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DISCOP Dubai
WWW.WORLDSCREEN.COM
THE MAGAZINE OF INTERNATIONAL MEDIA • FEBRUARY 2018
Special Report: Selling to the Middle East Interviews: Mark Strong & Matthew Parkhill / Turner’s Tarek Mounir
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CONTENTS
FEBRUARY 2018/DISCOP DUBAI EDITION DEPARTMENTS WORLD VIEW By Anna Carugati.
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UPFRONTS New content on the market.
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SPOTLIGHT Deep State’s Mark Strong & Matthew Parkhill.
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Publisher Ricardo Seguin Guise Group Editorial Director Anna Carugati Editor Mansha Daswani Executive Editor Kristin Brzoznowski Managing Editor Joanna Padovano Tong
IN THE NEWS Turner’s Tarek Mounir.
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WORLD’S END In the stars.
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SPECIAL REPORT
14 REACH FOR THE SKIES A range of distributors weigh in about the demand for content from linear and digital platforms across the Middle East.
Associate Editor Sara Alessi Editor, Spanish-Language Publications Elizabeth Bowen-Tombari Associate Editor, Spanish-Language Publications Rafael Blanco Editorial Assistant, Spanish-Language Publications Jessica Ávila Contributing Editor Elizabeth Guider Production & Design Director Victor L. Cuevas Online Director Simon Weaver Art Director Phyllis Q. Busell Senior Sales & Marketing Manager Dana Mattison Sales & Marketing Coordinator Nathalia Lopez Business Affairs Manager Andrea Moreno Contributing Writers Steve Clarke Andy Fry Jane Marlow Joanna Stephens Jay Stuart David Wood Copy Editor Marina Chao
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Ricardo Seguin Guise President Anna Carugati Executive VP Mansha Daswani Associate Publisher & VP of Strategic Development
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WORLD VIEW
BY ANNA CARUGATI
News Divides, Fiction Unites If, like me, you have been felled by this ghastly flu—I wish my children still clung to me the way this bug has—you have had time to binge-watch and read, if energy levels allowed, and think. Mostly, through bouts of a hacking cough, chills and body aches, I felt increasingly anxious about falling behind at work. As my mind was jumping from one worry to another, I just succumbed to the fact that I couldn’t do anything productive, reached for the remote control and watched TV. News from Washington, D.C., only increased my angst and anguish and reminded me of the sorry state we’re in—not just in politics, but as news consumers. I know that as we age, we are drawn to pulling out the rose-tinted glasses of memory and looking back with longing at the way we were. What is not distorted by nostalgia is the observation that there was a time when although we had differing opinions—on everything from politics to the role of government to how we educated our children to the company we kept and the career and lifestyle choices we made—we based our viewpoints on a common set of facts. And we received those facts from news media that, while often imperfect and even then accused of bias, was more interested in the who, what, where, when, why and how much than with offering commentary. Now it’s true that newspapers expressed their viewpoint from their editorial pages, and it’s also true that outside the U.S., there were newspapers and TV channels that were mouthpieces for political parties. But in the U.S., before the mid-1990s, respectable news outlets saw themselves as watchdogs of elected officials— local, state and national—with a job of keeping them accountable to the citizens who put them in office. Objectivity was the goal; often missed, but it was the holy grail of journalism. And television news, with its unmatched ability to bring together sound and images, saw its supreme calling in covering breaking news. It was hard to dispute what had happened or who said what when you had it recorded on tape. I am neither a scholar nor a historian, I’ve just been working as a journalist since the 1980s, and if nothing more than as a reader and a viewer, I have seen how journalism has changed. The infusion of opinion in the news, even if I agree with the viewpoint, still makes me break out in hives. And the marriage of opinion and news has, in my view, led to a dangerous threat to democracy. We no longer base our opinions on a common set of accepted facts. As a result of the explosion of “news” outlets, at first viewed as the ultimate
Why don’t we expect
accuracy and truth in our news when the
buzzword for scripted fare is authenticity?
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democratization of the media, we seek reports and context that match and support our beliefs. In the process, facts have become “alternative facts,” a euphemism for falsehoods or lies. And fake news has infected mainstream and social media in as deadly a manner as the flu virus has attacked individuals this season. Clearly, I was not helping my recovery from the flu by getting so upset about the state of news media. So I decided to switch to scripted fare, catching up on dramas and sampling new ones. I quickly came to a startling realization: we don’t require the same veracity of our news as we do of our dramas. We have come to expect the highest production values, the most sophisticated special effects, the smartest writing and the most nuanced performances. We readily squeal if traffic signs or rooftop TV antennas appear in exterior shots on period dramas; or if wrist watches peek out from clothing in a Renaissance piece; or if costumes, props or music don’t match a depicted period; or if voir dire or arrests aren’t properly represented. Why don’t we expect accuracy and truth in our news when the buzzword for scripted fare is authenticity? Dramas and comedies seek out universal themes that can appeal to viewers in multiple countries, not only because artists want their work seen by as many people as possible, but because these high-end dramas have created an economic imperative. A drama needs to sell as widely as possible to recoup the cost of producing it. And these costs have been driven up by the caliber of talent—in front of and behind the screen—that is now bringing these series and limited series to life. We remain compartmentalized in our news consumption, while at the same time we seek topics and issues we can relate to in the scripted fare we watch. Shows with universal themes are selling everywhere, including in the Middle East. The growing vibrancy of the media landscape in the region, driven by the launch of several streaming platforms, will be in evidence at DISCOP Dubai this month. In this issue, we have a Q&A with Mark Strong, the star of Deep State, a spy thriller that is Fox Networks Group Europe & Africa’s first regional scripted commission, and with Matthew Parkhill, the show’s co-creator, writer and director. We also speak with Tarek Mounir, Turner’s VP and general manager of the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey. If news can be divisive, fiction can unite, reminding us we are part of humanity. We not only fall victim to viruses, we are also drawn to stories about courage, resilience, good and evil, and love.
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UPFRONTS
Calinos Entertainment Our Story / Woman / Emergency Love Universal plotlines are featured in Calinos Entertainment’s DISCOP Dubai slate, which includes the dramas Our Story, Woman and Emergency Love. “Woman tells the story of Bahar—a single mother and a strong, independent woman—who, after the return of her mother 20 years later, has to face a new dimension of suspense while discovering the mysterious circumstances that led to the death of her husband,” says Asli Serim Guliyev, the company’s international sales director. The show stars Özge Özpirinçci, Caner Cindoruk, Bennu Yildirimlar and Seray Kaya. Our Story, meanwhile, features a cast led by Hazal Kaya and Burak Deniz, among others. The series follows Filiz, whom Serim Guliyev describes as “the typical older sister who has become the mother of the family, having to look after her five siblings and her alcoholic father. She soon finds love in a mysterious guy with a dark past. It is a story full of adventures, love triangles, passion and suspense.” Emergency Love, which stars Serhat Teoman, Duygu Yetiş, Rojda Demirer and Tamer Tiraşoğlu, is “a lighthearted romantic hospital drama, which suits the taste of modern TV viewers,” adds Serim Guliyev. The show centers on Sinan, a successful young doctor working in an emergency room, and Nisan, a clumsy girl who becomes Sinan’s new assistant doctor.
Woman
“The MENA region has always been one of the largest importers of Turkish series.” —Asli Serim Guliyev
Fox Networks Group Content Distribution Deep State / In Another Life / Genius: Einstein Genius: Einstein Mark Strong leads the cast in Deep State, on offer from Fox Networks Group Content Distribution at DISCOP Dubai. The story centers on an ex-spy who is brought back into the field to avenge the death of his son. “Deep State is a topical, relevant and fast-paced espionage thriller dealing with major issues on the international stage such as the links between politics, business and global conflicts,” says Magdalena Szwedkowicz, the company’s VP of content sales for CEE and MENA. “It has a superior cast, is beautifully produced and parts of the story are actually located in the Middle East, so I believe it will have great relevance to buyers in the region.” Also a highlight is In Another Life, about a woman who takes on someone else’s identity in order to escape her oppressive family. “MENA has been embracing top-quality Turkish drama for some time now, and buyers in the region are always interested in hearing about engaging new stories, with real human drama at their core, in order to build loyal audiences,” says Szwedkowicz. There is also Genius: Einstein, an Emmy-nominated biographical drama starring Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson. “Genius: Einstein paints a portrait of the real Albert Einstein in all his complexity,” adds Szwedkowicz. Genius: Picasso, featuring Antonio Banderas, is slated to launch this spring.
“We have everything from world-class drama and factual to brilliant formats and kids’ programming.” —Magdalena Szwedkowicz 12 WORLD SCREEN 2/18
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Impostora
GMA Worldwide Heart and Soul / My Korean Jagiya / Impostora A trio of top-rating dramas leads the slate that GMA Worldwide is presenting to international buyers at the market: Heart and Soul, My Korean Jagiya and Impostora. The first two are prime-time series, while the latter show runs in an afternoon slot. “The goal is to continue making GMA the primary source of quality Filipino content,” says Manuel Paolo Laurena, the company’s senior sales manager. “In general, most viewers—regardless of cultural background or economic class—enjoy stories that they can relate to. These are dramas that focus on real-life experiences, show strong family connections, and portray love and romance. We think dramas and romantic comedies will appeal to buyers in the Middle East because of the enthralling, emotionally driven stories that are loved by young and old alike.”
“DISCOP Dubai is a perfect opportunity to meet buyers from MENA and hopefully start business in the region.” —Manuel Paolo Laurena
Inter Medya
The Pit
The Pit / Mrs. Fazilet and Her Daughters / Broken Wings This year marks the second time Inter Medya is attending DISCOP Dubai. Among the highlights the company is presenting is its newest title, a drama produced by Ay Yapim called The Pit. When a crime family is in danger of losing control of a neighborhood known as “The Pit,” the youngest son is forced to return home. Mrs. Fazilet and Her Daughters is another new highlight. “Perfect for the MENA audience, it tells the story of a single mother from a modest background who dreams of becoming successful and wealthy by using her two daughters,” says Can Okan, the CEO and founder of Inter Medya. Broken Wings is another successful drama that the company believes will work well for DISCOP Dubai buyers. The show is produced by Koliba Film.
“Born from an intersection of cultures and communities, Turkish writers are able to create universal stories that appeal to everyone.” —Can Okan
TV Azteca International
El César
Nothing Personal / Missing Bride / Bad Maids As TV Azteca International celebrates its 25th anniversary, the company is touting Nothing Personal, a police thriller featuring a love story mixed with themes of vengeance and politics. There is also Bad Maids, which follows a protagonist who discovers criminal ties within an employment agency, as well as the mystery series Missing Bride. “We’re also showcasing premium series with high production values like Two Lakes, a terror and suspense thriller, and El César, about the life and times of the great boxer Julio César Chávez,” says Ramón Salomón, the director of operations. He adds that the company is offering a library of traditional telenovelas dubbed in Arabic, including Infamia and Emperatriz. Among the other highlights is María Magdalena, a 60-episode religious story that will be available in the fourth quarter of 2018.
“These shows have given us a prominent place in Mexico and the world as a company that’s willing to take risks and bet on new and different content.” —Ramón Salomón
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Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
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Kristin Brzoznowski surveys a range of distributors about the demand for content from linear and digital platforms across the Middle East. ords like “dynamic,” “diverse,” “challenging” and “changing” come up quite frequently when discussing the current television landscape in the Middle East. Indeed, there are political, social and economic issues facing many countries in the region, and ad budgets are feeling the pinch, but content distributors are shifting their program-sales strategies accordingly. They’re also starting to deal with different players as the pay-TV market continues to grow and competition between global OTT behemoths and local on-demand upstarts heats up. “The Middle East nowadays is a challenging market; it’s not what it used to be four or five years ago,” says Miroslav Radojevic, sales director for the Middle East and Africa at Global Agency. “Faced with lower budgets, channels have been changing their business and programming orientations a bit, and the rest of the chain— producers, advertisers, distribution companies— has accepted the new ground rules.” Global Agency has changed its approach to the market as well, he adds. “We’ve started to focus on regions like North Africa and GCC, as well as Lebanon.” Those moves are paying off, according to Radojevic, with Global Agency returning to DISCOP Dubai this year after a successful event in 2017, armed with a slate of Turkish dramas.
“People in the Middle East love Turkey because of its geographical characteristic, culture and lifestyle, and they love that Turkey is like a bridge between the West and East,” Radojevic says. “It is easier for them to connect with Turkish culture than other international cultures. Tradition is still very important [in people’s lives], but modern conditions and ways of thinking are increasingly playing a strong role. The conflict between tradition and modernity, the past and the present, brings about an incredibly rich environment for a Turkish drama.” Inter Medya is also riding high on the wave of demand for Turkish titles. “The Middle East has always been an important market for Inter Medya and for Turkish products in general,” says Can Okan, the company’s founder and CEO. “We have been selling our drama series as well as our feature films quite successfully in the region and have noted an increasing interest lately.” Okan believes that Turkish dramas resonate with audiences in the Middle East because of their “high production quality, talented performances and intriguing storylines.” Late last year, Inter Medya clinched a deal with OSN for Mrs. Fazilet and Her Daughters and recently signed an agreement for season two. Okan says the series is “perfect for the MENA audience,” with its story of a single mother from a modest background who dreams of becoming successful and wealthy by using her two 2/18 WORLD SCREEN 15
daughters. The company is launching its brandnew title The Pit, produced by Turkish-drama powerhouse Ay Yapim, at DISCOP Dubai.
TURKISH DELIGHT “Until now, the trend that we’ve seen in the MENA region is oriented toward dramatic scenarios and emotional plots,” Okan explains. “Tragic destinies, inevitable conflicts and shocking escalations make Turkish series appealing to Middle Eastern buyers. Lately, we have noticed a lot of interest from the MENA region in our dramedies such as Hayat as well.” Fredrik af Malmborg, the managing director at Eccho Rights, has noted that having A-list talent attached to a Turkish drama is becoming all the more alluring in the Arab market. “If you are going to get paid premium, it’s all about what stars are involved,” he says. “Having a series like Brave and Beautiful—with Kivanç Tatlituğ and Tuba Büyüküstün, who are two big stars in the Middle East—triggers a higher license fee.” Brave and Beautiful is among the Turkish series that Eccho Rights has on air with MBC currently, and Insider will join the lineup soon. The company also recently signed a package deal with beIN for three Turkish dramas to air daily as part of a new entertainment offering in the Middle East: beIN Drama HD1. Eccho Rights is also seeing increasing interest in Indian dramas, according to af Malmborg. The
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company has in its catalog the Star India originals Amla, which is an adaptation of the Turkish hit Fatmagül, and Broken Hearts. “The fees for Indian series are much lower than for Turkish series, but it’s a growth area,” he says. “There is a major population of people in the Middle East of Indian origin and background, and these series also attract a broader audience.” He sees growth prospects for Korean scripted series in the Middle East as well, even though the episode counts are generally shorter than that of Indian and Turkish series, making them a little bit of a tougher sell in the region.
DRAMATIC SHIFT GMA Worldwide, meanwhile, is looking to make inroads into the market with Filipino dramas and is attending DISCOP Dubai for the first time this year to further those efforts. “From our experience in other territories, we find that straight dramas and melodramas are the best sellers,” says Manuel Paolo Laurena, the company’s senior sales manager. “Dramas that illustrate real-life experiences, show strong family connections, love and betrayal, and economic class conflicts may appeal to the viewers from the Middle East, as these kinds of stories have no geographical boundaries.” He says GMA Worldwide has already received several inquiries from buyers in the region for both finished series and remake rights. Magdalena Szwedkowicz, the VP of sales for CEE and MENA at Fox Networks Group (FNG) Content Distribution, also points to scripted as the genre that’s had the most traction in this market thus far. She, too, says Turkish drama is a hot
Brave and Beautiful from Eccho Rights is among the Turkish dramas airing on pan-regional broadcaster MBC. commodity and lists Latin series as being in demand as well. “Whenever we sell Turkish series in this region, we are asked if we have dubbing in Arabic,” says Szwedkowicz. “The smaller channels prefer to buy the series already dubbed; if not, they will have to factor that into their investment.” Middle Eastern buyers are also hungry for Western content, she adds. “Our shows like The Walking Dead, Legion and Genius are perfect fits for them.” She also highlights Deep State, FNG’s first regional scripted commission for Europe and Africa. Even though its high-quality American shows and top-rated Turkish dramas have made their way onto a number of platforms in MENA, Szwedkowicz notes, “The majority of viewers are watching local programming, so that limits the non-Arabic-language syndication.”
Inter Medya arrives at DISCOP Dubai with a slate of dramas that includes the brand-new series The Pit. 16 WORLD SCREEN 2/18
FNG Content Distribution is now beginning to explore the potential for selling formats in this part of the world. “In our experience, formats are most appealing to free-to-air buyers in MENA, rather than pay TV,” Szwedkowicz says. FremantleMedia has sold a slew of formats into this market already, notably its global franchises. “The entire FremantleMedia catalog is here: Idols, Got Talent, The X Factor, Project Runway—we can’t make enough shows!” says Anahita Kheder, the senior VP for the Middle East, Africa and Southeastern Europe at FremantleMedia International. “The format business has been fantastic, but it is changing—it is not necessarily going to grow in the same way. The face of the formats that we’re bringing to this market is also changing.”
STARTING TO ADAPT Kheder spotlights the interactive mixed reality series Lost in Time. “It has a fantastic marriage of technology and entertainment, which we’re seeing as a trend now. Middle Eastern buyers always want to be at the forefront of trends. The first global rollout of Lost in Time, after the pilot market, is the Middle East: Dubai TV. With the forward-thinking mentality of Dubai as a city, the state broadcaster was the first in.” Kheder explains that the company has also been making a conscious effort to be seen as a major player in the scripted space. “During the course of the last year, we’ve managed to give our identity a bit of a tweak in the Middle East and reinvent what we’re known for. Our scripted genre was a real hero in 2017.” She points to The Young Pope and Hard Sun as two titles that have helped to shape this new identity. Like Szwedkowicz, Kheder is well aware that viewers in the Middle East do love their local programming. “The good news for us is that we are associated with Arabic product,” she says. “Your average viewer sees Arab Idol as local content, very much so. The fact that it’s a franchise doesn’t diminish its Arabianness. Arab Idol is embedded into society here; it is a local brand.”
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Kheder continues, “From the finishedcontent side, that shift has been quite obvious over the past seven years. We’re lucky to have brand equity with the likes of American Idol, Jamie Oliver and now a lot of the scripted content. The franchises on the tape side are going to remain our drivers.” She cites a recent deal with Fox Life that includes cooking shows featuring Oliver and Nigella Lawson. “Arabic content is fantastic, and there is a multitude of great Arab celebrity chefs, but Jamie Oliver is Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson is loved here. That most definitely helps us fight for some shelf space.” Alongside its healthy drama business in the region, Global Agency is hoping to see local adaptations for some of its formats coming in the near future, as Radojevic says there are currently a few deals under negotiation. “In terms of formats, MENA is picky since it’s a bit of a conservative market. The channels are focusing on talent shows, game shows and lifestyle rather than dating shows, factual reality or reality entertainment.” He adds that Lebanon is more open to reality formats than most of the other markets are. “The United Arab Emirates, especially Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and Qatar are solid buyers, focusing mostly on ready-made content,” says Radojevic. “Lebanon is the leader in terms of format production.”
HOT SPOTS He has seen “positive movements” in Morocco and Algeria as well. “We are expecting more from Egypt in the near future. It’s a big market, with almost 100 million people, and it would definitely be one of our [priorities] for the next two years.” Szwedkowicz says that FNG Content Distribution does a lot of deals with the larger media groups, which tend to have a wide variety of channels, usually in the general-entertainment space. “They typically buy for the whole MENA region,” she says. She also lists the GCC countries as solid buyers—highlighting UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait—and says that North Africa is emerging, notably Tunisia and Egypt. “We’ve closed deals with practically all of the major SVOD providers in the region,” Szwedkowicz adds. “We do volume deals mostly. These services are growing and there are new ones being launched. The growth of STARZ Play and launch of iflix have given us great partners to work with.” The proliferation of digital players across the region is cited by many distributors as one of the most dynamic new developments in this market. Amazon Prime Video and Netflix have both launched here, and there are local streaming brands such as icflix, Seevii, OSN’s WAVO and MBC’s Shahid Plus. “We have received interest from several digital platforms for our series and movies and
currently have ongoing negotiations with a number of them,” says Inter Medya’s Okan. FremantleMedia International recently signed an SVOD agreement with Etisalat, a leading telco in the UAE region, for around 100 hours of programming. “It’s our first-ever deal with them, for a multitude of lifestyle and factual content, and there are a lot more on the horizon,” says Kheder. While she sees this “digital revolution” as being quite exciting, Kheder says there are inevitably challenges that come with change. “The market is still shifting; no one has really found their feet yet.” Another challenge that has plagued the content market in MENA is piracy, though Eccho Rights’ af Malmborg says he has seen some headway made in curbing illegal file-sharing. “Fighting piracy is about making the pirated content harder to find, but it’s also about supplying better alternatives,” he says. “The viewer wants to watch series online. If it’s not available, it’s easy to understand that the fans will find the content anyway. We need to work more with the media companies in the Middle East to supply them quicker with legal alternatives.”
PARTNER POTENTIAL Looking ahead, af Malmborg sees more opportunities on the horizon for producers from this part of the world to strengthen their ties with the international community. “Co-productions between Turkey and the Middle East make a lot of sense,” he says.
Eccho Rights is also actively looking for series from the Middle East to take out to the global market. “There are a number of really good producers here who are doing good series—Arab Telemedia being one of them, and MBC does a number of very strong originals,” he says. “Even though people are not that used to watching drama in the Arabic language, there should be more SVOD services like Netflix and iflix investing in originals, and I think OSN and beIN should do more original productions that can be sold elsewhere.” Also, as digital continues to gather momentum in this market, bite-sized programming is an area ripe for exploration. “My office is going to start looking at short-form Arabic content,” says FremantleMedia International’s Kheder. “It’s a space we haven’t been in, and with the likes of Facebook Watch on the horizon, it’s not going to happen tomorrow, but that’s where the business is going. We’ve already had advanced discussions around a short-form scripted series that is the brainchild of one of our colleagues at FremantleMedia India. We have a stake in Munchies and create short-form content for a lot of platforms worldwide; I would like to replicate that in this region.” Her plans for furthering business in the Middle East also include “looking at localization with a little bit more of a magnifying glass— looking at Saudi content and Egyptian content as opposed to just pan-Arab discussions.”
GMA Worldwide is attending DISCOP Dubai for the first time, touting Filipino series such as My Korean Jagiya. 2/18 WORLD SCREEN 17
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SPOTLIGHT
WS: What appealed to you about the script and the character you’re playing? STRONG: It was the ambition that appealed to me first of all. I was reading a lot of scripts at the time. What tends to happen is you have a fallow period and then people come in with potential opportunities, and of all the things I read, this was the one that gripped me the most. The ambition of it being set in London and Washington and Beirut and having two time frames. It’s a page-turner. That coupled with the fact that the more conflicted characters are, the more interesting they are. Max Easton, the Secret Service guy I play, has that in spades. He has a family that collapsed because of his time with the Secret Service. He’s trying to embark on a new life. For ten years he’s hidden these dark secrets from his past from his new family, but something happens and the whole lot comes crashing down. I love the moral and ethical debate that surrounds the character. WS: What kind of research did you do to come to grips with who Max Easton is? STRONG: A lot of assassinations, a lot of black ops, all of that! No, the truth is, obviously the world of spying is covert, so there isn’t much research you can do. In actual fact, we have no idea what they tend to get up to. All I know is that that world is very rich in terms of drama. You have betrayal, you have trust, you have danger, you have everything that a good drama needs to have in order to appeal to an audience. I’m aware that Secret Service [agents] get up to dastardly things all over the world, so it’s a short hop to use your imagination to take it to where we’ve taken it to in this series. [The show is] about the repercussions of the big bad world on real people, on families, on normal human beings; how you cope with everything we’re reading about in the news.
By Mansha Daswani
Mark Strong is no stranger to espionage thrillers. The acclaimed British actor’s long list of movie credits includes Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Imitation Game, the Kingsman franchise and, most recently, The Catcher Was a Spy. Strong now leads the cast of Deep State, the first original drama commissioned out of Fox Networks Group Europe & Africa. Penned by Matthew Parkhill, the Endor production, exec produced by Hilary Bevan Jones, stars Strong as Max Easton, an ex-spy convinced to come out of retirement to avenge the death of his estranged son. Deep State marks Strong’s first television series since the AMC version of Low Winter Sun, in which he played the same character he portrayed in the Channel 4 TV movie of the same name. Strong tells World Screen about what attracted him to the series, which premieres this April. 18 WORLD SCREEN 2/18
WS: How do you juggle your film and TV work? Is it difficult to commit to something on the television side knowing that there could be a great feature film that you may end up missing out on? STRONG: I haven’t done TV in the U.K. for ten years, so I had drifted off into the world of movies. Juggling those is simpler because the time commitment tends to be a little less—TV shows tend to take up a lot more time. But when something comes along that’s really good, it takes care of any issues like that. You just know instinctively when you read something whether you want to do it or not. The way you juggle it is, you just make it work. I just landed from Shanghai, for example, where I’d been doing press for a film I’ve just done, and now I’m doing this. It all fits if you make it work. The important thing is, it’s not about juggling schedules as much as it is doing the best work you can find. If that happens to be in TV, so be it.
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WS: The content executives we speak to say it’s the golden age of television drama. How is that playing out for you as an actor? STRONG: What’s great is the respect television is now being afforded. Television has been around for a while and storytelling on television has been around for a while, but something happened over the last 10 to 15 years. There is now respect afforded to the storytelling that happens on TV. In the past it was always seen as the inferior younger brother or sister to film—I don’t think that’s the case anymore. [In TV] you’ve got to make instant decisions, you’ve got to move fast, you’ve got to roll with the punches. If there’s rain you have to deal with it, if the set isn’t ready you have
to deal with it. Schedules are so tight. I love the energy of that forward momentum you have to have in TV. And I think it shows in the final result. WS: Do you have a different preparation process for film versus TV? STRONG: Not really. Preparation is all. On any given day you need to know what it is you’re going in to do and make sure you’re fully prepared for it. That whole idea of making it up on the spot and just seeing where it goes, forget it. I’ve never done that anyway, but certainly not in television because the time isn’t there. You need to come in with ideas, decisions made, and basically deliver. I’ve really enjoyed that on this show.
By Mansha Daswani An article about how an engineering company in Texas profited from the Iraq War served as the initial spark for Deep State. Matthew Parkhill, co-creator, writer, director and showrunner, started working on the drama while in between seasons on his show Rogue for DIRECTV. Exploring the intersections of corporate interests and government espionage through the story of an ex-spy seeking retribution for the death of his son, Deep State is being distributed by Fox Networks Group Content Distribution. WS: “Deep state” is a phrase we hear a lot lately. When did you first come up with the idea for the show? PARKHILL: It wasn’t originally called Deep State; it was called The Nine and was set around nine operatives over the course of the season. I see the show in two ways: the political and the personal. The origin of the show politically is I read an article many years ago about a Texas-based engineering and construction firm called KBR that made $39.5 billion out of the Iraq War. I started to think, How do you start to guarantee that kind of return? Out of that came this idea of, What if a company like that starts infiltrating the intelligence services? So they build the predator drones, they build the Hellfire missiles that destroy the chemical factory in Yemen but then they get the contract to rebuild the chemical factory. So the political idea came out of that article. And the personal side of the story: a friend of mine’s son and I were talking about this idea of a spy who is given Sophie’s choice and he has to decide between saving his old family and his new family. So there were two elements of the show. And then they started to merge. The show was greenlit at the time of the U.S. election [in 2016] and it’s a very timely title. But the term “deep state” originated in Turkey in 1996. It’s an idea that has been around for a long time, it’s just that right now it has a lot of currency. There was an assassination
attempt on a Turkish politician—they got him drunk, put him into a car and drove him into a wall. He survived. When the media started talking about it, that was the first time they started talking about the idea that underneath a democratically elected government there are elements—intelligence services, businesses, defense contractors, whatever it is—that continue no matter what government is elected. They’re the people who have the real power and the continuity of power. It’s an idea that’s been kicking around since the Second World War. Once the title changed to Deep State, the scope of the show broadened. As a result, it’s become a much more interesting show. WS: Were there any espionage experts you consulted with while writing the series? PARKHILL: We sat down with a former operative from MI6. I said, I want to run the story by you. How far off the mark are we? How believable is it? I took him through some of the key story points. There were a couple of moments in particular where he was very silent. I said, What? And he said, You have no idea how close to the truth you really are. The show is very grounded. It’s not James Bond. It’s very real. And a lot of the things that happen in the show have their roots in things that have happened. We haven’t strayed that far from reality in terms of the telling of the story. I love multi-strand intelligent thrillers. One of the films that was a big influence for me was Syriana, which Mark [Strong] was in—I’m a bit of a fanboy when it comes to that film! There are elements to this show that are very powerful and very emotional. The whole story of Max and his son, played by Joe Dempsie, and Max and his wife. The idea of, Do I get a second chance? Is there any way to undo the things I’ve done in the past? Do we get to start again? These personal, emotional storylines, those bits for me are as exciting as when we’re running around and blowing things up and chasing people. WS: We keep hearing about peak TV. What are your thoughts on the drama landscape right now? PARKHILL: It’s a beautiful time to be a creator in television right now. You get to paint on such a big canvas. You get to tell stories of characters over 8 hours or 10 hours or 50 hours. I started as a writer and director in independent movies. A lot of the people who would be working as independent filmmakers now work in TV, largely because there isn’t a huge independent sector.
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IN THE NEWS
By Mansha Daswani
Localization has been a key mantra at Turner as it has built out its global business. The Middle East is no exception, with the company establishing an animation studio in Abu Dhabi to deliver local content and a Cartoon Network-branded destination at Dubai’s IMG Worlds of Adventure. Based at the regional headquarters in Dubai, Tarek Mounir, VP and general manager of the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey, is negotiating shifts in the local media ecosystem and driving gains in the still-growing pay-TV segment. He speaks with World Screen about the Turner portfolio of businesses, the company’s exclusive partnership with beIN Media Group and his outlook for the region’s media sector.
WS: What’s driving Turner’s overall business in the Middle East and North Africa? MOUNIR: The Dubai office oversees the Middle East and North Africa as well as Turkey, Greece and Cyprus. We have a healthy split between our premium pay-TV services and our free-to-air services. Turner is a subscriber-driven operation globally, and while we operate in free to air in some markets, premium pay-TV affiliates have always been our core business. Being a fan-centered organization, we’re offering our audiences multiple touchpoints. That starts with linear and covers digital, social media, games, apps, console games, mall activities and even AR. All these touchpoints allow us to properly reach our audience and monetize accordingly. In this region, we can say that we’ve been able to establish a big portion of these touchpoints. We also have a licensing and merchandising division, and we are working on localization, on original productions. So with traditional businesses and new businesses, we’re putting our fans at the center, focusing on them and allowing them to enjoy our content in pretty much all [of the] forms that it comes in. WS: On the pay-TV side, tell us about the importance of your partnership with beIN. MOUNIR: That’s a key strategic partnership for us. With the shift they made to become not only sports-focused but sports- and general-entertainment-focused, and the acquisition they made in Turkey of Digiturk, they are the leading DTH platform in MENA. It is an anchor deal for us. WS: And are they helping you roll out the touchpoints you mentioned via their own TV Everywhere initiatives? MOUNIR: We do a lot of collaborations with beIN. We exist on some of their on-demand services, and we do a lot of marketing initiatives with them. We’re working toward some new services in 2018 and 2019. It’s too early to talk about those, but we’re always looking to expand on and enhance the business relationship between the two entities. WS: Tell us about your free-to-air business. MOUNIR: We have Cartoon Network Arabic in MENA and Cartoon Network Turkey as free-to-air operations. Those are strictly advertiser-revenue-driven. Cartoon Network Turkey has been around for ten years now and Cartoon Network Arabic launched in 2010. So they’re pretty established networks. They allowed us to build the brand properly in both markets. Free to air is mass reach—nothing can replace it in terms of brand awareness and brand building. At the same time, having strong advertising revenue behind those two networks has helped us to grow
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them year on year, invest more into local content and enabled us to be creative with our commercial partnerships, whether it’s sponsorship or promotions. And the exposure that our core brands get eventually leads to licensing and merchandising deals as well. WS: How important has the theme park in Dubai been for the Cartoon Network brand in the region? MOUNIR: The presence of the brand on the ground with the theme park has given us a serious competitive edge. IMG Worlds of Adventure is the size of 28 football fields—it is gigantic—and it’s the largest indoor theme park on the planet, so people can visit throughout the whole year. UAE visitors, as well as tourists from Turkey and the GCC, get exposed to Cartoon Network [at a level] that no other brand enjoys in the region. WS: What have been some of your original programming initiatives? MOUNIR: We’ve been focused on kids’ entertainment when it comes to original programming. Cartoon Network Arabic launched with a slate of shows that were produced in the Arab world. We also commissioned our own shows like Skatoony and the Ben 10 live game shows where fans get to come with their parents and compete against other teams. Those were pretty successful in terms of driving ratings and eyeballs to the networks. We have a key flagship property we delivered in the UAE called Mansour, a high-value animation produced in our studios in Abu Dhabi now in its fifth season. In Turkey, we also have a flagship IP called Kral Sakir, which is delivering great results on the network. WS: What are the biggest changes you’ve seen in the media ecosystem in MENA over the last one to two years? MOUNIR: The shift in viewing from linear to OTT hasn’t been as strong as other markets. The region has begun the adoption of on-demand and OTT, but linear still dominates by far. We’re noticing some migration, but we still feel that the runway for linear is much longer than it is in European and American territories. There have been some shifts, advertising shifts, revenues going to Google and Facebook. Most notably, I would say YouTube grew phenomenally in Saudi Arabia. Social media, in general, is capturing a big portion of the audience. But this is not necessarily a move from linear to on-demand. This is more a diversification of options for the viewers. I wouldn’t say there’s cord-cutting like there is in other markets.
WS: The OTT space is becoming more crowded. How do you see that sector expanding over the next 12 to 18 months? MOUNIR: The global platforms have launched in this region. Our current affiliates, the partners we have on the ground, are getting into that space in some shape or form. We’re trying to fuel those partnerships, while we remain open to all sorts of commercial and editorial relationships that make sense for our brand and that continue to put our fans at the center. Backing our partners and allowing them to grow with us, as well as reaching more eyeballs through their expansion into that space, is the strategic line that we’re taking. WS: What are your other priorities in the year ahead? MOUNIR: The region did not enjoy the greatest economic era in 2016 and 2017; it’s been a little bit challenged. We’re starting to see a more positive vibe and consumer confidence is building up. The retail market is picking up, which means that advertising is going to pick up. Pay TV hasn’t slowed down—that remains one of the biggest opportunities for us to expand. We are expanding our portfolio in general—we’re not going to remain only in kids and news, we are spreading our wings a little more into general entertainment and gaming and other areas that Turner is tackling globally. We’ll continue to pursue our audiences wherever they go and find commercial and editorial partnerships that make sense for us in the places that are opening up. 2/18 WORLD SCREEN 21
IMG Worlds of Adventure in Dubai is an indoor theme park that houses a branded Cartoon Network attraction.
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WORLD’S END
IN THE STARS Almost every national constitution forbids the establishment of an official state religion. But this secular bent doesn’t stop people from looking to the heavens for answers to life’s most troublesome questions: Will I succeed? Will I find love? Will I lose a bet to Leonardo DiCaprio? Every day, papers, magazines and websites worldwide print horoscopes— projections for people born in a specific month, based on the positions of the stars and planets. While many
Jason Momoa
Reese Witherspoon
BELLA THORNE
Global distinction: Alias Khal Drogo. Sign: Leo (b. August 1, 1979) Significant date: January 22, 2018 Noteworthy activity: The former Game of Thrones
Global distinction: Disney Channel alum. Sign: Libra (b. October 8, 1997) Significant date: January 10, 2018 Noteworthy activity: The Famous in Love star
star tells Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon that he had a hard time securing another role after his stint on the hit fantasy drama. “Not a lot of people thought I spoke English,” reveals the Hawaii-born actor, whose character on the show, Khal Drogo, spoke Dothraki. Horoscope: “Don’t allow for people who may not understand you to make you feel unworthy of success, love and happiness.” (buggzodiac.com)
expresses her frustration about Route 101’s closure in California, not realizing that the shutdown is due to devastating mudslides in the region. “F--k u 101 to Santa Barbra [sic]. I’m missing my boyfriends first date on his tour :(((,” Thorne writes on Twitter. She is then slammed by fellow actor Rob Lowe: “This attitude is why people hate celebrities/Hollywood. Bella, I’m sorry you were inconvenienced. We will try to move out our dead quicker.” Horoscope: “Work colleagues are in no mood to put up with interference, from you or from anyone else. Bite your tongue, or they might bite your head off.” (nypost.com)
REESE WITHERSPOON
weekly or monthly mes-
Global distinction: Hollywood power player. Sign: Aries (b. March 22, 1976) Significant date: January 25, 2018 Noteworthy activity: The Big Little Lies actress is on
lives, some readers skip over them entirely. The editors of WS recognize that these little pearls of random foresight occasionally prove pro phetic. But rather than poring over charts of the zodiac to predict world events, our staff prefers to use past horoscopes in an attempt to legitimize the science. As you can see here, had some of these media figures remembered to consult their horoscopes on significant dates, they could have avoided a few surprises.
Issa Rae
JASON MOMOA
people rely on these daily, sages for guidance in their
Bella Thorne
the cover of Vanity Fair’s Hollywood Issue, which features a photo-editing fail or two. Eagle-eyed fans begin posting on social media that the Oscar winner appears to have an extra limb poking out from her gown. “Well...I guess everybody knows now...I have three legs,” she jokes on Twitter. “I hope you can still accept me for who I am.” Horoscope: “When you know yourself, you’re empowered. When you accept yourself, you’re invincible.” (horoscope.com)
ISSA RAE Global distinction: Insecure mastermind. Sign: Capricorn (b. January 12, 1985) Significant date: January 18, 2018 Noteworthy activity: As she is traveling through an airport, the HBO producer/star hears paparazzi say, “That’s Issa Rae,” and then watches them proceed to photograph another African-American actress. Rae vents on Twitter about the awkward case of mistaken identity. Horoscope: “If someone close to you disappoints you, don’t take it personally. Today is ripe for misunderstandings, so just be cool and be mature.” (nationalpost.com)
TOM HARDY Global distinction: Taboo hunk. Sign: Virgo (b. September 15, 1977) Significant date: January 28, 2018 Noteworthy activity: A photo surfaces on social media of the muscly actor sporting a tattoo that reads “Leo Knows All” on his bicep. The ink is the result of a bet he lost to his The Revenant co-star Leonardo DiCaprio two years ago over whether or not Hardy would receive an Oscar nomination for his role in the film. “I’m covered in shit tattoos anyway, so it doesn’t make any difference to me if I got a big, bold ‘Leo’ right across my thigh or across my face,” Hardy tells Vanity Fair. Horoscope: “You may have to face consequences for your actions this month, or you may have to mete out justice to another.” (asktheastrologers.com) 22 WORLD SCREEN 2/18
DREW CAREY Global distinction: Four-eyed funnyman. Sign: Gemini (b. May 23, 1958) Significant date: January 24, 2018 Noteworthy activity: While hosting The Price Is Right, the American TV personality is knocked to the floor and almost falls off the stage when an overexcited contestant attempts to jump into his arms after being invited to “come on down.” Carey handles the situation like a champ, keeping a smile on his face throughout the unfortunate ordeal. Horoscope: “Brace yourself for the action that’s coming your way.... Imagine a defensive lineman from the Chicago Bears in full gear running your way at full speed.” (huffingtonpost.com)
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