Page 44 - CABSAT ENGLISH PR REPORT - FEBRUARY to MAY 2023

Highlights from the previous edition of the Co-Production Lounge included Roya TV from

Jordan, Egypt’s T-Vision, Morocco’s Image Factory, and Bright Lens Media from the Eastern

Province of Saudi Arabia as some of the participating companies, while the 2023 instalment

will welcome both Arabic and foreign film content looking to explore opportunities for co-

production in long-form entertainment content, co-funding entertainment content, and

commissioning projects for OTT Originals.

Commenting on her experience of the first-ever Co-Production Salon last year, Katerina

Pshenitsyna, deputy CEO at SMF Animation, one of the global giants in animation production
and distribution, said: “Last year’s event was spot-on. We are still actively looking for real co-

production opportunities in Arabic kids’ content. For the past 80 years our content has been
travelling worldwide, and now that we have an established presence in the MENA region, we

look forward to more content partnerships that develop wonderful stories from this part of

the world, for the region and beyond.”

Speaking in anticipation of this year’s event, Medhat Karam, CEO of Shofha, one of the region’s

fastest-growing OTT platforms, said: “Partnerships and collaborations are an integral part of

our company’s DNA. We sent the full team to attend last year, and we are planning to

participate again this year, with a focus on expanding our partnerships not only in content

production, but also rights sharing with other platforms.

“Our strength lies in our scalability; since we’re already very well-established in important mass
territories like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, we’re able to co-invest with our partners in great

quality content for a fraction of the market price. Also, we’re now rapidly expanding into other

territories like Africa, so economies of scale that we gain will naturally be passed on to our

partners. At this coproduction salon we look forward to meeting with established production

houses, platforms, and potential business partners.”

Heba Korayem, Content Market & Distribution Consultant at HConsult, who will chair the

Salon again this year, spoke highly of the initiative, stating that the previous event saw over