- Dubai International Brand Licensing Fair

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EXPORTING
MIDDLE EAST
CONTENT
‘Never, if possible, cover any road
a second time’. This was a famous
quote by Ibn Battuta, an Arabic
traveller who actually travelled
further than his contemporary,
Marco
Polo. In fact his journey lasted for a period of nearly thirty
years and covered
almost the entirety
of the known Islamic
World and stretched
deep into China via
Africa and India.
I refer to Ibn Battuta
for two reasons, which will become
key themes for this article. Firstly, he is
right – never cover the same ground
twice. I am sure he was not referring
to the content industry of the 21st
century but the principle still applies.
If the Middle East is to export its content internationally then it cannot reproduce or emulate more established
characters and styles already popular
either in the West, Europe or Far East.
Instead content from the Middle East,
must have its own regional flavour.
Secondly characters like Ibn Battuta
are often in the shadow of more
prominent names, such as Marco Polo.
And so, through our rich history, we
have a great story to tell – one that
has not really been told, not by us and
not on a level compared with Western history.
Take for example One Thousand and
One Nights which is a collection of
Middle Eastern folk tales
compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden
Age. In English it is better known as Arabian
Nights and Sinbad the
Sailor, Aladdin and Ali
Baba are all characters
that have been born
as a result. But these
are three of only a few
characters from Middle
Eastern literature that have been popularised for an international audience.
This does not mean there is no demand for regionally focused content.
You just need to look at the plethora
of recent films and literature based on
the culture and history of the Middle
East that illustrate a yearning to learn
more about the region. It is therefore
up to regional production companies
and story-tellers to feed this demand
and set about producing them ourselves.
To do so, the region needs to create
its own style that it can take to international broadcasters, distributors
and licensees. To this end I refer to
the success of Japanese animation, or
‘anime’ for which it is also known.
While different titles and different artists have their styles, the trademarks
of the cartoons have become so common that people describe them as definitive of anime; exaggerated physical
features such as large eyes, big hair
and elongated limbs have helped create a genre that is instantly recognisable and more importantly, sellable.The
By Ghassan Ayoubi
Executive Director
Rubicon Group
Holding - Gulf
phenomenal success of Nintendo’s
multi-billion dollar Pokémon franchise
was helped greatly by the anime series
that first broadcast in the late 1990s
and is still running worldwide to this
day. Furthermore anime has become a
signifier for Japanese culture. So when
creating content that has a regional
hallmark, it must find a balance between standing out from
international competition
and having a regional representation that is understood. This does not mean
creating overtly ‘westernised’ content or, at the
same time, very stereotypically Arabic content.
There has to be a balance
that does not alienate one
particular audience over
another and we have the
resources in place to do so.
As it stands regional investment is going into regional projects and in turn
production studios are pioneering
CGI, motion capture and 3D in the
region. Some countries in the region
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are making steady growth in the fastgrowing digital and interactive media
fields, In Jordan, for example, digital
media businesses and entrepreneurs’
efforts are boosted by the government’s commitment to invest in this
sector as a future growth engine for
the country. In the GCC various
countries are attracting investment
through tax free production zones
and some have also set up government
administered film funds. The challenge
however, is to pool the resources we
have and begin making content that
has a distinctive Middle Eastern style
rather than content that is covering
the same ground as our international
counter-parts.
To this end Rubicon is working to pioneer content that is
unique to the region and can
be exported in both Arabic and
English. This means starting with
stories based on content that already exist in the region. That is
why our history is so important
in the work we do because it
has all the ingredients to create stories that are not forgettable and not
transient. And through history we can
provide content that is responsible
and educates both an Arabic and international audience about the cultural and social dynamics of the region.
In this respect, productions like Rubicon’s own ‘Ben and Izzy’ epitomizes
what we call ‘edutainment’. The storyline is about two children, Ben an
American and Izzy, an Arab, who form
a close bond despite hailing from
separate cultures and through their
adventures and innocence transcend
their regional differences and celebrate their cultures and histories.
Furthermore, ‘Ben and Izzy’ is not labelled regional content just because it
was produced in Amman, Jordan but
also because it was produced by a mix
of Middle Eastern talent.
This means the story lines we created
and the style that was developed was
based on a deep level of insight into
the culture and historical context of
the respective countries that Ben and
Izzy found themselves exploring.
So if we are to progress as an industry,
we cannot rely solely on importing international talent and skills and then
hope to export regional content. In
selling the content, we have to extol
the virtues of Middle Eastern production and illustrate to an international
audience that we have the capabilities
to produce at the highest standards
and can manage the complete cycle
with the latest facilities in place. Only
then can we begin to fight the preconceptions that the region can only
produce content for its own consumption or that the stories can only
be understood by an Arabic audience.
In summation, there is a huge demand
for content in the region; especially
within children’s entertainment considering the number of characters in
the Middle East is minuscule compared to America, Europe or Japan.
Furthermore, our market will grow
because people are becoming aware
of the need for Arabic-language
content and as that need increases for the younger generation, so
will the demand for what we can
do. The challenge is to answer this
with a view to the longer term
goal where one day, children in
Europe, America or Asia might
grow up watching Arab-created
shows dubbed in English, rather
than the other way round.
For this to happen, we have to ensure
we adhere to international standards
of production and create original stories and characters based on a deep
understanding of the Middle East.
Only then will our stories find an audience as far reaching as the travels of
Ibn Battuta!
Once again, Rubicon Group Holding - the
premier digital content production company in the Middle East - will be exhibiting at the Character and Licensing Fair in
Dubai this November.
Founded in 1994, Rubicon develops entertainment and educational content
across multiple platforms . The company
has its head office in Amman,
Jordan with subsidiaries in Los
Angeles, Dubai
and Manila. It
also has highly
skilled divisions
who perform
the entire production process
for animated programming.
In 2010 Rubicon signed a number of high
profile deals to become strategic partners
with industry leaders in the media and
communication industries.
For Turner Broadcasting, Rubicon will develop, produce and merchandize existing
and new content.The agreement includes
the broadcasting of Rubicon’s Ben & Izzy
and Tareq wa Shireen animated series on
Cartoon Network, new seasons of Ben
& Izzy for the international marketplace
and collaboration on themed entertainment opportunities in the Middle East
and Africa.
More recently Rubicon also partnered
with Etisalat (the UAE’s leading telecoms
provider). As a result of the joint venture,
Rubicon will create exclusive games, cartoons and applications that customers of
Etisalat can download via their mobile,TV
or through the internet. The content, created and managed by Rubicon, will be designed to aid learning and educate younger customers in an entertaining format, a
concept known as edutainment. The first
services will be presented before the end
of 2010 in the UAE and later roll out to
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan,
India, Sri Lanka and Sudan.
Rubicon also manages the international
licensing and merchandising of its intellectual properties, as well as representing other IPs of major studios including
MGM, Paramount, CBS and independent
companies such as Zorro Productions,
Bruce Lee Enterprises, Little Prince and
Sun R&P.
Its programs include Tareq Wa Shireen,
the first 2D animated series in Arabic;
Ben & Izzy, a 3D animated adventure
comedy series that is broadcast internationally through Cartoon Network; Pink
Panther & Pals which is a co-production
with MGM and The Life and Adventures of
Santa Claus, a 3D animated movie based
on L. Frank Baum’s namesake book.
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Following on from the success of the
last two events, The 3rd Dubai International Character & Licensing Fair,
the first and only dedicated trade
event in the Middle East will be held
from 29 November to 1st December
this year at the Dubai International Convention
& Exhibition Centre Dubai, UAE. The event
is under the Patronage
of H.H. Sheikh Majid Bin
Mohammed Bin Rashid
Al Maktoum, Chairman of
Dubai Culture and Arts
Authority. The show is officially supported by Dubai
Convention Bureau, Dubai
Department of Tourism
and Commerce Marketing
(DTCM), Dubai Naturalization and Residency Department (DNRD).
The Fair brings together
leading international animation producers, content
creators, comics, media, advertisers, graphic designers,
marketers, manufacturers, retailers, licensees, licensing agents,
licensors and other decision makers
and investors from the entire Middle
East and North Africa (MENA) countries, the Indian Sub - continent, Asia
Pacific, Europe and the Americas.
Alongside the Licensing Fair, and in
addition to the Dubai Games Fair
which takes place at the same time,
this year’s event, under the banner of
MyContent, will see an event devoted
exclusively to the entertainment content market in the Middle East and
North Africa.
The show is billed as a marketplace for
producing, co-producing, selling, buying
and distributing entertainment content, providing professionals involved
in the TV, film, animation, comics, music, digital content and media content
industry with the perfect platform to
do business
The Arab world is
one of the world’s
fastest growing media markets with
more than 340
million Arab speakers, a demographic
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where 60% of the population – 180
million people – are under the age of
25, with high mobile penetration and
strong broadband up-take.
Tarek Rashid Studio has been participating as an exhibitor for the Dubai
International Character and Licensing
Fair for the past two years and this
time will join MyContent detailing its
profile aligned for content animation,
commercial ads and cartoon series.
Since 1995 Tarek Rashed Studio’s
service, creativity, credibility has been
the key to its success. With its growing portfolio ranging from 2D and
3D animation for commercial ads,
cartoon series with special emphasis
on character animation for TV, channels identity, story boarding, planning,
art directing, designing and producing
projects across multiple media, 3D
model from snapshots and 3D modelling of technical subjects.
Sketch in Motion, from Jordan, is a
new exhibitor this year and the company is a creative house that deploys
animation to entertainment productions, with an eye on communicating
messages using banter and humor.
Pageflip, a further exhibitor at the Dubai International Licensing Fair focuses on producing and publishing original content classical Arabic graphic
novels in an authentic Japanese manga
format. The company’s objective is to
provide high quality graphic novels for
young readers in the Middle in a bid
to endear reading to an important
part of the population. All titles under the Pageflip Publishing brand are
culturally relevant to Middle Eastern
sensitivities and are free of violent and
otherwise inappropriate content and
are thoroughly checked by an educational consultant before going to print. The primary targeted audience is 10
year old Arabic readers. Adult manga
fans are the secondary target.
Gold Ring is Pageflip Publishing’s inaugural title which follows the adventures of a 15 year old boy named
Sultan as he competes in a fictional
falconry-based sport. The storyline
features many characters with new
competitors introduced in every new
volume of the series. Recently Gold
Ring has won the prestigious Sheikh
Zayed Book Award in the Children’s
Literature category.
Rainbow Max was established in 2004
in Hong Kong. It holds a number of
international brands and characters
including Japanese company Sanrio
where Rainbow Max has the exclusive
rights to produce and distribute Hello
Kitty Back to School, stationery and
other kids products in various Middle
East & North Africa countries.
Rainbow Max is the creator and the
licensor of Lulu Caty character, Lulu
Caty is a leading brand in the middle
east targeting girls aged 4-10 years,
especially in Saudi, The UAE, and Kuwait. Lulu Caty Cartoon is also airing on MBC3. The company also represents other
brands such as GO For Speed, targeting boys aged 5-14 years and airing on
MBC3, as well as Popeye & Olive Oyl
and Zorro Generation Z.
Operating in four brand segments - licensing, publishing, toys and stationery
and animation production, Rainbow
Max is expected to showcase new
characters & brands including a new
animation series targeting kids 5-12
years old.
Fanar Production FZ are bringing
their Shaabiat Al Cartoon brand to
Character and Licensing Dubai this
year. Shaabiat Al Cartoon means rural Neighborhood in Emirati Arabic,
and the show is an Arabic animation
produced by Haider Mohammed
that was first released by Qanawat in
2006. Starting out originally as a mobile phone animation service in 2004,
popularity of the brand grew and by
2005 work began to turn it into a TV
series. Haider Mohammed has recently completed his fourth season, using
2D for the character animation and
3D for the backgrounds. The series
has met with huge success during Ramadan 2009.
The animation is now being English
subtitled so that the series can be
aired international, allowing for a better understanding of the Middle Eastern and khaleeji culture.
The cartoon is based on an
older area of Dubai, located behind Sheikh Zayed Road,
where a group of Middle Eastern
families and individuals live their day
to day lives. The animation has already
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won Mohammed Bin Rashid Award
for Young Business Leader, Best UAE
Talent Award in 2008 and 2009 and
the Dubai International Film Festival 2008. Arabic animation produced
by Haider Mohammed and was first
released by Qanawat in 2006. Starting out originally as a mobile phone
animation service in 2004, popularity
grew of the new entertainment and
by 2005 work began to turn it into
a TV series. Haider Mohammed has
recently completed his fourth season,
using 2D for the character animation
and 3D for the background, with huge
success in Ramadan 2009.
Gaining international attention and
recognition is putting the animation
into English subtitle to allow the
world to have a better understanding
and enjoy Middle Eastern and Khaleeji
culture.
Each Ramadan a new season of
Shaabiat Al Cartoon is launched on
Sama Dubai TV. Every day
after the public breaks
their fast, Iftar, a new 20
minute episode of Shaabiat Al Cartoon is aired.
Throughout the year
the new season
is
repeated
on Sama Dubai TV. There
have already
been over 2 million hits on Google.
Established in Dubai Media City, Emari
Toons is a leader in top quality animation in the region. In collaboration
with its sister company, Star Animation based in Damascus, Emaritoons
produce and distribute children’s animation products around the world.
Established in Dubai Media City, Emari
Toons is a leader in top quality animation in the region. In collaboration
with its sister company, Star Animation based in Damascus, Emaritoons
produce and distribute children’s animation products around the world.
At this year’s Character and Licensing
Dubai, Emari Toons will focus on their
Arabian Sinbad animated series and
related products that are designed to
teach youngsters Arabic.
The cartoon episodes utilize the renowned “Immersion & Repetition
Method” which plunges the viewer
into the new language as if he or she
were an explorer in that country.
Twenty-four cartoon characters join
Arabian Sinbad; a young sailor with a
perfect classical Arabic accent and a
love for treasures and adventures, in
order to teach Arabic.
A further property on view this year
from Emari Toons is Ming The Minibus
– a co-production which has been a
major success in Hong Kong.
Ming is the star of a children’s book
series and an animated series aimed
at children aged three to eight. Each
eleven minute episode of the 52-episode series helps teach children about
people, places and the world around
them.
A further exhibitor this year is Tehran-based Vishka Studio who specialize in the creation and production of
high-quality animated content for the
broadcast industry. Some of Vishka’s
latest properties include The
Underthaals - a group of
strange creatures who land
on a faraway island with
no memory of who they
are or where they come
from. In order to survive
their
ordeal
and discover
their surroundings they go
through different adventures and the series is targeted at children aged five to twelve.
The Persian Warriors is a further
series featuring the adventures of a
group of war-weary Persian warriors
and friends who roam the land and
help villagers and countrymen fight
against demons and evil forces. This
series is more geared towards preteen and teen viewers.
Maktab is an educational series about
children studying in a maktab (a traditional form of school in ancient
Iran where writing and reading skills
as well as the Quran were taught to
children of all ages and were a precursor to our modern schools). The
students continually get themselves
in trouble and the series follows their
adventures.
Finally, Baran is a nine-minute short
film currently being created at Vishka’s
studio aimed at the international festival circuit.
It is the story of a curious and intelligent little girl named Roshanak who
decides to discover
her
surroundings
and to her great
surprise learns new
things about her life
and who she is.
A major company
involved in MyContent this year,
of course, is twofour54 - who support the development of world class
Arabic media and
entertainment content. twofour54 is
helping to position
Abu Dhabi as a regional centre of excellence for media
content
creation;
where businesses
including broadcast, digital media,
gaming, publishing, music and film can
create world class content in a creative and purpose built environment.
twofour54 has three key pillars: twofour54 tadreeb (the training academy), twofour54 ibtikar (innovation
and support) and twofour54 intaj
(state-of-the-art production facilities) supported by business enabler
twofour54 tawasol (one-stop-shop).
When twofour54 was launched in
2008, the group announced a number
of local, regional and international
media and entertainment companies
who had recognised the growth opportunities the Arab world represents
and decided to become part of the
twofour54 content creation community. The number of partners continues to grow, from some of the biggest global and regional brands right
down to home grown talent from
Abu Dhabi, including Fox Channel,
CNN, BBC,Thomson Foundation, Rotana Studios and the Financial Times.
The Abu Dhabi campus is a free trade
zone, which means that twofour54
can offer benefits for companies that
become part of twofour54’s vision,
such as a tax free environment and
100 per cent foreign ownership
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Created and produced
by Index Holding,
JumJum World is a new
adventure about the
‘Desert life.’ There are
nine JumJum World
characters - JumJum
and his desert friends
Eshrej, Lizaro, Mia,
Heddy, Egall, Habari,
Sina, and Daron.
Total Licensing talked
to Mohammed Yousef
– Director of E.O.V,
member of Index
Holding and the
creator of the
characters and with
Lubna Alsagoff,
Manager of the
Character Division of
Index Holdings about
the project which
aims to reflect Arabic
cultural traditions in a
way that will educate
children to understand
their true value.
Where did the idea for
JumJum and the desert life
come from?
Mohammed: “To me, the desert environment has always
been inspiring and mysterious.
The sun, the sand dunes, the stars
at night, and the wildlife have always intrigued me. At Index Holding we thought
that we needed to reveal the real world
of the desert, by talking about its environment and its animal life through the use
of entertaining and fun characters. We
are looking forward to promoting the desert life of the Arabian culture globally. “
How do the characters in JumJum
World represent the Arab attributes?
Mohammed: “JumJum – The independent,
bright and brainy camel has the kindest and biggest heart of them all. He is
always there when you need him. He is
also generous and Arab people are known
for their generosity. Another character is
Eshrej the mouse, he likes to drink coffee and talk about wisdom and poetry.
Then we have Habari the houbara, one of
the bird species that can be found in the
UAE desert, who worries about becoming
extinct. Heddy the hedgehog is another
humorous character that will definitely
captivate the hearts of young ambitious
kids who wants to do the things that they
never knew they could. Being a hedgehog
with short legs does not stop Heddy from
having a passion to play football. All the
characteristics of each character portray
and reflect many from the Arab culture
in a way that will educate the audience
indirectly. These nine characters present
themselves in a unique cultural spirit introducing the culture as well as the values
of the people in the UAE.”
In only two years, how has JumJum
become so popular among children
and adults in the UAE?
Lubna: “We started by creating and producing a line of character branded mer-
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chandise in 2008. JumJum took
part in many local activities in
local and international schools
in Dubai. He was also a major
attendee at soccer and swimming tournaments, in addition
to the Dubai Customs children’s
day. JumJum also took part at the Kids
in Fashion and Style (KIFS) Exhibition in
South Korea promoting his apparel and
the Dubai Character and Licensing Fair
– Character Dubai twice. JumJum World
is the platinum sponsor of the Dubai International Character and Licensing Fair
2010, which gave us the opportunity to
be at the forefront of the Character Licensing Industry to further expose these
captivating desert animal characters into
worldwide audiences. In addition, Lizaro
had been named the official mascot of
the World Game Championship - Dubai
Challenge for 2009 and 2010.
Tell us about the feedback. Do children like the characters?
Lubna: “Children are very attracted to the
characters, the colors, the features, and
the story behind each one. Children embrace JumJum with his orange color which
also appeals to adults.They find the characters are connected to them in one way
or another and each child find himself in
one of the characters. Mia, the cat, has a
huge fan base of girls - especially teens.
They find her elegant and smart and
this is what they are aiming to be. Other
characters such as Habari and Lizaro are
hits too because they represent the culture and intellectuality which is very much
present in Dubai. The characters in general represent the attributes and values
of Arab hospitality.”
Where can JumJum merchandise be
found?
Lubna: “We travel to many locations
across Dubai, and have had leases in different areas of Dubai, including a shop
at AL Seef night Souq in 2009 as part of
the DSF activities. We were available in
the Jumeirah Beach Residence Walk (JBR)
during spring 2009, and now we are at
the biggest mall in the World – the Dubai
Mall.We are located at the entertainment
walk near Kidzania at level 2. We have a
variety of merchandise on display including apparel, stationery, plush toys, and
many other entertainment product lines
that appeal not just to the core customer
5-15 years of age but also to consumers of
all ages and from all walks of life who appreciate character branded merchandise.
The collections are visually appealing with
positive messages to suit all tastes. The
latest trend that is going around in most
children’s apparel shops in Dubai recently
is the “color me” T-shirt. To be part of this
trend, JumJum World has also produced a
color me JumJum T-shirt.
What are you plans fro the near
future?
Lubna: “A JumJum World cook book will
be out in the near future. The book has
recipes for children where they can learn
to prepare snacks and simple dishes by
themselves, in a very healthy manner.The
book also teaches children about kitchen
safety, what to eat and what to avoid, and
encourages them to be more independent
when they are in the kitchen.
We are also planning to create an animation series that can be broadcast on
TV in the future; we are starting with
two-minute educational and entertaining
messages for children, and based on the
feedback, we will expand our plans. We
have one of the best creative teams working intensively on the future of JumJum
World. “
Finally, can you tell us about JumJum
World activity Chart for next year?
Lubna: “Next year we are participating
in some of the major events worldwide
and we are very excited as JumJum is welcomed nationally and now we are looking
forward to JumJum World enjoying the
same success representing Emirati and
Arab cultures internationally.”