controlled by the executive board. For success to be guaranteed, here is what needs to be done at the top. Define which key performance indicators need to be boosted First, you need to look at what problem needs to be solved. The answer could be to increase revenues, reduce

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churn, reduce costs or even increase Ebitda, especially when debt is high. This gets more complicated when some compromises or combinations need to be made: ‘We want to increase revenues AND reduce churn’ can be a good example. Being clear on the real objectives we want to tackle will be a big service to the teams below. This will also be a good reference when needing arbitrage along the way. Force results to be tangible Mark Twain said, “To the man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” This applies to data. While BI people are happy with scientifically pleasant predictive models, IT folks love large data lakes and businesspeople want the ability to play with all the data in real time. While all this is fun and rewarding, it doesn’t make a dime for the company. The role of the executive team is to remind all teams that only tangible outcomes on the key KPI defined beforehand are worth it. Sometimes, the simplest and least sophisticated solutions are the most efficient, and the only thing that matters is ‘what is the next best action’ toward this subscriber, this piece of content, this technological issue, etc, in order to maximise retention, revenues or profits. Break silos in the organisation As it is transversal by nature, both for collection and usage, data is a good excuse for breaking the silos in the organisation. Some pay-TV operators are literally dying from old organisational practices. When it comes to fighting for survival, the

ability to let information flow and to have experts from all relevant fields working together on the same projects, without politics, is a clear competitive advantage. Not only can the executive team, through clear decision-making, enforce this attitude, it can also equip the teams with specific platforms aimed at collaboration and sharing business and data projects. Give clear responsibility As the IT and technology teams have to ensure smooth collection and sufficient quality of data, BI teams have to focus on providing business departments with solutions and tools tailored to their needs, with regular updates. The business teams have to articulate clearly their expectations in terms of both outcome and frequency. The role of the executive team is to maintain this harmony and to get each player in the chain to trust the other one in their role. We have so often seen people in charge of collecting the data making assumptions on the business that diminish the quality of the data overall. The arbitration on role, responsibilities and monitoring has to come top-down from the boardroom. Limit investment capability Operators face a fragmented playing field with technologies and capabilities that are more advanced and rapidly evolving than ever before. The executive team has to restrict this infinite quest and only accept to pay for impact, in line with the KPIs defined. It is less sexy, but everyone is happier (and more successful). Jacques-Edouard Guillemot is Senior VP Executive Affairs of the Kudelski Group.

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