Cairo: Mohammad Hefzy, the award winning Egyptian producer and director, on Saturday released a statement saying there is a strong need for commercial mainstream productions targeting the wider Arab audiences, rather than making films for local markets. Hefzy said the Arab visual media industry is currently worth $2 billion (Dh7.3 billion), with TV commanding 95 per cent share, while cinema is below 5 per cent and digital stands at mere to 1 per cent. The statement did not explain how those figures were calculated.
Hefzy said the cinema and TV industry is still in infancy in the Gulf but added that it was set for a growth of over 30 per cent in 5 years’ time; however, he cautioned that the sector was still not mature enough as far as production budgets are concerned, including big productions like movies, and many of them were making losses.
Hefzy called for regulating, streamlining and professionalising the entertainment production industry in the region. He said the industry has huge untapped potential, as there is an audience of nearly 300 million hankering for good world-class entertainment.
