The regional and global impact of Arabic content

Spread across a wide geographical space, the Arab entertainment industry is rich in narratives, talent and knowhow, giving locally spun content the opportunity to travel. The spike in MENA Arabic content creation is a fitting response to shifting audience preferences and the expanding reach of entertainment. As Arab TV and cinema shed clichéd storylines, are they ready to compete with the best in the world? Are homegrown stories ready to fly?

The creative panel was moderated by Co-Production Salon founder Heba Korayem, with industry leaders who have blazed a way in the Middle East production and investment landscape: Adil Adam Memon, Executive VP of Content and Marketing, Zee Entertainment Middle East; Darine Khatib, Vice President, Film Productions, Majid Al Futtaim; Hussein Fakhri, Chief Commercial Officer and Executive Producer, Katara Studios; Manoj Mathew, Director, Dubai Studios at Dubai Media; and Suzy Karajian, Executive Director, Active Media.

Celebrating Arabic content as it plays a greater role globally and speaking on a subject “close to heart”, Korayem wished to understand what the next steps in storytelling are and most importantly what lies in store for investment in Arabic entertainment. With Bollywood export revenues crossing $5bn annually and similar success for the Turkish drama industry, Arabic productions are springing into the limelight with original narratives.

“Our stories are authentic, and when we adapt the Western titles we play into it cleverly. From story to script development, we have displayed extraordinary production values, and it is truly a proud feeling,” said Suzy Karajian, Executive Director of Active Media.

With old storylines, content was traditionally designed for the region, but a lot of production narratives have now changed, making it ready for a wider international market.

“It was waiting for somebody to take it out into the world,” said Manoj Mathew, Director Dubai Studios at Dubai Media. “We are at that Renaissance point – it is exploratory and experimentative.”

Production is entering the golden age, agreed Hussein Fakhri, Chief Commercial Officer and Executive Producer of Katara Studios. “There is a real spirit of collaboration. People realise that they cannot remain precious about their areas or region, that this is pan-Arab with the ability to travel.”

In terms of reach and quality, these collaborations allow cross-cultural possibilities. With content making huge strides, Arabic stories are being appreciated and looked at as centres of excellence. International partnerships are giving content creators the opportunity to work with global streaming platforms, said Darine Khatib, Vice President, Film Productions, Majid Al Futtaim. “It is allowing our content to reach wider audiences through their distribution networks, and letting creators nurture their skill to upscale the production budget and investment.”

This new wave of talent is enhancing the ecosystem. Arabic films or series compete with films and series from the West, bridging gaps and gaining recognition at international festivals. “We are no longer a niche content provider,” said Khatib.

Just as India has the big Bollywood movies, Turkey and South Korea have the genre-centric dramas, and Hollywood supplies both, good scriptwriters in the region must create stories that resonate with larger audiences around the world. Today, international investors are not really looking at the Middle East to supply content.

That needs to change, said Adil Adam Memon, Executive VP of Content and Marketing, Zee Entertainment Middle East. “Being an active investor for eight years in this space, the one thing we are aware of is the learning in the region. To put it simply, it is amazing. We have perhaps not achieved the heights on production, scriptwriting and all of that, but we are learning.”

In any industry, products are made for export and local consumption. With content, however, the working mechanisms may be contradictory. Taking talent, script and narratives beyond their traditional audiences comes with challenges and opportunities. A story’s appeal or failure is not essentially an indicator of its influence abroad.

“Certain stories need a certain canvas and build-up on characters, but we must try to go beyond 30 episodes,” continued Memon. “We must think in extended forms and not stay focused around Ramadan; we must get out of that thinking and show the world we can create a bigger spectrum.”

Content creation is about connecting with audiences through stories that reflect their experiences and emotions, and the prospects of that surfacing out of the MENA look good. Voy! Voy! Voy! was Egypt’s submission for the Academy Awards in 2024, garnering a lot of fame and international attention. Inspired by true events in Egypt, “it is as local as it could get”. But its production values gave it a universal theme which allowed it to have success in terms of Oscar submission, festivals and global distribution, stated Al Khatib.

“When we made the film, we were not thinking of the West; instead, we portrayed true events with the best crew in the best way possible,” she said.

“And at Vox Studios, that is our approach. I think you first attract your core audience. If you do it right, there is a ripple effect.”

For any content to resonate, it must retain its authenticity – culture, society, tradition.

“It must be made for our primary audience, who is Arab-speaking,” said Fakhri. “There are 500m Arabic speakers in the world, and we should be making content for them and test the authenticity there. If they enjoy it, if it is made well enough and written well enough, if there’s enough love put into it, by default it’s going to travel, by default it’s going to be appreciated elsewhere. But we can’t make content thinking what people in other parts of the world are going to make of it; our primary audience has to stay our primary audience.”

International does not inevitably point to the West; each regional product has secondary markets in Europe or Russia or China who appreciate and can connect with content from the region more than a Western audience would.

“If we are serious about taking content outside, we must be ready to invest and strategise accordingly,” said Memon. “We dubbed Bollywood drama series that we own into seven languages, we believed in it and therefore invested in the content. The Turks did the investment in Urdu and now they’re enjoying the benefits of that business plan. It’s no longer the broadcasting revenues they’re considering – they’re saying okay, YouTube India, LatAm, Russia, etc – but the investment must come.”

Data-driven insights can help craft plots that identify with local viewers and echo with international ones, but a truly data-driven world is also formulaic. “When I sit with scriptwriters or directors, I tell them to work on a story that has been rejected,” said Mathew.

Money Heist failed miserably in Spain, and now there are international versions of it. Netflix’s standard mode in India is to have one piece of Indian content that can travel to international markets. “They had some great content that worked well in the Indian market but never travelled. And Heeramandi, which sort of failed in the Indian market, did amazingly well as non-English content on the platform. Audience response is everything,” he added.

From an investment point of view, betting on a successful format ensures ROI. Having produced many Ramadan hits with culturally rich, specifically Khaleeji content over platforms and a wide cover of TV networks, Korayem asked Karajian if stories really needed to appeal at home in the GCC in order to then move to other Arabic markets such as Egypt and Morocco, and then beyond those borders.

“We have broken past the stereotypical Arabic drama mould,” said Karajian. “Today we compete with the best in terms of technology, cameras, post-production, VFX, graphics, sound design; nothing is missing. Yet why are we not going international? As far as the GCC and the Middle East goes, accents are maybe dissimilar but there’s still the reach – who doesn’t know Hayat al Fahad or Abdulla Abdulredha? If content is interesting and new, the world will see it.”

Even as opportunities multiply, Arabic productions are missing the buzz factor. While incredibly well-made Arabic productions are promoted at the likes of Mipcom, something as simple as improper title translations or a lack of English synopsis works against the content.

Typically in the West, while planning a film, the marketing campaign goes hand in hand with the story development. It is more about positioning the film – what it stands for, awareness campaigns, release, post-release and so forth.

“Unfortunately that’s an aftermath for us, we produce and then we find ways to market,” said Khatib. “Oppenheimer and Barbie were huge successes because their marketing budgets were as big as the film. At Vox, we are trying to change that and dedicating teams who work simultaneously on positioning and strategy of each film from inception.”

Content creators need to focus on integrating marketing into the development process, while also emphasising music and brand placement.

“In the West, big productions pay a lot of attention to the soundtrack that accompanies a movie,” said Fakhri. “We love music here and don’t use that nearly enough. Incorporating these elements into the development process will help to cross-sell, upsell, market and promote projects, whether feature films or TV series.”

But when it comes to series where 90% are positioned for Ramadan, marketing perspectives differ. Very few channels or platforms are interested in obtaining new or original content outside the successful Ramadan format of 30 episodes.

“Between Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and the GCC, over 250-odd titles vie during Ramadan, so however clever my marketing, I will be lost,” said Karajian. “As a production company, if I do 29 or 32 episodes, the TV channels will say they don’t have enough slots. If I am going beyond or below 30, my target should be platforms where there’s more freedom.”

While every region is known for a genre or a trend that captures audience interest, the emerging trend, driven particularly by Saudi Arabia according to reports, is anime followed by unscripted entertainment. The rest include drama, comedy, romance and thrillers.

“You’re going to see a lot more new genres coming out from this part of the world,” said Fakhri. “We’re introducing new genres and working on a Bedouin Western fantasy and Islamic science ‘faction’ (not fiction), using interesting concepts from the Islamic faith that are sort of science fiction and adapting them for screen. We have a current slate of seven projects.”

With Dubai’s recent five-year partnership with the International Emmy Awards, international exposure for the content industry is set to grow further. “This is very important for the amazing talent fraternity out there who we have a great responsibility towards. In year three of the partnership, we will have the International Emmy Academy Day in Dubai. We will be doing a lot at the World Television Festival and at the Gala Awards in New York. It is the first actual initiative to take Arabic content to the heart of Hollywood,” said Mathew.

Creating interest at global festivals such as the International Emmys or Mipcom is important to generating opportunities that make a difference and gaining insight into what an international audience wants. Partnerships and collaborations are key to this endeavour; cooperation can boost progress by providing creative, technical and other support as well as mitigating risk in terms of distribution and funding.

While celebrating the evolution of Arabic content, it is crucial that it stay true to its cultural roots and origins, because at the start of all content lies the story, and it is the story that gives content the wings to fly.