Published:
13-Oct-08
Joint ventures between Western media companies and Arabic firms will be a key focus for a media development zone launched October in Abu Dhabi under brand name twofour54. Differentiation over other 'media hubs' in region, such as near-by Dubai Media City, is intended to be its focus on developing an Arab content production industry. As such a key thrust of initiative is training, and BBC and Thomson Reuters Foundation are amongst those brought in as training partners.
Another key role for twofour54 will be to incubate new companies and seed investment tranches in $50k-$500k range will be available for start-ups and $1m-$5m for larger ventures. It will also offer state-of-the-art production and post-production facilities, media asset management, broadcast and other technical support services. However, first phase over initial five years will be in temporary campus while an even more ambitious new site is built.
When that is complete a key anchor tenant will be Abu Dhabi Media Company (ADMC), a separate group founded in 2007 that already operates TV, radio, publishing and new media businesses. It was ADMC that in September 2007 announced a wide-ranging deal with Warner Bros Entertainment. Latter included a $500m 50:50 film production fund and a $500m video game development deal. ADMC in September 2008 announced a separate $1bn film and digital content production fund called Imagenation, which will be one of the initial tenants of the twofour54 facility alongside others including CNN, Random House, Financial Times, Harper Collins, and Egyptian media group Rotana Studios.
Our take...
The eyes of the Western media industry undoubtedly lit up when news first broke of Warner's $1bn deal with ADMC and many were understandably cynical about the motives behind it. However, this new twofour54 venture does appear to be a genuine effort to help build a viable content industry for the local region ('by the people, for the people' is the slogan). And the opportunities in the Arab markets are not to be sniffed at: 300m people, predominantly youthful, with significant pockets of affluence.
Clearly, the region – and Abu Dhabi in particular – does also offer significant investment resources. Another example of this is a $100m deal to finance 10-15 films from National Geographic Entertainment, announced on the eve of the twofour54 opening by ADMC subsidiary Imagenation. This follows hot on the heels of a separate $250m deal by Imagenation to fund 15-18 feature films with US production company Participant Media that specialises in films with a social change message.
The twofour54 venture is yet another sign that the power centres within the global media market are beginning to shift, a process that is only likely to accentuated by wider economic and fiscal crises.
