Page 458 - CABSAT ENGLISH PR REPORT - FEBRUARY to MAY 2023

4/18/23, 11:10 AM Cabsat’s Mena Co-Production Salon returns for 2nd edition
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 250 quality meetings take place, with around 30 high-value
partnership deals in negotiation during the three-day period.

Korayem added: "I can confidently count that at least half of the business deals discussed have already been closed. That's
pretty good in the Mena region, as it is not unusual for deals to take several months to finalise. I'm delighted that we are
able to offer the opportunities to the right people that can accelerate the process."

Also expected to participate in this year’s Co-Production Salon are some of the most prominent platforms and
broadcasters, including Shahid, TOD, StarzPlay, VOX, OSN, StarsPlay, E-Vision, and Saudi Broadcast Corporation, along
with noted Arabic content producers from the UAE-based Eagle Films; Saudi’s Art Format Lab; Cedars Art from Lebanon,

and the Egyptian Arpu Plus and United Media Services. – TradeArabia News Service

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