New UAE entertainment platform launched
Pair aims to market content from the region globally
Emirati filmmaker Mohammad Saeed Harib, the man behind the popular animation series Freej, has partnered with former Dubai International Film Festival (Diff) managing director Shivani Pandya Malhotra to launch Near East, a marketing and consultancy enterprise offering a number of services to cinema, TV, music, arts and live event initiatives.
The pair, who helped launch the first edition of Diff in 2004, tell Gulf News tabloid! that their aim is to not only market content from the region globally, but also bring in content regionally.
“This region’s becoming really important for the industry, and for people launching films. The UAE is the biggest market in the region, and I think a lot can be done,” Malhotra tells Gulf News tabloid!
For the company, she will bring to the table her extensive knowledge of the local, regional and global film industries, providing a marketing management perspective, while Harib, a showrunner, filmmaker and chairman of Lammtara Art Productions, brings a content creation edge.
One of the first projects they will market is Harib’s first feature film Rashid & Rajab, an Arabic body swap movie about a rich Emirati man and an Egyptian set to launch in 2019.
“There are a lot of global companies that want to be active here, that are relying on a voice that is trustworthy,” says Harib of his new venture.