JOHN LICKRISH

JOHN LICKRISH, CEO, FLASH ENTERTAINMENT

THE FLASH ENTERTAINMENT CEO CATCHES UP WITH TPMEA AHEAD OF A SERIES OF HIGH-PROFILE EVENTS.

With an extensive role at Expo 2020 as well as several major events around the corner, including Abu Dhabi Showdown Week and the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix, the remainder of 2021 is set to be extremely busy for Flash Entertainment.

While the constant threat of COVID-19 adds a note of caution to any positive projections, the sudden upturn in business, coupled with an aggressive regional expansion plan, seems to have the Abu Dhabi-based organisation on the path to success. Here, CEO, John Lickrish explains how the company is planning to deliver some of the year’s biggest events. What can you tell us about Flash Entertainment’s involvement at Expo 2020? We are super excited to be part of this project; it’s a testament to the business and the team’s capabilities. We are delighted that the Expo 2020 organisers are trusting us to deliver such a robust entertainment programme in front of the world.

While we have historically been linked to Abu Dhabi rather than Dubai, we’ve always said that we are here for the whole of the UAE and wider region, and our goal is to showcase the tremendous capabilities of the country and the assets that it has. As far as the specifics of our supply, we are delivering all the entertainment throughout the site – aside from the headline artists, which is being handled separately.

It’s a huge project that involves hundreds of entertainers spread across the two stages and all over the Expo 2020 site for the duration of the event. We describe it as ‘tactical entertainment’, as while it might not necessarily be the main draw that people put on their calendars, it will add an incredible amount of atmosphere throughout the event site.

One of our most important goals with the entertainment programme is to promote Arabic and specifically Emirati culture. Many people associate the UAE with its big international

Flash Entertainment CEO, John Lickrish.

events such as the Formula One in Abu Dhabi, or its famous landmarks such as the Burj Khalifa and Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, but the country has so much more to offer than that. This is an opportunity to really get under the skin of the UAE and to show an international audience what an open, welcoming, and tolerant culture it is.

This project has given us the opportunity to provide a platform for a wide variety of artists who represent the diverse community within the UAE. From contemporary to traditional, dance and spoken word, there are a huge variety of acts that are tailored to the region.

How have you been working during this period of relative downtime to ensure that you’re ready for the sudden influx of live events? We are always growing the Flash Entertainment team, and by the start of Expo 2020, we should have roughly 100 people on full-time contracts. We spent a lot of time in 2020 revamping some of our IPs and creating new IPs. We developed partnerships with media as well as the private sector and government; we also built numerous business plans for other territories in the region and are working with various business entities outside the UAE.

For Expo 2020 specifically, we are working alongside the Fridge and HQ Worldwide, both of which provide a lot of skillsets that are very well suited for the project. It’s important to remember that this is a huge project taking place over a six-month period and, like every great project, it’s better to go in with a consolidated effort initially than try to take it on alone only to call in external companies later. As a government-owned company, it’s also our duty to support the private sector; we’re not here to become the one entity that does everything. We’ve worked with both companies on many projects in the past and it’s great to have them onboard again for this one.

What kind of legacy will Expo 2020 leave? We’re going to see an exposure of some of these niche and up-and-coming performers to a global audience, which will hopefully spur an interest in Arabic culture and shine a light on how we all live in harmony here in the UAE.

The more tangible part of the legacy will be the extensive infrastructure that has been built for Expo 2020. What the country’s leaders and organisers have done with this facility is truly outstanding and once the event has finished, there is a great opportunity for these venues to continue to serve the community. As promoters, we understand the cost of putting in place temporary infrastructure to host events. So, these facilities present an opportunity for many smaller events to happen without the large overheads that would usually be incurred when setting up temporary infrastructure. That should encourage artists, managers, and agents to put on more shows, providing a boost for the local scene.

Aside from Expo 2020, how is the rest of the year looking for Flash Entertainment? We have an aggressive growth plan starting in October. We’re working with our partners at the Department of Culture & Tourism – Abu Dhabi again on the operational delivery and ticket sales for the return of Abu Dhabi Showdown Week after delivering three successful UFC Fight Island events. Abu Dhabi Showdown, which is headlined by UFC 267 on Saturday, 30 October will once again look to activate the entire city.

The Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December is another major undertaking, and the brief is for that to be bigger and better than ever. We want to make sure we’re still the favourite stop on the entire Formula One season. It’s the last race of the year – a celebration where people have come to expect an extremely high calibre of artist at the Yasalam After-Race Concerts. We’ve put together a very strong line-up already, including Khalid and Lewis Capaldi.

We have also recently announced the return of our flagship tennis event, the Mubadala World

Tennis Championship, which will take place between 16-18 December. Returning for its 13th edition, we are delighted that we will see the return of spectators for the event in line with government regulations.

Since its inception, the Mubadala World Tennis Championship has proven to be incredibly popular with people from Abu Dhabi and around the world, so to be able to announce its return, with fans in attendance, is a very special moment for us. We look forward to announcing another world-class line-up and welcoming the world’s best tennis players back to Abu Dhabi.

Will capacity limits dictate how the Formula One concerts are run? This year’s event will be slightly different to previous years, but we have done everything possible to ensure that ticketholders get plenty of non-stop entertainment on and off the track. Attendees will need to prove that they are fully vaccinated and have a negative PCR test valid from no more than 48 hours before the event. The concerts meanwhile will see four of the biggest names in music perform from Thursday to Sunday, with weekend ticketholders given the choice of seeing one AAA international artist on a first-come-first-served basis, while one-day ticketholders will only be able to attend the concert on the night of their ticket.

Abu Dhabi has been relatively conservative up to now when it comes to ‘opening up’, quite rightly putting the health of its citizens above all else. That said, there will come a point when things need to relax, and we will have to reach full capacity again. It then falls on us as individuals to take all the precautions to stay as safe as possible. We take precautions in other areas of life and, moving forward, COVID-19 will be no different. People need to realise that it’s a different world now and we all need to knuckle down and do what’s necessary. How important is your link up with the UFC and how will you be supporting that relationship in the future? It is a fantastic partnership between UFC and the Department of Culture & Tourism - Abu Dhabi, which will continue until 2023 at least. Working closely with our partners at the Department of Culture & Tourism – Abu Dhabi, to deliver the on-ground operations of UFC’s events in Abu Dhabi during the pandemic, we’ve had some amazing fights out here in the past, including the first Fight Island, which was a global first. At Fight Island, we delivered a major international, globally televised event before the likes of NBA and the English Premier League created their ‘bubbles’ to get sports back up and running during lockdown. We’re incredibly excited to now welcome UFC back to Abu Dhabi, at the Etihad Arena again.

you see the split between the two venues? The government has invested a lot of capital in building a top-class piece of infrastructure in the Etihad Arena. Having a state-of-the-art facility like this means that we can do a lot more events, turn them around quicker and more cost effectively and provide the customer with an even better experience. It also gives incoming acts a fixed venue that is much more in line with world-class concert touring globally. It’s a real game changer for us.

Of course, we’ll still use both Etihad Arena and Etihad Park; in fact, we see the two venues going hand in hand. Etihad Park is more of a festival-style setup and its proximity to the Yas Marina Circuit makes it ideal for the Yasalam After-Race Concerts.

What is the latest on your planned expansion into surrounding territories? We already have a small branch in Dubai, which we are hoping to expand this Autumn, bringing on more full-time staff to service that. We’re also looking to open our Saudi Arabia office around the same time, which we will put a lot of human resources into. We’re looking to recruit primarily Saudi talent, but it will be supplemented by trusted team members from Flash Entertainment’s HQ, who will be able to help instil the correct corporate culture and lead on the way we do things. It’s very important for us to maintain our brand while we expand into different territories.

We believe that there is a huge opportunity in Saudi Arabia, and we’ve got lofty ambitions within the Kingdom. We want to bring some of what we’ve learned in the early days of Abu Dhabi’s development into the early days of Saudi Arabia’s development. A lot of our experience will transfer directly, but at the same time we want to create something unique for Saudi Arabia that will stand the test of time, and we need the input of Saudi nationals to help shape that. All these developments are part of a long-term vision that will create a regional hub, bringing with it a genuine touring route for the Middle East. Photos: Flash Entertainment www.flashentertainment.com