THE VICE IS RIGHT
Youth-culture film heralds media brand’s regional launch.
On November13, the newly formed regional headquarters of global youth-media brand Vice launched in the Middle East with a video production, Bil Arabi ( In Arabic), a 60-minute film about Arab youth. The project was the first piece of content to be unveiled as vice.com/ar goes live in the region.
Filmed across 12 cities in Saudi Arabia, Syria, the UAE, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and the Palestinian occupied territories, Bil
Arabi “documents vast visual landscapes and wide-ranging opinions and voices, shining a light on a growing youth demographic traditionally underrepresented by mainstream media,” said Vice.
Islam Alrayyes, editor in chief of Vice MENA, said: “An honest, insightful collection of perspectives from a rapidly changing region, Bil
Arabi serves as a touching tribute by and for Arab youth. Capturing their fears, emotions, hopes and dreams, it’s testament to the important work we’ll aim to do at Vice Arabia in representing the many voices of young people across the region.”
Additional content to be produced in the region will span Arabic lifestyle and entertainment editorial and original video content, with locally curated articles to be translated and published across all of Vice’s global platforms. Alrayyes will lead a team of writers, editors, directors and pro- ducers in overseeing all future content output. He previously acted as editor in chief of Sport360’ s digital operations and head of digital content at Abu Dhabi Media, before co-founding digital media consultancy Gravity Seven.
In addition to its editorial and content divisions, Vice Arabia will house the regional hub of Vice’s multi- award winning in-house creative agency, Virtue Worldwide. Expanding Virtue’s portfolio and working with some of the region’s biggest brands, the new Middle East operation will deliver story- l ed multi-platform content campaigns, under the leadership of newly appointed EMEA CEO, Rob Newlan, formerly of Facebook.