Image Nation Abu Dhabi, Majid Al Futtaim and MBC Studios have teamed up to boost Middle Eastern film and television productions out of the region.
The partnership will greenlight various projects every year and support them from inception to distribution, with a focus on Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt.
The first film supported by the partnership is ‘Three Four Eternity’, a vampire family drama marking the directorial debut of writer Rami Yasin (‘The Worthy’, ‘Zinzana’). Egyptian film producer Mohammad Hefzy (‘Clash’, ‘Shaikh Jackson’) produces.
The second film, now in development, is the fantasy romance ‘HWJN’, based on Ebrahim Abbas’ best-selling Saudi Arabian novel about a God-fearing jinn who forges a bond with a medical student.
“This region has infinitely talented writers and filmmakers wanting to tell their stories, as well as a sophisticated consumer audience that craves locally made content that resonates with them,” said Ben Ross, Chief Content Officer at Image Nation, in a press release.
“The trio of companies will facilitate the creative process at every step of a project’s development, and this is a major step towards our vision of creating dynamic content for the Middle East that will not only engage locally, but also play to the rest of the world,” he added.
Peter Smith, Managing Director of MBC Studios called it “a 360-degree Arab film entity that covers all aspects of content creation, including development, production, theatrical exhibition, televising on the Middle East’s leading broadcaster and SVOD platforms, as well as international sales.”
