ISSUE 123 | OCTOBER 2020
Licensed by Dubai Development Authority
EGYPTIAN CINEMA: SURVIVING THE NEW AGE
New faces, unique scripts – we bring you the many facets of Egyptian cinema through the eyes of a new generation of filmmakers
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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
Welcome
Editor Vijaya Cherian vijaya.cherian@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0) 55 105 3787 Assistant Editor Shifa Naseer shifa.naseer@cpitrademedia.com +971 (4) 375 5478 Sub Editor Aelred Doyle ADVERTISING Group Sales Director Sandip Virk sandip.virk@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0) 50 929 1845 +44 (0) 773 444 2526
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The publisher of this magazine has made
I recently had the opportunity to watch a gripping Malayalam thriller titled C U Soon. Conceived in a coronavirus-ridden world, where shooting outdoors with a large crew has become impossible, the film unfolds through a series of events that take place primarily through video chats, emails, Messenger, and WhatsApp interfaces. Of course, in recent times, there have been similar attempts by several regional and international filmmakers although the few that I have seen are either “art films” or shorts. C U Soon, by comparison, is a 98-minute feature with a dramatic storyline that would easily appeal to a mass audience. It is also testimony to the resilience of the human mind that has the fascinating ability to continuously disrupt and generate new ideas when faced with new scenarios – in this case, the Covid-19 pandemic. New social distancing measures may have briefly unnerved us and forced us to stay at home. But that got many creative people thinking and new storylines have emerged that no longer rely on traditional filming methods. Solution providers have simultaneously risen to the occasion by offering remote solutions that ensure minimal human interaction
Issue 123 | OCTOBeR 2020
Licensed by Dubai Development Authority
every effort to ensure the content is accurate on the date of publication. The opinions and views
On this month's cover…
and allow for good productions to take place. A recent example of this is the Arabic version of Come Dine with Me. ITV Studios Middle East, which produced the show for OSN, licensed a remote production system from Lonoco, which allowed their production and content chiefs to supervise the entire shoot in Dubai from Beirut. A truly collaborative, cross-country effort! Some articles in this issue talk about how different networks have been thinking differently to keep the content coming. In the meantime, there's no denying the power of face-to-face meetings. As a result, we have decided to move the ASBU BroadcastPro Summit and Awards to February 2021, in the hope that we can meet without social distancing measures and together celebrate the industry. We will, however, host the MENA OTT and Anti-Piracy Virtual Week from November 3-5. Open to all industry professionals, the event will feature panel discussions, regional research findings as well as presentations. See you online.
Vijaya Cherian, Editorial Director
Let’s create a vibrant online broadcast community!
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 of the contents thereof may be reproduced, stored
EgyptiAn CinEmA: surviving the new age
A deep dive into Egyptian cinema which is a reminder of the past glory and how filmmakers are revolutionising the industry
@BroadcastProME www.facebook.com/BroadcastProME BroadcastProME
The rise of new voices in Egyptian cinema.
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October 2020 | www.broadcastprome.com | 1
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PROCONTENTS
Inside this issue 05 NEWS New web site launches with reviews of Arabic content; CABSAT 2020, NAB and VidCon postponed; Netflix ties with KSA's Myrkott; Saudi broadcaster chooses Imagine; Sky News Arabia platforms go vertical; MBC cuts ties with Choueiri Group; Fun Asia Network launches new radio stations; StarzPlay Arabia secures broadcast rights to V10 R-League; new appointments; and more
20 COVER: REDISCOVERING EGYPTIAN CINEMA Egyptian film experts talk about how Egyptian cinema still thrives despite the test of time
October 2020 NETFLIX TIES WITH KSA'S MYRKOTT
A DEEP DIVE INTO EGYPTIAN CINEMA
20
05 BOOSTING CONTENT CREATION WITH AI
TAKING ZEE5 TO THE NEXT LEVEL
28 EMPLOYING AI TO
REPURPOSE CONTENT Russell Wise from Digital Nirvana explores ways in which media houses can repurpose existing content
30 STRIKING GOLD
WITH OTT Archana Anand at Zee5 Global shares how the streaming service has gained traction during the pandemic and its MENA strategy to retain audiences
28
30
BUILDING A MEDIA FACILITY IN MENA
PRODUCING CONTENT DESPITE COVID
34 THE SECRET TO BUILDING A MEDIA FACILITY IN MENA Twofour54's Yusuf Butti highlights factors essential to building a successful production operation in the region
40 OPINION A look at how entertainment networks are fighting the pandemic
34
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PRONEWS
Shashah launches with reviews of Arabic entertainment content in MENA Shashah.com, an online guide to movies and TV entertainment for MENA viewers, launched last month. The website offers reviews and ratings of films and TV programmes and directs users to their favourite OTT platforms and cinema listings. The focus of the platform is primarily on content for an Arabic-speaking audience. “Shahash, designed to be the Middle East’s answer to IMDb, will provide its audience with an encyclopedic up-to-date resource in both English and Arabic, something that has been missing for many years in the region,” a spokesperson for the website
told BroadcastPro ME. He added that reviews and recommendations will provide users with unbiased opinions on TV shows and movies currently running on any platform. “Shashah will lead the viewer to where he can
CABSAT 2020's November event goes virtual CABSAT 2020 will be hosted as a virtual event from November 9 to 10, 2020. This will be followed up with an in-person edition from May 24 to 26 in 2021. The two-day virtual exhibition and conference will be held under the theme ‘curating and delivering limitless must-experience content’. It will also host a conference with speakers including Aduku Armstrong Idachaba, Acting Director General, National Broadcasting Commission Of Nigeria; media expert Sanjay Raina; and Khulud Abu Homos, CEO of Arab Format Lab.
watch his chosen content, whether it is on a satellite channel, local cinema theatre or a TV streaming platform. As the platform is in both Arabic and English, it will also serve the needs of non-Arabic audiences looking for reviews of content
New satellite TV channel enables viewers to broadcast their content for free
shown on OTT platforms and cinemas in the region,” the spokesperson added. In the future, Shashah hopes to also provide the latest information within gaming and esports, which are also popular in the MENA region. “We are excited about launching this service which Arab audiences are missing. Although there are sources that give extensive reviews on western content, very few, if any, provide credible reviews and ratings of Arabic content. Shashah intends to fill this gap. We also intend to provide reviews and ratings of western content available in the MENA region,” he said.
OSN signs new partnerships in Egypt, Jordan and Kuwait
US-based YouSat Corp has launched a new satellite channel for MENA called YouSat, which allows viewers to upload their content through its website free-of-charge. YouSat broadcasts user-generated content in the region. Viewers, who can't access YouSat on satellite, may watch the content at www.yousat.tv. YouSat is available on Eutelsat and Nilesat.
OSN has sealed a multi-year partnership with Vodafone Egypt making the OSN streaming app available to all Vodafone customers with a postpaid Vodafone RED plan. The pay TV operator also signed a deal with Orange Jordan to offer OSN subscriptions to the telco's Fiber customers. OSN is included for free with high-value Fiber 1000 offers and $4.9 per month for the rest of its fixed BB customers. In Kuwait, the pay-TV network tied with digital services provider Zain to offer its postpaid customers a complimentary one-year subscription when they subscribe to the telco's new 5G plans starting from $49 per month.
October 2020 | www.broadcastprome.com | 5
PRONEWS
Netflix announces five-year deal with Saudi animation house Myrkott Netflix and Saudi Arabian animation studio Myrkott have struck a five-year long exclusive partnership to produce Saudi-focussed shows and films and most notably, a five-year firstlook option on Myrkott’s upcoming projects. The partnership entails the production of exclusive seasons of the Masameer series, Masameer upcoming movies, a new licensed original adult animation series, and a licensed original feature film, in addition to a library compilation of all seasons of the Masameer series with special edits exclusive for Netflix.
Myrkott CEO and co-founder Abdulaziz Almuzaini (seated) with a team member.
“Myrkott is at the forefront of creative storytelling and animation in the region,” commented
Nuha El Tayeb, Director, Content Acquisitions, MENAT at Netflix. “We are continually
Saudi Broadcasting Authority chooses Imagine playout project to ensure business continuity Saudi Broadcasting Authority (SBA) has chosen Imagine Communications for its five playout disaster recovery (DR) sites to ensure business continuity in case of disruption. Each of the DR sites uses a condensed version of Imagine’s IP-ready technology that SBA implemented at its main playout centre in Riyadh. The playout centre recently went on air with 12 fully redundant HD channels. Geographically dispersed around KSA, these DR sites use software-centric architecture running on COTS hardware from
HPE. Each site promises to deliver five premium channels with associated advertising streams. All five DR sites comprise two Nexio+ AMP video servers, each with six bidirectional channels, backed by Versio IOX NAS with 75TB of storage for quick access to content with operational efficiency. All COTS servers maintain on-air reliability while running under the control of Imagine’s ADC playout automation. Nexio Motion asset management software looks to keep content in synchronisation between
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the playout centre and each DR site. This ensures failover will be immediate and transparent in case of disruption. In addition, a Platinum router with integrated SX Pro multiviewers handles monitoring and signal delivery, and Selenio 6800+ infrastructure modules provide additional processing power. The architecture is duplicated for redundancy at each individual site to avoid any interruption. The new DR infrastructure was implemented at SBA by Imagine in partnership with First Gulf Company.
investing in authentic stories from Saudi Arabia to share their stories across the Arab world and globally. We want to give our members access to great stories that can travel far and wide.” Abdulaziz Almuzaini Myrkott, CEO and co-founder, added: “We, at Myrkott, think about this partnership beyond the production aspects. By working with Netflix, we inspire Saudi and Arab talents to dream big and support an ecosystem that recognises equal opportunity, talent and creativity. These are the values that fueled Myrkott in its pursuit of excellence throughout the years.”
IBC recognises global news broadcasters with top award IBC presented its highest award, the International Honour for Excellence, to global news broadcasters including the BBC, CNN, ITV News, NBC News International, TV Globo and Zee Media last month. The award recognises their key role in educating and informing audiences during the Covid-19 pandemic, while operating under extremely challenging conditions. The award was presented during a live streaming ceremony last month.
PROADVERTORIAL
Elevating the viewer experience with next-gen video monitoring
- Keith DesRosiers
With the explosion of OTT services and viewers’ insatiable demand for high-quality streaming video, ensuring top quality of experience (QoE) has never been more critical for content providers. QoE has been brought into even sharper focus in recent months, with viewers everywhere logging maximum screen time during the current global health crisis. In very broad terms, QoE is a gauge of a viewer’s delight or annoyance with a particular streaming service, and it can be affected by a range of technical issues. Given that, what are the best techniques for QoE monitoring, and how can providers ensure that their carefully crafted video product, often obtained at a premium, is being enjoyed to the max by viewers? One of the most important tools for OTT providers to ensure QoE on a par with linear TV broadcasts – and also meet quality-of-service and compliance – is a robust video logging and monitoring solution. The very best of these, such as Digital Nirvana’s MonitorIQ, are able to record and archive all video throughout the entire media distribution chain from content acquisition to actual transmission. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at these capabilities and other components that are propelling video monitoring technology into a new era of QoE.
Comprehensive and Continuous Monitoring To ensure optimal QoE, a monitoring solution should record video continuously from ingest to multibitrate encoding and then final delivery to a CDN. The system should make it fast and easy for operators at all levels to record, store, monitor, analyze, and repurpose content. At the same time, it should provide instant and automatic alerting for anomalies that might affect the user experience, such as black frame, static frame, audio loss, missing or faulty closed captions, and momentary outages. MonitorIQ’s ability to record black frames that indicate the time of outages down to the microsecond makes it unique in the field of broadcast monitoring. Unlike other solutions, which merely jump from the instant video is lost to the instant that it is restored, MonitorIQ enables operators to insert black frames into the recording that demonstrates the exact length and impact of the outage and then and then capture a clip of the black-framed video. This “affidavit” ability is critical for documenting compliance and to mitigate any future recurrences. Another unique feature of MonitorIQ is the ability to correlate underlying analysis of the transport stream with actual, viewer-detectable impairments in the video. This is critical, since many impairments such as black or static frames have their root causes in errors that occur
at the transport-stream level, such as packet loss, jitter, and latency. MonitorIQ not only records these events for later analysis, but the system can be configured to trigger transport stream analysis tools.
Instant Notification and Automated Reporting An important aspect of QoE is an operator’s ability to react quickly when video anomalies occur – and that requires a system that can generate instant notifications to the devices and apps on which operators rely, together with clips of the video in question. In addition to integrations with other alerting systems such as SMPT, MonitorIQ is able to send automatic notifications not only to email but to a wide range of communications and messaging tools such as Slack or WhatsApp. In addition, MonitorIQ is able to generate automated reports that correlate anomalies within any timeframe together with uptime percentages. Without having to initiate reports themselves, operators can see at a glance when and where errors occurred, broken out by audio, video, metadata, and closed captions. Reports also include hyperlinks that enable operators to link back to clips showing specific events. In an upcoming version, MonitorIQ will take QoE a step further with alerting categorized according to the seriousness and urgency of the error, together with the elapsed time the engineering department took to resolve the problem.
AI-based Quality and Conformance The correct appearance of closed captions isn’t just a regulatory and compliance issue; it’s also an important aspect of QoE – since the captions are critical for the enjoyment of a significant portion of the audience. In an industry first, MonitorIQ applies a cloud-based set of AI and machine learning services to verify that captions and subtitles meet internal, industry, and government requirements. In addition to regulatory compliance and QoE, MonitorIQ’s AI and machine learning capabilities come into play to ensure that content conforms to specific captioning standards for platforms such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Quibi.
The Ultimate Affidavit for QoE and Beyond By providing an accurate, up-to-theminute record of the actual video at transmission time, MonitorIQ is a critical link in assessing content
quality and maintaining high QoE standards. While it’s tempting to think of video logging and monitoring as an engineering function, next-gen systems like MonitorIQ can play a much bigger role in a media enterprise – bringing in many other key players who can leverage the recorded video and use it to collaborate on core business functions. Sales teams, for instance, can validate commercials and confirm fulfillment of ad contracts. Digital teams can access video for repurposing to online platforms. And executives can ensure that video quality is measuring up to the brand standards. But in the end, QoE is all about delighting viewers, maintaining audience share, and creating audience loyalty. In the highly competitive world of OTT content, the winners will be those who can provide consistently top-quality content – and next-gen monitoring is the key. Keith DesRosiers is currently Director of Sales Solutions at Digital Nirvana and was a key architect of the Volicon product line.
PRONEWS
Sky News Arabia platforms go vertical Sky News Arabia has introduced mobile-friendly vertical viewing and streaming across its website, iOS and Android applications as part of its digital transformation efforts aimed at enhancing its user experience. SNA claims it is the first TV broadcaster in the region to have a live 24/7 channel output on its website in mobilefriendly vertical mode, utilising a user-friendly design layout. Research has shown that more than half of all video content is now consumed on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Suresh Kumar, Director of Technology at Sky News Arabia, commented: “We explored the option of real-time conversion of 16:9 live stream to vertical mode using Artificial Intelligence, but found a more efficient
SNA has developed an in-house solution to deliver its channel in a mobile-friendly, vertical mode.
and feasible solution that we were able to develop in-house. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of our
NAB Show moved to October 2021 The NAB Show will take place from October 9 to 13 in 2021 in Las Vegas, National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) President and CEO Gordon Smith announced last month. The 2021 Radio Show will co-locate with NAB Show in Las Vegas as will NAB’s Sales and Management Television Exchange. Meanwhile, the virtual NAB Show New York will take place from October 19 to 29, 2020.
Cineom signs distribution deal with Broadstream in MENA Cineom, an authorised reseller of Broadstream Solutions’ products and services in India since 2008, has now been appointed to extend that service to the MENA region. Broadstream Solutions has several products to its name including the Oasys Integrated Playout automation, screen subtitling and captioning solutions. Cineom will market and distribute Oasys products and services in the region. Cineom and Broadstream have together completed many projects in India for 9X, Zee TV, Neo Sports, Doordarshan, and MTunes.
8 | www.broadcastprome.com | October 2020
creative, operations, engineering and development teams we were able to leverage additional outputs of our existing systems to ensure an excellent vertical viewing experience.” Wissam Ayoub, Director of Operations at Sky News Arabia, added: “As a news organisation, our focus is to create digital-first content so we always look at incorporating technologies that enhance our viewers’ experience, both on our screens and digital platforms. “By launching 24×7 live streaming in 9:16 format, Sky News Arabia will be the first broadcaster in this region to stream live in vertical format 24 hours a day. Should any user prefer watching in traditional horizontal 16:9, they can flip their mobile phones to do so on the SNA applications or select this option on the website.”
MIPCOM drops physical event, goes 100% digital MIPCOM 2020 has announced that its 36th edition will now take place entirely online as MIPCOM ONLINE+. MIPCOM ONLINE+ will be centered around the digital MIPCOM Week that will take place from October 12 to 16.
VidCon Abu Dhabi delayed to December 2021 The inaugural VidCon Abu Dhabi has been postponed to December 8-11, 2021, the event organisers announced last month. Previously, the convention was scheduled to take place in March but was postponed to December 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
OurTV secures rights to broadcast LaLiga matches in Nigeria OurTV will broadcast Laliga Santander matches live on its Sports Channel 120 in Nigeria. Olushola Peters, Head of Marketing of OurTV, said: “This is one major milestone for OurTV and we want to thank our users, who have always supported us. We value your input as it is a core culture in OurTV to listen and please our viewers as much as we can.”
PRONEWS
BeIN reveals new studios, shows for 2020/21 season
The live games will be aired on beIN Sports' HDI channel.
BeIN Media Group has announced new state-ofthe-art studios and a host of programmes covering the 2020/21 football season in full HD and 4K on its flagship channel, beIN Sports. BeIN Sports’ HD1 channel
will air premium live games every Saturday and Sunday and through the week. It will broadcast best league games from the English Premier League, LaLiga, Serie A, Ligue 1 and more. The channel will also broadcast football
competitions including the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, AFC Champions League, CAF, and UEFA Nations League. New programmes on beIN Sports will preview best games, discussions and analysis with famous presenters and analysts. This Evening is a new live studio presented by Hicham Al Khalsi which will air from Saturday to Wednesday throughout the season. The programme focusses on behind-the-scenes stories with a special focus on Arabic players and competitions.
Carrie Lozano to head documentary film at Sundance As part of the new role effective October 1, Carrie Lozano will elevate and support nonfiction filmmakers worldwide at all stages of creating and distributing new cinematic work. Lozano joins the institute from the International Documentary Association’s Enterprise Documentary Fund. She succeeds interim director Kristin Feeley and former director Tabitha Jackson.
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October 2020 | www.broadcastprome.com | 9
PRONEWS
MBC cuts ties with Choueiri Group, acquires minority stake in Al Arabia MBC Group is launching ‘MBC Media Services’, an in-house commercial advertising and sales unit in partnership with EHG, effectively ending its five-year advertisement contract with Arabian Media Services, a Choueiri Group company. MBC Media Services will begin operations at the start of 2021. MBC also acquired a minority equity stake in contracting services company Al Arabia, which is part of Engineer Holding Group (EHG), a Saudi media group. The investment aims to support MBC’s growth in advertising sales in the Kingdom and enable Al Arabia
to build its ‘out of home’ advertising more broadly across the region. On launching MBC Media Services, Al Ibrahim remarked: “The media industry has witnessed remarkable changes over the past two decades, driven by technological advancements and the rapid adoption by consumers of social media platforms and mobile devices. We want to move faster to address these market forces and by establishing our own dedicated in-house commercial business unit, we will be able to offer better-integrated solutions across our television, digital and OTT platforms. I am delighted that
we will be partnering with EHG, which owns Al Arabia, one of the best know ‘outdoor’ advertising specialists in the Kingdom.” Waleed Al Ibrahim, Chairman of MBC Group said: “This important investment and partnership will allow MBC to broaden its advertising sales reach and deepen its penetration of the Saudi market. Our strategy, similar to many of the world’s leading media groups, is to continue adding offers and services to connect with audiences throughout the day across multiple platforms, and offer our advertising clients access to the most engaged regional consumers.”
Fun Asia Network takes over Shock ME frequencies, launches new radio stations
Cartoon Network reveals first look at Original series Elliott From Earth Cartoon Network EMEA has revealed an exclusive first look at its new Original series called Elliott From Earth. The series is an animated sci-fi comedy with 20 episodes of 11 minutes each. Elliott From Earth follows a boy and his mother who find themselves transported somewhere across the universe surrounded by aliens. The new series is expected to roll out across Africa at the beginning of 2021.
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US-headquartered Fun Asia Network, which acquired 106.2 Big FM from Zee Network in January, has added two more frequencies – 107.1 and 97.8 – to its portfolio. The FM stations, previously operated by Shock ME and leased from the emirate of Umm Al Quwain (UAQ), have been rebranded as Luv and Beat. Beat 97.8, formerly known as Dance 97.8, hosts international DJs such as Robin Schulz, Lost Frequencies and Sam Feldt. Beat 97.8 also promotes content from local talent Mark Shakedown, Jake Gray, Apollo Breach, Cliff Townly and Soul Ninja. Luv 107.1, formerly known as Heart, is an adult contemporary station offering a variety of 90s and noughties hits. Luv 107.1 provides a roster of shows from 6 am every day including BBC Minute News and live performances. Programme Director, Digby
The FM stations will be headed by radio veteran Digby Taylor.
Taylor, said: “It’s a great feeling to know that Beat 97.8 and Luv 107.1 are in safe hands with the Fun Asia Network. I was lucky enough to get the best talent in the country back on air with these stations, and LUVing the challenge of getting the best Beat!”
ATEM Mini Pro ISO model shown.
Introducing ATEM Mini
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Live Stream Training and Conferences
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ATEM Mini includes everything you need. All the buttons are positioned on the front panel so it’s very easy to learn. ATEM Software Control is also included for accessing more advanced features! The 4 HDMI inputs allow connecting cameras and computers, plus the USB output works like a webcam for Zoom or Skype. The multiview even allows all cameras to be viewed on a single monitor!
With the new ATEM Mini Pro ISO model, you can now edit your live show to fix any mistakes or make improvements. You get all video inputs and program recorded as 5 separate video files! Plus a DaVinci Resolve edit timeline is saved, so you can open the live show and make changes with a single click! It only takes a few minutes to edit and upload a perfect version of your show!
The ATEM Mini Pro model has a built in hardware streaming engine for live streaming via its ethernet connection. This means you can live stream to YouTube, Facebook and Twitch in much better quality and with perfectly smooth motion. You can even connect a hard disk or flash storage to the USB connection and record your stream for upload later!
Use Professional Video Effects ATEM Mini is really a professional broadcast switcher used by television stations. This means it has professional effects such as a DVE for picture in picture effects, commonly used for commentating over a computer slide show. There are titles for presenter names, wipe effects for transitioning between sources and a green screen keyer for replacing backgrounds with graphics!
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PRONEWS
Ampetronic chooses NMK Electronics as GCC distributor for loop solutions NMK Electronics has been appointed GCC distributor for Ampetronic induction loop systems. It comes as Williams AV recently became the US distributor for Ampetronic and has an existing relationship with NMK. Both factors have opened the door for NMK to add Ampetronic hearing loop technology to its portfolio. NMK has great expectations of the new deal, as hearing loop solutions are becoming more prolific throughout the region. “We’ve been watching Ampetronic actively engaged in growing their business in the market and in the region for more than 10 years now and we’re delighted to hear of the collaboration with Williams AV; it’s a perfect fit for these two companies,” commented NMK business
development manager Dino Drimakis. “For us at NMK, it grows our portfolio in the induction loop market, where we are actually seeing a lot of potential for growth. More consultants are becoming aware of the importance of assistive listening solutions in the region, and as international venues and projects start to materialise, we’re seeing a big uptake.” The distributor expects the majority of this uptake to come from the healthcare and medical industry but sees great potential in nearly every installed vertical market. “Any public area typically needs an induction loop facility, and the requirements for them are consistently increasing,” added Drimakis. “We’ll be getting our presales team to work on more in-house designs with regards to
PRODUCTIONS IN A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN
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12 | www.broadcastprome.com | October 2020
loop induction simulations, and in general continuously promote and develop the brand. The nice thing about the brand itself is that it already has a very strong presence because of their highly active approach to the market. We’re super excited about partnering with Ampetronic because we’ve enjoyed really great synergy right from the first conversation.” Sam Burkinshaw, Head of Business Development, Ampetronic, added: “Having competed against NMK previously, we are confident that they will be able to offer unrivalled support for our segment with the combined, worldleading, portfolios from Ampetronic and Williams AV. We look forward to working with NMK to develop the growing assistive listening market in the region.”
PRONEWS
New platform for digital collectibles launches UK-headquartered digital platform Terra Virtua, which merges traditional ‘collectibles’ with new technologies such as blockchain, VR, AR and AI, has been launched to enable users to interact with treasured collectors’ items from classic films like Top Gun, The Godfather and Pacific Rim. For instance, the original ‘Maverick’ helmet from Top Gun, which was expected to fetch $65K at an auction, can be purchased as a limitededition digital version for a fraction of the cost. The platform, which has offices in Dubai, Asia, and the US, serves as a virtual ecosystem in which collectors can browse, purchase, trade, share and interact with their digital collectibles. Gary Bracey, CEO of Terra Virtua told BroadcastPro ME: “Terra Virtua creates
Cinépolis opens first UAE cinema in Sharjah The theatre, which opened at the Oasis Mall in Sharjah last month, features 10 screens including Macro, Junior and Recliners. The announcement was made by Rawan Haidar, Head of Revenue and Marketing at Cinepolis Corporativo. “We can’t wait to welcome you to watch the latest blockbusters on the BIG screen,” Haidar said.
Gary Bracey is CEO of Terra Virtua.
digital content – usually in 3D and fully-animated – in limited quantities, which are recorded on the blockchain to guarantee authenticity, verify rarity and provide security. Many of these collectibles are based on licenses such as Top Gun, The Godfather and Lost in Space, with the portfolio constantly expanding.” The platform also provides immersive environments in which to interact with
one’s collectibles, such as a customisable room (called ‘The FanCave’) or even an AR app. “Collecting is an innate human trait; we’ve all collected something in our lives, whether coins, stamps, comic books, trading cards or action figures. Terra Virtua is bringing the next evolutionary step for this phenomenon to the massmarket, creating a social, friendly and familiar platform which will engage every age and gender,” said Gary Bracey, CEO of Terra Virtua. Bracey claimed the platform, which has been in development for the last three years, is the first to “offer a complete experience, from purchasing to interaction, for a mass-market”. The platform is also planning to include an entire Virtual Reality (VR) universe.
Cairo Film Connection reveals official selection Seven film projects have been selected for the seventh edition of the Cairo Film Connection, which will be held within the 42nd edition of Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) in November this year. Seven feature narratives in development have been selected, including The Legend of Zainab and Noah by Yousry Nasrallah and I Can Hear Your Voice … Still by Sameh Alaa. The Cairo Film Connection’s selection committee narrowed down a list of 105 project submissions to a shortlist of 15 film projects in development and in post-production from across 12 Arab countries.
Arab films shine at Venice International Film Festival A number of Arab films were well received at the Venice International Film Festival which took place last month. Tunisian film The Man Who Sold His Skin, directed by Kaouther Ben Hania, won the Edipo Re Award. Syrian actor Yahya Mahayni received the Orizzonti Prize for Best Actor for his role in the film. Lebanese film Harvest, directed by Ely Dagher, won best film in post-
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production at the Final Cut in Venice, with a cash prize of $21,757. Palestinian film Gaza
Mon Amour, directed by Tarzan and Arab Nasser, received a standing ovation after its screening.
Palestinian twins, Tarzan and Arab Nasser, who directed Gaza Mon Amour, at the Venice International Film Festival.
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StarzPlay Arabia, BT Sport and ESPN win rights to broadcast V10 R-League
Nicolas Hamilton (l), Rachel Stringer (c) and Ben Daly (r) have been confirmed as hosts for the inaugural series.
Gfinity, a major esports and gaming solutions provider, and Abu Dhabi Motorsport Management (ADMM) have announced distribution agreements for its new virtual racing competition – the V10 R-League – with MENA streamer StarzPlay Arabia and broadcasters BT Sport and ESPN. This sets the V10 R-League up to be one of the most widely syndicated esports competitions, with broadcast coverage in over 75 countries worldwide, having a potential reach of 150m households. Season one of the Global Racing Series will be available on BT Sport, ESPN networks and platforms, and StarzPlay Arabia, as well as across team and talent channels as part of a broadcast and digital hybrid distribution plan.
StarzPlay Arabia has signed a multi-year agreement for exclusive rights in the MENA region, while BT Sport and ESPN have rights for their respective territories. Each week, there will be four ‘matches’ made up of three race challenges, on the world’s most iconic circuits, with two teams going head-to-head in each ‘match’ on the Assetto Corsa game in the V10powered car designed exclusively for this Global Racing Series. Competing from home on a full racing rig, the professional sim racing teams are battling over the $127,449 (£100,000) prize pool. The hosts of the V10 R-League broadcasts have been confirmed as Rachel Stringer, Nicolas
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Hamilton and Ben Daly, for the inaugural series. Maaz Sheikh, Co-founder & CEO at StarzPlay, said: “As a Dubai-based streaming service, we have continuously focussed on delivering content that meets the viewing needs of regional audiences. For the first time, we are bringing the thrills and excitement of esports, which is gaining tremendous popularity across the Pan Arab region. With exclusive rights to stream the esport V10 R-League, StarzPlay will be the go-to platform for esport lovers to ride on all the action in real-time. As an event produced in collaboration with Yas Marina and Abu Dhabi Motorsports Management, our association with esport V10-R League complements our goal to
partner with events made in the region for the world.” Saif Al Noaimi, Acting CEO Abu Dhabi Motorsports Management (ADMM), commented: “To be achieving global broadcast scale, fantastic talent and some of the best teams in the esports racing world for Season 1, is testament to our formula. Working with great partners like Gfinity and having the right people in place to deliver the programme will continue moving us towards our vision of continually advancing world class motorsport across esports platforms.” John Clarke, CEO at Gfinity, said: “Growth is driven through innovation. The Global Racing Series and the V10 R-League did not exist three months ago. With a clear vision, a great partner in ADMM and a lot of hard work today, we have created a unique broadcast racing format, with a new virtual car that roars, which has captured the imagination of three of the world’s most forwardthinking broadcasters. “Receiving commercial broadcast deals from these partners and the distribution scale that they provide will play a positive role in helping the company reach its target of moving into profitability in Q1 of the 2021 calendar year. The Gfinity and ADMM commercial teams are also in the process of negotiating sponsorship partnerships with leading brands.”
PRONEWS
New Media Academy partners with Robert McKee and TikTok Dubai-based New Media Academy is launching a six-day storytelling programme delivered by award-winning screenwriting guru Robert McKee — with the aim of developing 1,001 storytellers from the Arab region. Enrolment is now open, with the programme commencing on November 23. The course aims to empower content creators to tell stories more effectively irrespective of the field they’re in. The programme will be translated live to Arabic, and targetted at marketeers, PR professionals, creatives, script writers and
Robert McKee.
anyone who needs to create a compelling narrative. The programme schedule includes an additional two days dedicated to three-hour Q&A sessions with McKee. New Media Academy also partnered with TikTok
last month to host a virtual workshop for government departments on how to effectively create and disseminate content on social media. The partnership sets the stage for collaboration and a host of joint initiatives promoting talent across the Arab world. The partners will coordinate agendas for the professional development of individuals and organisations. The Academy also plans to integrate key insights and data from TikTok into its curricula, giving audiences the tools and insights for creating compelling content on TikTok.
MBC acquires Bron/Broen and The Crimson Rivers for Middle East MBC Group has acquired all seasons of the drama series Bron/Broen (The Bridge) and The Crimson Rivers for its Middle East streaming service Shahid from German company ZDF Enterprises. Bron/Broen is produced by Filmlance International and Nimbus Film Produktion in co-production with ZDF Enterprises. Set in a macabre world of gruesome crimes, The Crimson Rivers is produced by Storia Television along with Maze Pictures for France Télévisions and ZDF.
October 2020 | www.broadcastprome.com | 17
PRONEWS
StarzPlay sees 141% rise in number of unique users during Covid-19: PSB StarzPlay reported a growth of 141% in the number of unique users during April 2020, when the Covid-19 crisis peaked in the region, according to a study conducted by PSB Research. In January and February 2020, StarzPlay witnessed a growth of 42% and 41% respectively. This spiked significantly in March at 89% and went up to a whopping 141% in April. The study, which focusses on the rise of streaming video in MENA, examined SVOD trends over the January 2019 to May 2020 period. The number of new subscribers across all markets increased by 58% between February and April 2020 and continued to maintain growth levels in May, higher
A still from Arabic drama series Kingdoms of Fire, which is available on StarzPlay.
than the pre-Covid months. Subscribers also consumed more content during Covid-19, with an increase of 50% in streaming hours per unique user. Consumption increased to 13 hours in February 2020, 15 hours in March and 17 hours in April. More of its subscribers watched StarzPlay content
Ameen Nayfeh’s 200 Meters to participate in El Gouna Film Festival 200 Meters will participate in the feature narrative competition at the El Gouna Film Festival, scheduled to run from October 23 to 31, 2020. Directed by Ameen Nayfeh, 200 Meters tells the story of Mustafa and his wife who come from two Palestinian villages, separated by a dividing wall. Although the distance between them is only 200 metres, it poses a challenge when their child is admitted to a hospital and Mustafa can't cross the security checkpoint.
Ameen Nayfeh.
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in May 2020 too, recording a peak of 19 hours, coinciding with Ramadan. The total consumption of StarzPlay content during Ramadan 2020 more than tripled compared to the same period in 2019. On average, the hours streamed in Arabic have increased from just about 5% in January 2019 to 10% in
Banijay hires new head of scripted for EMEA Focussing on the non-English side of the scripted offering, Lars Blomgren will work in partnership with the group’s producers across Europe, Middle East and Asia, to grow the pipeline of titles in this space. He will be responsibile for forging co-production opportunities between English-speaking markets and EMEAbased labels.
January 2020. Five times more Arabic content was streamed during the Covid-19 months than at the start of the year. The UAE is the largest growth market for StarzPlay with users growing 70% year-on-year and the number of hours by user increasing by nearly 80%. Maaz Sheikh, CEO and co-founder of StarzPlay said: “Our year-on-year growth is led by our focus on meeting the aspirations of our subscribers by offering revelant content to them, and by deploying breakthrough technology such as our advanced recommendation engines. These findings will enable us to hone our content and offering further, and assure greater value to our subscribers.”
Snap appoints Jake Thomas as head of UAE operations The appointment comes as Snap seeks to expand its local partner ecosystem to deliver more opportunities to consumers and brands. Based in Dubai, Thomas joined Snap three and a half years ago as one of the first hires in the MENA region. He has played a key role in building the Snap MENA business working with local and regional agencies and brands.
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EGYPTIAN CINEMA: SURVIVING THE NEW AGE
Egypt has been a pioneering influence in film production and continues to produce some of the best features in Arab cinema. Egyptian filmmakers Sherif El Bendary and Mohamed Siam, and El Gouna Film Festival founder Bushra Rozza, talk to Shifa Naseer about regional film productions, trends in Egyptian cinema and where they see the film industry headed Arab cinema has garnered a lot of global attention in recent years and Egypt has contributed a lot to its growth. Of course, Egypt’s film output today cannot be compared to the 1940 and '60s, which were considered to be the golden age of Egyptian Cinema. Nevertheless, it has carved a place for itself both in regional and global cinema. There used to be a time when Cairo used to produce around 150 films annually although that has come down to 15 or 20 releases each year. Despite its many setbacks, the Egyptian film industry continues to thrive and stand out from its other MENA peers. “Egyptian cinema is different in many aspects,” says Sherif El Bendary, an Egyptian filmmaker with over two decades of experience in the industry. “It is the only one in the region that can be labelled as an industry. And by that, I mean investing money and generating a revenue.” El Bendary, who first started out as an engineer, took up filmmaking in 2001 at Cairo’s High Cinema Institute. He has done five short films, one feature film and one TV series until now. He is currently working on his second feature film titled Is Africa An Island? The film is in preproduction under his production house, Africa Films. Egyptian films (mainly commercial) have appealed to Arab audiences everywhere and become the yardstick for viewers to compare with when they watch Arab films.
Egyptian director and cinematographer Mohamed Siam points out that “Egyptian cinema’s rich history and uncertain future is what makes it so dynamic”. “There is a lot of local talent with new underground filmmakers aspiring to get involved with their innovative projects,” he says. Siam has made films like Whose Country? (2016) and Amal (2017). The former was screened at different editions of the New York Film Festival and the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Amal won the Jury Prize during the 25th Sheffield Doc/Fest in 2018. Siam has received several international grants and prizes in support of his films including his latest project, Carnival, which recently secured funding from Cinefondation's Atelier, a Cannes International Film Festival initiative. All the popular genres created in Egyptian cinema seem to aim towards giving the audience what it wants. Egyptian commercial cinema doesn’t necessarily have a local flavour, admits El Bendary. “Egyptians expect commercial films that have mass appeal, so producers and distributors try to cater to that demand as our audiences are, in part, inspired by Hollywood films. But, of course, it depends more on film stars and the big names associated with them.” The most important factors affecting demand are genres and cultural taste. For instance, light comedy films are gaining popularity. As of 2018, around 66% of Egyptian audiences
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While politics is a sensitive topic, a film does not need to talk about politics to be political, says Siam.
are reported to have listed comedy among their favourite film genres, according to a survey conducted by Statista. Action/adventure genre was preferred by 39% of the respondents. Siam agrees with this. “There has been a bit of a decline in film production in the past years, but these genres continue to experience huge demand. In recent times, we have also seen a niche genre of horror and thriller emerging.” Having a variety of high- and low-budget films as well as different genres and stories, is healthy for the industry, according to El Bendary. “When I started my career, I was inspired by the cinema of the '80s. Cairo was my inspiration, and it is reflected in my films, Dry Hot Summers (2015) and Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim (2016). “My first feature, Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim, was based on magic realism. It is not a common genre in Egyptian cinema. It relies more on literature, especially Latin.” Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim, written by Egyptian writer Ahmed Amer, revolves around Ali who believes his late girlfriend's soul has been reincarnated in a goat. Ali, his goat, and his friend Ibrahim embark on a journey of friendship and self-discovery across Egypt to reverse the curse. “Amer came to me with the idea for the film and I liked it. It took me four to five years to complete the project including post-production. I used a Red Dragon camera to shoot this film. We would have around 70 people on set on average for the film,” explains El Bendary. Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim was distributed in many European countries including France, Belgium and the UAE. “It was kind of a risky adventure for a filmmaker to make the first film on such a genre. But I loved working on it,” he adds. Unfortunately, independent cinema does not always appeal to mass audiences.
“The whole industry mainly works on comedy and action genres. There has been a bit of a decline in film production in the past years, but these genres continue to experience huge demand” Mohamed Siam, Egyptian filmmaker “If 40 films come out in a year, only two to three will be art films,” El Bendary explains. “Cinema today doesn’t depict the reality of Egypt. When one watches regional films, it is clear that the story could easily have taken place elsewhere. The stories do not represent the times we live in.” In recent times, most of Egypt’s productions have been consolidated under one large entity. Independent films that do well at festivals but don’t necessarily enjoy mass appeal are being overlooked in favour of films that will help the cash registers ring at the box office. Censorship has also played a big role in the estrangement of cinema. Heavy restrictions are imposed on local films as a means of "safeguarding" public opinion, religion, and culture. This is said to have diminished the "quality" of Egyptian cinema. El Bendary says: “The political situation in the country has its own effect on censorship. It is harder now than before. There are many topics we cannot talk about. For instance, it’s not easy to have a policeman in a scene. You have to have
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a special authorisation to show police, whether in a good light or not.” There are workarounds, says Siam who has used political backdrops for his non-political films. Giving the example of his film Amal (2017), the filmmaker says that even though it is a coming-of-age documentary, the film focusses on the intimate story of a young girl growing up against the backdrop of a country seeking its own identity. Amal revolves around a 14-year-old girl who ends up on Tahrir Square after the death of her boyfriend in the Stadium riot. The film follows her over the years after the revolution. “While politics is a sensitive topic here, I believe a film does not need to talk about politics to be political,” says Siam. It is exactly for this reason that independent cinema needs to be stronger in the region as it is more inclined to depict Egypt as it is, according to the filmmakers. In fact, both filmmakers feel that cinema produced for mass audiences as opposed to indie films have their own individual flavour and appeal, and neither should be dismissed. “Commercial films and blockbusters as well as low-budget productions are important to keep the industry afloat,” says El Bendary. To achieve that, regional film festivals offer a platform for independent filmmakers to showcase a wide variety of films for a passionate and knowledgeable audience. The El Gouna Film Festival (GFF) in Egypt, for instance, strives to be a catalyst for the development of cinema in the Arab world. Bushra Rozza, actress and founder of GFF, says that independent cinema has been the real ambassador for Arab and Egyptian cinema internationally over the past decade. “Not only do independent films represent Arab and Egyptian films, but also the Arab filmmakers themselves are being acknowledged internationally through their
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participation in film festivals. Look at Abo Bakr Shawky, Mohamed Diab, Hend Sabry, Dora Bouchoucha and others, who have represented Egyptian cinema in international film festivals such as Cannes, Venice and Toronto,” says Rozza. Regional film festivals like GFF play an important role in giving local independent films more international exposure, she says. “For a long time, film festivals in Egypt such as Cairo International Film Festival, Alexandria International Film Festival as well as the Luxor and El Gouna have been platforms where most films are presented. Artistic films, especially, get a chance to be premiered at festivals.” Siam adds: “Indie cinema has a niche audience which includes intellectuals, artists and aspiring filmmakers. As a result,
filmmakers have to look at the global market for larger viewership and that happens when one thinks of how their characters and subjects identify with global characters today.” To that end, Siam chooses “characterdriven” films over commercial ones. “This is what sets my work apart. For me, if the character is not the driving force in a film, I lose interest. “I want my audience to identify with one character’s evolution from the beginning to the end. My first film Whose Country? (2016) was about a lost soul trying to grapple between what’s right and wrong. The film was successful at film festivals and brought me my first credit in the international circuit,” he says. Whose Country? revolves around a young Egyptian filmmaker who recounts his interaction with a group of plainclothes officials while grappling
with issues of guilt and morality. Siam has served as the producer, director and cinematographer on all his films. “Acquiring funds has always been a challenge, especially if you’re a novice. You have to first prove yourself in order to convince people to invest in your project,” he says. Recalling his initial days in filmmaking, Siam says: “The first film is always the hardest as you have no experience or financial support to fall back on. You’re still trying to find your way.” However, Egyptian cinema has gone through notable changes over the years. For one, Siam feels the industry is more focussed on quality productions. “Despite the various regulations in place, the popularity of Arab films is soaring with focus on quality productions.”
Stills from Whose Country? and Amal which are part of a trilogy by Mohamed Siam.
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The third edition of El Gouna Film Festival concluded on September 27, 2019, with a closing ceremony at the Marina Theatre.
El Gouna Film Festival selects films that combine artistic elements of production and humanitarian storytelling, says Bushra Rozza (pictured above).
Rozza says foreign producers, distributors and filmmakers who have been guests at El Gouna, have also expressed their delight at the quality of Egyptian productions. “Some time ago, I shared a few trailers of Egyptian films with an American producer. She said she didn’t expect the production value in Egypt to be that high in standard.” For upstream industries, the film industry is heavily dependent on local suppliers for development and distribution of films. “There is a lack of proper distribution and marketing in the country,” notes Rozza. “I guess Egyptian films are not that well marketed or distributed like they should be, even though Egyptian cinema is one of the oldest film industries in the Arab world.” For El Bendary, one of the biggest changes that the industry has experienced over the years is the evolution of the viewing experience. “OTT platforms like Netflix and
Shahid have given a platform for industry players to showcase their work. Even platforms like YouTube and Facebook allow people to stream films.” A big challenge is finding funding. Most of the time, Egyptian filmmakers are obliged to raise financing for their own productions. There are ever-increasing labour and technical costs, and the star-culture which requires adequate funding to cover production costs. With severe curtailment of state subsidies for the film industry in Egypt, the national cinema is reliant on market forces in Europe. “At present, there are only a few funds for Egyptian filmmakers. It’s not very
“Egyptian films are not that well marketed or distributed like they should be, even though Egyptian cinema is one of the oldest film industries in the Arab world” Bushra Rozza, founder, El Gouna Film Festival
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efficient to produce films by securing funding in the MENA region. Even if you manage to get funds from international bodies, it will not cover the entire cost of the production. At the end, financing film productions becomes difficult,” says El Bendary, adding that small budgets and personal investors are one’s best bet. “There is not a single national funding initiative to support any local, mainstream or indie cinema,” adds Siam. For any film project with a budget of over $1m, a producer will have little choice than to seek pre-licensing rights outside Egypt, according to the World Intelllectual Property Organisation. That is why Siam focusses on the global market to secure funding for his projects. He recently received support from Cannes for Carnival, which is the third and the final part of a trilogy, the first two being Whose Country? and Amal. Carnival is the fictional part of the story where the protagonist of Whose Country? meets Amal.
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“I usually tour my films globally in the market to finance them. In the past, I have received funding from Arab investors, but it has not been that frequent. For Carnival, I have had no Arab funding yet. But I’m sure it will happen soon.” When asked whether he viewed emerging local cinema markets as competition, Siam says the countries are too different to be considered as such. “Each country is so different. If you look at Tunisia and Lebanon, both have solid cinema industries. Even if they don’t have a lot of films, there is an even number of releases every year. Comparatively, Egypt’s number is quite erratic.” In order to provide new filmmakers with a platform to showcase their work, GFF selects new films produced every year for their programme. The
“Cinema today doesn’t depict the reality of Egypt. When one watches regional films, it is clear that the story could easily have taken place elsewhere. The stories do not represent the times we live in” Sherif El Bendary, Egpytian filmmaker fourth edition of GFF is scheduled to take place from October 23 to 31, 2020. “Our main purpose is to highlight films that compliment humanity. So, we select films that combine artistic elements in production and humanitarian storytelling,” reveals Rozza. Despite its differences, Egypt supplies much of the Arab-speaking world with content. In light of the recent economic
deregulation, more companies, notably ART and Rotana, have been buying up Egyptian productions. Even Netflix has committed to developing Egyptian content with its first Original Paranormal, scheduled to release later this year. The streamer also purchased Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre, an ornate movie palace built in 1922 during the silent-film era. It is famed for screening Robin Hood as well as Cecil B. DeMille’s 1923 silent classic The Ten Commandments. According to reports, the deal was pegged at “tens of millions of dollars”. Netflix bought the theatre from the non-profit American Cinematheque. The attention that the Egyptian film industry receives on a global platform proves that it has its own charm and identity, which sets it apart from other cinema industries in the region.
Top left: Sherif El Bendary; Stills from Dry Hot Summers and Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim.
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HOW AI CAN ACCELERATE CONTENT CREATION
With hunger for content at an all-time high and no shortage of outlets for viewers to choose from, media companies are in a race to create volumes of compelling, high-quality content for many different markets and distribution channels. But doing so has its challenges, explains Russell Wise
For one thing, the Covid-19 pandemic has turned the media industry on its head. Most media companies are struggling valiantly to produce content remotely at a time when in-person contact is restricted. That means remote production and cloud-based tools have become more important than ever. The same is true for repurposing content. Even in the best of times, media companies have been keen to monetise their existing content. After all, some of these companies have vast asset repositories, and what better way to get more bang for the production buck than by using an asset in multiple ways, such as localising it for a new audience in another country? In this time of limited production options, repurposing content can be a critical source of revenue. Then there’s the direct-to-consumer model, in which media companies avoid distribution points and go over the top directly to the viewer. To do it, they must be able to go through their libraries to sort, find, create, and distribute a piece of content, usually in four or five different versions, depending on the customer, geography, etc.
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Even at the highest level, corporations like NBC are reassessing their strategies in light of the pandemic, deciding what media products they want to bring to the market and what technologies they need to make it happen. Those three scenarios – remote production, content repurposing, and directto-consumer delivery – are driving media companies to seek help creating compelling and compliant content more quickly, while adhering to government and internal standards and practices at the time of distribution. Most media companies are taking a serious look at AI and machine learning to help with this task. There are clearly some discrete applications that are prime candidates for AI. Content enrichment is one such example. At anytime, you can add intelligence in the form of metadata; and at any point in the chain, you can produce better, more targetted content more quickly – and a lot more of it. In pre-production and post-production workflows, a classic use case is to enhance the metadata of existing assets. AI can “watch” or “listen” and tag content in an existing library faster
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“AI technologies have improved substantially in the past several years in terms of accuracy, but the big barrier to adoption in the media industry has been practical application” Russell Wise, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Digital Nirvana
and more accurately than humans ever could. Or media companies can rely on AI to index any incoming feed so that metadata already exists before the content even enters the main system. In either case, having more – and more accurate – metadata speeds up the search process and accelerates content creation. In one real-world example, a news website must deliver video within one hour of hitting post-production. The company uses speech-to-text engines to tag the video on its many incoming feeds, which makes it possible to meet deadlines and provide captions. Likewise, two major sports leagues are using AI for real-time captioning during live sports broadcasts. In all
cases, AI helps broadcasters get content to air faster with better-quality captions – and without using human labour to do it. Repurposing and localisation is another area where AI is critical. Once there is enriched content in the repository, it’s easy for media companies to repurpose it. For instance, they can use AI to translate content and localise it for other geographies. That’s exactly what one Spanish-language broadcaster is doing. AI takes Spanish content and captions it in different languages for different markets. AI is also very useful where quality assurance is concerned. So, on the far end of the chain, for instance, there’s content distribution. This is where broadcasters check to see if content is compliant to local government standards, like the FCC, or their own internal standards, like a style guide. They can use AI to assess, for example, the quality and accuracy of captions, which is becoming an issue in countries with stringent captioning laws. Monitoring is another element worth considering. AI comes in handy when weeding out objectionable content, such as unacceptable language or images that would violate strict rules if they were to go on air. AI engines such as image and speech recognition can monitor and automatically flag such issues for review instead of a human continually viewing it. Likewise, AI can automatically quantify logo insertions, product placements, ads or even the number of times a given person appeared within a broadcast – all information that can correspond to billing. AI technologies have improved substantially in the past years in terms of accuracy, but the big barrier to adoption in the media industry has been
practical application. That is, how to insert it into the content workflow. Take speech-to-text, for example. Broadcasters can get a lot of value from a speech-to-text engine, but it's difficult for them just to order one. It has to come with management tools. It has to have a good UI and basic user functionality to get the full benefit. Fortunately, there are companies that have built a solid workflow that lets broadcasters harness the power of AI. For instance, some products allow users to upload media through a portal to a cloud-based system. Once the content is there, the system essentially does all the work – transcription, translation, captioning, and monitoring. Users can set up presets to publish captions in the format required by the distributor, which is a pretty big thing, especially with Netflix. There are some basic tools for, say, editing the transcription, sort of like a word processor. There’s also a set of management tools that lets users do things like assign, hand off, and track the progress of jobs. And when it’s time for content delivery, a content monitor automatically checks for compliance, quality and more. The big benefits of AI in the content creation workflow are increased speed and reduced effort. The whole idea is to get the rudimentary, repetitive work away from humans. This way, humans can be creative while repetitive tasks can be designated to AI.
Russell Wise is Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Digital Nirvana.
October 2020 | www.broadcastprome.com | 29
PROOTT
Archana Anand, Chief Business Officer at Zee5 Global, was responsible for the launch of the streaming service in India and later, globally.
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PROOTT
STRIKING GOLD WITH STREAMING
Zee5 Global has made bold strides across the globe with its vast repertoire of Indian content. In an exclusive interview with BroadcastPro ME, Archana Anand, Chief Business Officer at Zee5 Global, discusses her OTT journey and how the ambitious Indian brand intends to remain a strong streaming presence in MENA homes How did you come to be involved in the OTT sector? Telco VAS was quite the sunrise industry a decade ago and was where I spent close to over seven years prior to Zee. OnMobile Global was a pioneer in the space and I handled the then INR 100 Cr ($13.5m) infotainment portfolio, lending a holistic understanding of consumer products, content, marketing, user experience, localisation and the telco ecosystem. I also launched some successful digital products during my tenure there, and so it was quite a natural progression for me to move into the digital space, especially as the online entertainment space was really gaining momentum. I joined Zee in 2015 and it’s been an exciting journey since then. I’ve helmed four OTT services including building out two of them right from inception. And I’ve built out the core strategies and launched Zee5, first in India and then internationally across 190+ countries -- all in the last five years. It’s been quite an adventure, and one I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. Would this lockdown be considered the biggest turning point for the OTT industry? Yes, absolutely. The lockdown has been that single common factor across the globe that has drastically impacted the way we consume content, and that’s been a gamechanger for the OTT industry the world over. Stuck at home and with movie theatres closed during the lockdown, people ended up experimenting and engaging with content across platforms, and we have noticed drastic changes in viewership patterns. Not only that, it’s also driven an increasing uptake of subscriptions as people have become more open to the idea of paying for premium content. While the peaks that one has seen during the March-to-June period may be tapering
off, the focus is now on retaining these viewers with more differentiated and engaging content. I do believe there are some very fundamental shifts that have happened which will continue to drive strong growth in the OTT space. How has Zee5 evolved since it first came into being? The platform has evolved significantly since we launched globally. While we started off with a massive on-demand content library of 100,000 hours of content across genres, today we have expanded that, not only in width but also in depth. We’ve added multiple new genres of content, including news, cineplays, live etc. We recently launched a new short-form video product that will soon be available in global markets as well. Today, Zee5 is probably the most prolific creator of content globally, and has also been very aggressive on digital premieres. We have added content in Arabic and with that, we now offer content across 18 languages globally. We have also expanded our presence across devices by adding all the key connected device brands. We’ve been aggressive on our partnerships and teamed up with leading telcos and ecosystem partners across our priority markets, and added on payment wallets for seamless access to our content. How does Zee5 view technology for its platform? Technology is one of the most critical drivers of the platform, with the key objective of delivering best-in-class user experience. We use multi-tier CDNs, which ensure a seamless streaming experience for our audiences. Machine learning/Artificial Intelligence engines use individual user level engagement inputs for personalised recommendations, helping users discover content. Furthermore, the platform is
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PROOTT
Zee5 Global offers 100,000 hours of content delivered in 18 languages including Hindi, English, Bengali, Malayalam and Tamil.
loosely coupled with a microservicesbased architecture, to adapt to the challenges of the constant evolution happening within OTT. How are you securing your platform and protecting your business from pirates? We use multi-DRM technology to dissuade piracy. We also have an anti-piracy task force that constantly monitors open video sharing platforms to check for misuse and to control piracy of our content. We are now looking to build a digital video fingerprinting system, which will help us to further crack down on piracy. What is your opinion about challenges as a woman at work? When one walks into work, one is rarely, if ever, thinking of one's gender. I walk into work as a focussed professional with set goals to achieve and go about my day working along with my team towards those. So, any challenges I face are those of a professional and not specific to being a woman. Which genres seem to be faring the best on Zee5? Drama and romance are two genres where we see the highest viewership across the globe including the MENA region. Bollywood is a huge draw across markets, including MENA.
We have a massive library of not just Bollywood blockbusters but also strong regional titles across languages like Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam etc. and this again drives strong viewership for us across markets. Since Bollywood is loved by the local audience in the Middle East, we recently also launched a selection of our content in Arabic. We have dubbed some popular Bollywood films into Arabic for this market and made this selection available for free. This has worked well for us. Our Originals continue to gain huge traction and eyeballs across markets, with our recent launches like the web-series Churails receiving superb reviews in India and across global markets from critics and viewers alike. How is MENA different from some of the other markets you operate in? We see a lot of regional content being consumed in MENA, with nearly as much viewership coming in for Malayalam and Tamil shows as for Hindi content. Shows like Sembaruthi, Pookalam Varavayi and Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Keralam are popular on
“We are now looking to build a digital video fingerprinting system, which will help us to further crack down on piracy” Archana Anand, Chief Business Officer, Zee5 Global
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our platform. Churails, the Pakistani web-series we launched in August, is currently trending as the most watched Original in the Middle East. Yaara, a recently released Hindi crime drama movie has also worked well. Making our movies available in Arabic has been a key part of our localisation initiatives in the market, and this content was launched in April, during the lockdown. We’ve also driven some strong partnerships in the region. Our partnerships with Eurostar, the LuLu Group, ZNAP, Omantel and Wego are among the many we already have in place. We’ve also partnered with Oman’s key telcos, Ooredoo and Omantel, and telcos in the UAE also, with several more tie-ups in the pipeline. Zee5 has released many films on its streaming platform, while skipping the theatrical window? Has this been beneficial? Yes, it absolutely has. With movie theatres being shut and most other entertainment activities also being limited, people have been eagerly awaiting the digital release of movies. We’ve had a very strong line-up of world digital premieres including the recently released Naseeruddin Shah starrer Mee Raqsam, Ghoomketu, Yaara, Chintu ka Birthday etc. The exclusivity of
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the offering helps us attract cinema goers and online viewers looking for new content. A direct OTT release also gives these films an instant global window across the 190+ markets that we have a presence in, thus driving strong visibility. Do you see TVOD as the future of OTT and where do you see the streaming business heading? TVOD is an integral part of OTT, especially in markets where consumers are already spoilt for choice with multiple platforms. TVOD acknowledges that the content that a consumer loves is available not on one single platform but across multiple such platforms. It gives consumers the flexibility to make content-led choices, where they can buy into long-term subscriptions perhaps on one or two platforms without getting into any commitments on the others. What kind of content, according to you, works best for the OTT model: Original, curated or hybrid? Both do equally well. They tend to attract different audience segments. We have fabulous TV shows across languages and that attracts a segment
“Originals ... are bringing in a brand-new audience segment that’s looking for differentiated content; new age stories that they can relate to” Archana Anand, Chief Business Officer, Zee5 Global of loyal audiences who can now watch this content on Zee5, especially people who have recently moved abroad for work or studies. Our Originals, on the other hand, are bringing in a brandnew audience segment that’s looking for differentiated content; new age stories that they can relate to. Both genres work superbly well on OTT. Are you back to full-time shooting? Shooting for Originals has commenced, although not at full capacity. Some of our Originals are scheduled for shoot in the upcoming months with the utmost safety measures in place. How has the lockdown changed your numbers and what are you doing to retain your viewers? We’ve seen a very sharp uptake across both viewership and subscriptions
Mee Raqsam, a Zee5 original film, has been chosen as the opening film at the Coalition of South Asian Film Festivals (CoSAFF), which will run from October 3-18, 2020.
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during the lockdown. There was a 60% uptake in the number of new subscriptions globally. There was a huge growth in viewership during this period across global markets, even higher in markets like the Middle East and Canada, with Originals being a key driver of this viewership spike. There was a jump in the viewership of kids’ content by nearly 80% during this period as well with schools being closed. With markets now slowly moving out of lockdown, we are working on multiple plans to continue engaging people on our platform through a constant stream of new show launches and Direct-to-Digital movie releases. Our TV shows across languages are also back on air and that’s something that viewers have been looking forward to. Going forward, we’re also working on many product-led initiatives that will offer much better personalisation and an improved user experience. All these will be key to helping us deliver not only great content but also a superb viewing experience for our audiences. What age groups seem to be using your app the most? Nearly 75% of our users tend to be in the 18-34 years age segment. During the lockdown, we saw a spike in viewership across all age segments including older audiences and kids. However, with the majority being in the millennial and Gen Z segments, the audience behaviour and characteristics echo that cohort. We also have a wellbalanced male-female equation. We have a lot of content on Zee5 that’s universal in its appeal and not really age specific, like TV shows and Bollywood movies for instance, and these draw in viewers across age groups. We’ve seen about a 50% + growth in the number of people aged 55+ years coming onto the platform especially during the March to May period. - Vijaya Cherian
PROVIEWPOINT
BUILDING MEDIA FACILITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST: PLAYING BY DIFFERENT RULES
Well-built media facilities with good infrastructure across the entire production chain are critical to attracting good local and global productions to a country. Yusuf Butti, Head of Media Technology at twofour54, takes us through local practices including an understanding of rules with regards to telcos, cloud and connectivity that are essential to building a successful facility in the region Every country and culture has its own set of unique rules and practices, and what works in one place may not necessarily work elsewhere. This is just as true for building a media facility in the Middle East. While there are some best practices that are important across the board, there are also some regional elements to pay special attention to. If you intend to develop a facility in the region, you will first need to conduct an initial analysis of the project and its stakeholders. This is critical to support the sponsor's strategic decision while developing a good business model. There are also internal and external factors to consider. The most crucial element is the local environment in which it operates. The local ecosystem will define the business model, the design of the facility, the operational plan, training plan, talent acquisition, and other technical requirements. Here, we will look at various factors that aid in building a modern and future-proof media facility in the region. This is aimed at national broadcasters, international production companies as well as YouTube (or MCN) channel operators among others. Determine the Right Business Model Building a successful and sustainable media facility requires
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supporting the strategic goals of the industry. It needs a comprehensive business model that takes into account the technical infrastructure, relevant market, talent pool, local rules and regulations as well as other radical factors. All results will be used to define the physical design and operational strategy of the business. Let's go over the most important factors of a comprehensive business model for a media facility. Economic Environment Media facilities have to consider the cost of living, wages, education fees, real estate values, and other costs associated with the average standard of living in the area. Based on the CSI Market and E&Y studies, the average net profit margin in the media industry is between 9% and 13%. This margin presents challenges for controlling the operating expenses of the business and keeping track of economic fluctuation. Technical Infrastructure Each Arab country has its own distinct costs, regulations, and policies. The GCC has the most expensive telecommunications and broadband packages in the world. For example, the average
PROVIEWPOINT
A trained workforce has a positive impact on a company's business model and effectively reduces operational costs, says Yusuf Butti.
cost of a broadband package in the UAE is $157.10. Other comparable costs for broadband packages include $150.63 in Oman, $96.26 in Bahrain, and $95.72 in Saudi Arabia. The rest of the world, however, enjoys good broadband connectivity at approximately $73. As far as regulations are concerned, GCC countries have some restrictive policies in place regarding the use of public cloud services. There is concern around how security issues might arise from their usage. Here are some of the policies: • All government-owned companies in GCC countries must operate satellite businesses and teleport services. • Government entities should not host any data with a nongovernment cloud service provider. • The business model must include a collaboration with the telecommunications and satellite operators. These high costs may not be attractive to international businesses. Fortunately, technologies such as satellite broadband or cloud-based streaming can provide alternative services to reduce operational costs . Logistics and Support Services Logistics is critical in film production. For instance, the production might require props of World War II weaponry, such as German tanks and rifles. If there are explosions in the film, then special permits must be obtained from the local government of the area. They will require specialised procedures to be followed when handling the explosive devices for the special effects. Many industries run into difficulties when trying to obtain the necessary visas and work permits. Not only are they expensive, but the required procedures that must be followed are time-consuming. Therefore, the visas and permits can have a negative impact on productions that must film in regional and international locations
“GCC countries have some restrictive policies in place regarding the use of public cloud services. There is concern around how security issues might arise from their usage” Yusuf Butti, Head of Media Technology, twofour54 while on a tight schedule. This issue can be solved by providing skilled talents. Skills and Talent The availability of skilled and talented people is a necessity in every industry or market infrastructure. If there is a vast pool of knowledgeable freelance workers available for a company, then it can have a positive impact on their business model and the international production cost. Foreign investors and international production companies are very attracted to locations with lots of talented people living in them. When a trained workforce is in place, it reduces the operational costs and production costs for a business. Foreign companies want to set up their own businesses in these locations so that they can benefit from the skilled workforce in the area. Initial Government Support Like any sponsored initiative, the business must go through several phases of growth. Each phase reflects a different level of support from the sponsor, which would be the government in this case. The main objective of the business is
to become commercially viable by generating high streams of revenue from private enterprises. The firm must create several milestones that work towards achieving its goals. For instance, I have created two stages of a Privatisation Cycle Model that requires a relationship to be established between sponsors so that business privatisation can be achieved (see Figure 1). Phase 1 is to set up the business. The company will require support from its sponsors or the government for infrastructure development, land, logistics, workforce, working capital, and so on. Once the district shows stability, the private sector will become more involved in the company's operations. That is when the district becomes sustainable, with the ability to fund itself. Phase 2 is for the business to mature. As the private sector becomes more involved in the company, it builds more trust in the district. The level of government support will decrease by this point. The government will only be available in strategic areas that require incentives or ad hoc joint venture deals. However, such arrangements are likely to vary from case to case. The Concept Design Phase The previous factors serve as input to be used for developing the conceptual model of the initial designs. As the business grows and advances to the next stages, the business owner will test previous results and create the financial model and initial budget calculations of the project. Technological Impact Modern businesses cannot ignore the advantages and innovations of technology. The concept design must include advanced technology to reduce operating costs and increase revenue. In a media facility, technology offers speed, efficiency, and agility while cloud computing and sharing services reduces operational costs significantly.
October 2020 | www.broadcastprome.com | 37
PROVIEWPOINT
Figure 1: Privatisation Cycle Model
Likewise, mobility and remote connectivity and IP will gain more significance. In addition, automation and digital transformation as well as communication and connectivity will help reduce future operating costs and infrastructure expenses. Physical Building This is a key concern here. Creating a new facility or converting an existing warehouse into a production facility has its advantages and disadvantages. It is important to have the right consultant to provide a localised design based on materials available in the market and one that keeps in mind the climatic challenges. For instance, if you want to convert an existing warehouse into a production facility, you need to address the high rent costs associated with your lease. But if you were to invest in building a new facility, you have more control over the client's rent costs. This allows you to build a private network and reduce dependence on telecommunication service providers. Studio functionality is no longer limited to a physical space. In the future, the only live productions available will probably involve the use of virtual studios' technology and green studios, where the turnaround time between shows will only take a few seconds because it is so much easier to utilise space. As a result, it is helpful to build a medium to large size studio or stage with a large, covered backlot. The backlot will come in use for outdoor shoots. The new technology might help move the outside shooting to close medium-sizes studios as in the case of The Mandalorian produced by Disney+, in which they used the Epic Unreal Engine to render real-time sets. Weather is another element to consider as it can cause serious delays in your shooting schedule. So, my first advice is to build a self-contained studio with the rest of the amenities around it to ensure that the whole team can safely work indoors in
PHASE 1
PHASE 2
Business Setup
Business Maturity Milestones 1. Content hours 2. International production 3. International anchors
Private Sectors Involvement
Government Involvement
case of a sand storm or similar issues. During the pandemic, film and television production required a closely controlled environment. In fact, this requirement is essential in all forms of media production. One of the most functional designs that works well during a pandemic is what I call the "Zoning Concept." In such a design, each zone can be isolated, with all of its support functions in place. Film studios can benefit from having production offices, medium-sized VFX stages, compact space for exterior greenery, and a large stage for filming scenes. Likewise, TV broadcasters can benefit from zoning because of the security and isolation it provides. Another important factor to consider is the data centre and cloud infrastructure. The market analysis and infrastructure readiness can define the needs of a data centre as part of the costing and pricing model. A country needs dependable internet services, reasonable cost control methods, and the right
“It is important to have the right consultant to provide a localised design based on materials available in the market and one that keeps in mind the climatic challenges� Yusuf Butti, Head of Media Technology, twofour54
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data centre or cloud provider. It is more feasible to build a strategic partnership and then outsource the services. However, if you want to develop a world-class certified data centre, then it might need to be constructed internally. That way, you can do a better job of supporting the industry and attracting international investors and control the high connectivity costs and attract the government business. It’s equally important to consider power conception and green building. Studios primarily used tungsten lights up until ten years ago. That was when studios decided to stop using them because they consume too much power. Also, based on the tough weather and humidity of the environment, the air conditioning in the studios needed to stay on 24/7. It increased the cost of all media production in these studios. Nowadays, studios utilise a hybrid solution that combines solar power with conventional power for their lighting and energy needs. So, while sound isolation remains essential and is talked about a lot, heat isolation is equally crucial to reduce energy utilisation. My concluding statement would be to consider building a dynamic, future-proof facility should you decide to have one in the region. If you are going to invest in a facility, let it be one that will stand the test of time.
PROGUEST
“With traditional ways hindered by the pandemic, producers are getting creative�
How are entertainment networks fighting the pandemic It is no secret that the Covid-19 pandemic has provoked a global economic slowdown that put a damper on many industries. One of the areas that is bucking the trend is the global OTT services market, which has seen a positive impact, with a 198% growth in traffic in April 2020 as people around the world were (and in many cases still are) mandated to stay home. Despite this, the market is projected to charge ahead and reach $438.5bn by 2026. As we continue to see growth for OTT demand in the Middle East and around the world, the concern now lies in the ability of these services to continue producing new content to satisfy the viewing needs of their audiences. Many of the world's biggest production houses and major OTT streaming services have built their reputation on their ability to continuously offer new content to their subscribers. But as this pandemic delays and suspends the production of films and TV series, how can these services find ways to continue fulfilling the expectations of users? Production and distribution in the time of Covid-19 As viewership spikes, the pressure is on production houses to keep churning out new programmes to keep up with the content-starved subscribers. Unfortunately, the pipeline for new shows has been forced to slow down, with social distancing and complete production shutdowns impacting the ability of casts and crews to film liberally. To keep up with demand, the Middle
East is turning things around on the production side. The Dubai Film and TV Commission is again issuing film permits, with strict social distancing measures that include limited people on set. Alongside this positive move to produce new shows, film companies are handing major releases to streaming platforms despite disrupting their traditional revenue model which relies on theatrical distribution. The move towards Premium VOD (PVOD) is becoming a trend, where studios allow audiences to watch their first run movies at home. Why are they doing this? The reason is because this arrangement benefits both consumers and the studios. For the studios, it means they can still monetise new theatrical content in an age where people are not physically able to step into a movie theatre, thereby allowing them to continue producing new content. For consumers, it simply means they can now watch high-quality, first-run movies from their own home. New ways to facilitate production With traditional ways hindered by the pandemic, producers are getting creative with new content. Content producers are leveraging technology to experiment with content and collaborate with each other. For example, Sky News Arabia pulled together multi-site production teams across Abu Dhabi and other locations in the UAE and regionally to remotely edit and publish content live. With cloud-based video and editing tools, they are piecing
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together quality news programmes. Retaining subscribers OTT services are rethinking their marketing strategy so that they remain enticing and relevant to users. Bundling content is one approach. UAE telco, Etisalat, for instance, is offering higher internet speeds bundled with value-added digital services that allow for easy content streaming, alongside other family members who may be working from home and sharing the same bandwidth. Streaming services are looking at new ways to retain customers. To be successful not only in the Middle East but globally, it is important to understand payment and content preferences. Thinking outside the box, StarzPlay explored the e-voucher path, for instance, by partnering with regional gift voucher platforms and e-voucher distributors, allowing people to purchase subscriptions for friends and family during the Eid Al Adha break. The path ahead With the pandemic showing no signs of slowing down, OTT services will need to stay creative and ensure they have enough in the pipeline to keep feeding contentstarved subscribers. They should also keep an open mind and focus on delivering value to customers. To survive, they must be nimble and agile enough to pivot quickly, even if it means stepping away from legacy mindsets. Taking a proactive approach, rather than reactive, may just be the determining factor of where OTT services stand at the end of this tunnel. Paolo Cuttorelli is VP and GM (APAC) of Evergent.
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