Abu Dhabi pacts with Nat'l Geo; creates media hub (VAR, NYT, SCR, WAPO)

By Nancy Tartaglione-Vialatte

Film executives in Abu Dhabi had a busy weekend. Imagenation, Abu Dhabi�s $1 billion production arm, announced a $100 million production deal with National Geographic while a multibillion-dollar hub for content creation, twofour54, was also unveiled.

Imagenation, which launched Sept. 3, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Media Co., and key to the emirate's attempts to turn itself into a global film player.

The joint-venture with National Geographic will see the partners develop, finance and produce 10-15 feature films with a budget range between $5 million-$60 million over the next five years. It will focus on a mix of documentary features a la �March of the Penguins� as well as fact-based dramas comparable to the upcoming TV series based on �Undaunted Courage� and films for Imax-like giant screens along the lines of �Sea Monsters.�

"We've been thinking about our next steps at National Geographic for a while and we believe we have a responsibility as filmmakers to go out to the world and tell stories in this very dangerous time in our lives," National Geographic Films chairman Jake Eberts told Variety. "We've got half a dozen good projects in development and a couple of great ones we hope to start work on in the next three to six months."

Meanwhile, twofour54 will provide a center for content creation across all forms of media with production and post-production facilities. It will also offer training programs for journalists and filmmakers from the region as well as a base for Western media companies while at the same time helping the Abu Dhabi government reach its goal of becoming a cultural and media center of the Middle East.

CNN, the BBC, HarperCollins, Random House, the Financial Times, the Thomson Reuters Foundation and leading Middle East film company Rotana Studios all announced individual projects at the site.

CNN will move about 30 staff to the site and use it to launch its fourth global broadcasting hub while Random House and Harper Collins will open divisions dedicated to developing Middle Eastern writers and stories.

The media zone is planning to be operational from January 2009.

With credit markets tight, the Middle East could become an increasingly important source of funds for Hollywood. Michael Young, provost for the New York Film Academy, which opened a campus in Abu Dhabi in February, told The New York Times, �I can�t think of a place where there�s more enthusiasm for film and film education.�

Nor, perhaps, a place where there is more money to be spent by the government in creating an environment for the arts.

The announcements were made during Abu Dhabi�s second annual Middle East International Film Festival which opened on Friday.

Related Links

Film interests expand in Middle East (VAR)
Reaching for a Higher Profile, Abu Dhabi Opens a Hub for Western Media (NYT)
Abu Dhabi launches media zone for Arab film content (SCR)
Geographic Teams With Abu Dhabi To Make Movies (WAPO)