Dubai: Feel like you got a bit of talent on the creative side? As in scripting, fleshing out a screenplay, and even donning the greasepaint for a stint in front of the camera? Then Dubai and the UAE is where the action is likely to be.
Media companies are looking to get into full-scale production for any number of TV and web streaming platforms that are showing up in the region. They could also create content for the video-based advertising blitz digital media is experiencing now. With growth rates slowing down in other formats, it pays to hitch your fortunes to the video star.
The BKP Media Group is one such making the switch. Based out of Media City for 10 years now, it had cut its teeth by creating original music — both long and short form — for clients including film-makers, TV companies and commercials. “But, now, music is not the fastest growing business — with so much of ready-made musical options available online, there’s certainly seems less need for original compositions,” said Douglas Palau, Group CEO. “The monetisation ways have changed.
“I won’t say the business was done for... but we had to find new ways to keep the growth going. The way to do that was transform into an entertainment media entity through creating expertise in video content.”
BKP’s plan is to go the full distance, which will mean developing its own branded content. The first one out of the studio, so to speak, would be a cookery show, which the company hopes would get syndicated either on TV or on a web streaming service provider. “If the plan is to create your own properties, you have to invest in them,” said Palau. “It’s something we have to be passionate about.
“Ultimately, we would like to create bespoke content. We have at least 10 “properties” that are fully scripted and ready to shoot and we have collaborators with experience of the medium.”
Palau’s sales pitch ties with the facts. In the last two years, web TV — which allows viewers to get their fill of content on multiple platforms and not just on TV — has found a ready audience in the region. Netflix, which came in early this year, and Starz have been building up subscribers, while the region’s well-established pay-TV major OSN is as intent on getting through to every possible viewing screen.
Niche web TV providers offering non-English and Arabic content are also getting in on the action.
While the emphasis right now is to offer their own programming, at some point these entities will want to source locally or regionally created content. This is what BKP and others are hoping for. If one or two of their productions get picked up, the possibilities thereafter are endless.
“One hit and we are in business,” said Palau, who plans to do much of the pre-production works in Bulgaria. “Because that’s where you have readymade studios and sets and some good low-cost technicians. Since it’s early days, we have to focus heavily on lower cost ways to produce.”
