Jordan promotes budding multimedia industry

Dubai: Hollywood, London, Tokyo and... Amman?

Jordan's budding multimedia production industry is being highlighted with two companies at the Gitex IT exhibition.

Fresh on the heels of signing a three-part deal with MGM Studios, Rubicon said it is gearing up to double its staff to 400 employees in the next few years. The production house's flagship product is Ben and Izzy, a 3D animated series involving 13 episodes at 22 minutes apiece - all produced at the company's headquarters in Amman.

Using Hollywood voice actors such as Lucy Liu and Mark Hamill, the series is being marketed in the West, and there are plans to distribute it in the Middle East dubbed in Arabic.

The company, established in 1994, has found success working in Jordan's media industry because of the skilled labour pool, according to Rasha Shamat, Rubicon's marketing and sales director.

The biggest asset we have in Jordan human resources," she said. "There are a lot of creative people working here."

Its deal with MGM involves co-producing Pink Panther and Pals, an animated series, the merchandising and licensing of MGM's movie library, and location based entertainment such as theme parks, she said.

Rubicon also produces 2D animation such as its Tareq wa Shireen, a series for early child development being sold in the GCC.

Another Amman company that is much less established is Generic, a producer of 3D animation for corporate and governmental clients. Generic, with a staff of 25, also makes e-learning programs and graphic design.

"What we do is develop real 3D engines, so whatever you see in real life you can see it in virtual way," said Khaireddin Bushnaq, a 3D producer at Generic. "It helps users view things in new perspective, and it's much different than still pictures as well as PowerPoint and video presentations. The user has full and total control with the software."

The ability to view something from every conceivable angle has already won the notice of the Jordanian military and also a defense contractor. They hired Generic to do renderings of a military tank including what happens when they vehicles are struck with munitions.

And for those thinking of visiting Jordan, what could be appealing than a virtual walk through the arches of Petra? Generic has rendered that too, for the Jordanian Tourism Board.