MBC Group partners with UAE filmmaker Ali Mostafa for online mini-series

14 September 2011

MBC Group announced today a new partnership with the acclaimed Emirati Film Director and Producer, Ali Mostafa, (writer, co-producer and director of ‘City of Life’) involving the production of a unique online mini-series entitled ‘Classified’. The series is exclusive to mbc.net and will launch on September 28th 2011, promising viewers a thrilling, entertaining and exciting drama which sees four friends taking a journey across the region, played out over five episodes.

As the digital world is transforming, the web has changed the way network providers develop and deliver new content and applications. This is especially true in the Middle East region, where there are currently 28 million Arab Facebook users and 1.5 Twitter users. Combine this with the staggering statistic that global internet traffic is expected to quadruple by 2015, and it becomes clear that online content will continue to play an increasingly important role in the media mix.
MBC, in a unique co-production association with companies Boomtown Productions and Filmworks, acknowledge the importance of the digital arena, demonstrated via this specially created mini-series tailored to MBCs Arab online viewers. ‘Classified’ is a dramatic thriller mini-series that will be produced with the same standards of a feature film, including suspense, action, drama as well as elements of humor. It will consist of five episodes and will run exclusively on MBC’s online platform: mbc.net/classified from 28th September to 26th October 2011.

Ali Mostafa, a pioneering Emirati film maker brought up in the UAE, has joined hands with MBC to bring the best of film content onto the digital platform, in a way never before seen in the region.
Ali Mostafa said about the project “This was a challenging yet fulfilling project to deliver for the region. We were quite excited to see this story come to life on screen for an audience that would be more inclined to watch because of its presence online.”

About MBC Action:

MBC Action is MBC Group’s action-packed channel that targets young Arabic males. It delivers the best in high-octane Western series, movies and action reality shows, keeping everyone buzzing around the clock. Some of its prime time shows include The Mentalist (exclusive on MBC Action), The Vampire Diaries (exclusive on MBC Action), Fringe (Exclusive on MBC Action), Supernatural, V (exclusive on MBC Action) and True Blood.
The channel recently produced its first production, Driven, which is a weekly, cutting edge, credible “magazine” format show that earns the respect and satisfies the insatiable appetite of diehard car enthusiasts. It holds an editorially-strong package geared predominantly towards the ever-growing Saudi male youth who are fully engaged in the car-pimping culture in particular and those who are into the joy of driving in general.

Deutsche Welle presents new TV services in Arabic

14 September 2011

DW-TV ARABIA will now feature six hours of programming in Arabic

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle joins discussion with the Egyptian author Alaa al-Aswany and several young bloggers – recorded on September 8, 2011 in Berlin

More dialogue in a time of upheaval: Deutsche Welle today began broadcasting its new television channel for the Arab World. Audiences from Morocco to Oman can tune in to a six-hour block in Arabic – always in primetime throughout the region. DW-TV ARABIA will continue to inform its viewers about the most important developments in Arab countries, Germany and the rest of the world.

Deutsche Welle continues to implement its strategy by introducing new, regionalized productions to help improve the connection to its viewers around the world. Germany’s international broadcaster is offering the possibility to engage in dialogue about regional issues – especially with its talk shows with representatives from Germany and the Arab World. DW-TV ARABIA will now broadcast a block of programming in Arabic during primetime. English-language programming will complete the channel’s 24-hour line-up. Up until now, the schedule alternated hourly between Arabic, or German with Arabic subtitles, and English.

The initial broadcast featured Germany’s Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, Mohammed ElBaradei, as well as young bloggers from Germany and Egypt, discussing the latest developments in the Arab World. The talk show was recorded on September 8 in Germany’s Federal Press Conference building in Berlin. It was moderated by Dima Tarhini from DW-TV ARABIA.

The core of the new DW-TV ARABIA schedule is made up of four 30-minute segments of Journal – Deutsche Welle’s news flagship. There will also be Arabic versions of Arts.21 and GLOBAL 3000. In addition to Quadriga, there will be four new talk shows added to the mix. These will all be conducted and broadcast in Arabic and offer viewers the chance to participate while shedding light on the changes in the Arab World.

Shababtalk is a co-production with Al Hayah TV, the leading station in Egypt. Young representatives from the democratic movement in Egypt join in on discussions with their German counterparts from youth organizations, political parties and other associations.

On the Pulse brings Arab and German experts together to discuss issues related to democratization, politics, economics, the role of the government, justice and religion.

Talking to the Press is a roundtable discussion with German and European editors-in-chief and their Arab colleagues.

Guest of the Week offers the chance for public figures to come into the studio to discuss current developments in the Arab World.

The target audience for DW-TV ARABIA is made up of viewers in the Arab world who are interested in Germany and the German position on international and regionally-relevant issues and who expect reliable information about their own country from Deutsche Welle – Germany’s international broadcaster. “With DW-TV ARABIA’s consolidated schedule, we are offering attractive programming in Arabic for our target audience between Morocco and the UAE,” says Deutsche Welle’s Director of Television, Christoph Lanz. “In an era of such political instability, we are meeting the needs of our viewers by offering reliable news, insights and information.”

Deutsche Welle began broadcasting in Arabic in 2002 with a two-hour block, which has been continuously expanded over the years. DW-TV ARABIA can be received via Nilesat and Arabsat/Badr 4 between Morocco and Oman as well as in Europe.

VOA Exclusive: Aung San Suu Kyi Discusses Democratization in Burma

14 September 2011

Burmese opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi says the release of political prisoners in Burma cannot be separated from the process of democratizing the country.

In an exclusive interview with a VOA Burmese Service reporter in Rangoon, the Peace Prize laureate was asked how she could agree to cooperate with the government when about 2,000 political prisoners are still jailed.

Aung San Suu Kyi said one of the aims of trying to democratize the country is “so that there may be no political prisoners.” She said their release should not be a condition for talks, but that “by talking to each other and sorting out our differences, that could help us to hasten the release of political prisoners.”

The interview with reporter Khin Soe Win was made possible after the Burmese government allowed a VOA Burmese Service journalist into the country for the first time since 1995. The radio and television interview was conducted in English and Burmese.

Asked if it was time for western nations to consider lifting sanctions against Burma, Aung San Suu Kyi said if the reasons for the sanctions no longer exist, it would “indicate that real change has taken place, and that it’s time for a new approach.”

Questioned about what political role she would like to play in the near future, the opposition leader said she wanted to help establish a healthy political culture in Burma. “It’s not enough to have a transition to a democratic government” she said, “what we need are for democratic institutions to take firm root in this country and I would like to be able to help in this process.”

Voice of America’s Burmese Service is carrying the interview on radio, television and the web. The English interview is available at www.voanews.com.

Andy Braddel named director of AP Global Media Services

5 September 2011

Andy Braddel has been appointed as director of Global Media Services, the video newsgathering facilities arm of The Associated Press. The GMS appointment was announced by Senior Vice President Daisy Veerasingham, who heads AP’s video business. Braddel reports to Veerasingham.

Braddel has worked with the AP since 1994. He has spent much of his career in the former Soviet Union, progressing from regional editor to head of Broadcast Services, Russia and the CIS. Before joining the AP, Braddel worked for ABC News and Channel 4 News in Moscow and Washington, D.C. He was part of the ITN team which won an Emmy in 1993 for reports exposing Serb-run detention camps in Bosnia.

“For the past year Braddel has been managing the GMS operation in the U.S. He takes over GMS at a crucial time: revenues are up this year largely due to the department’s excellent performance on major news events, such as the royal wedding, the Japan earthquake and tsunami, upheavals in the Middle East, and the Dominique Strauss-Kahn scandal,” Veerasingham said.

GMS provides editorial and logistical support to broadcasters and news platforms covering global or regional news stories on location. It has highly-specialised team of 155 producers, reporters, facilitators and technicians around the globe and has fixed facilities in AP bureaus in London, Washington, New York, Paris, Moscow, Cairo, Baghdad, Jerusalem and Kabul.

“The challenge over the next year will be to keep growing the business at a time when broadcasters are under increasing pressure to make cuts in both foreign news coverage and delivery,” Veerarsingham said.

AP is in the midst of a multimillion-dollar upgrade of its newsgathering infrastructure in order to provide high-definition images to the broadcast and digital industries. At the same time, AP will also significantly increase the depth and breadth of video content available from around the world. The upgrade is the single biggest investment in the AP’s London-based video business since 1998, when the AP bought its competitor, Worldwide Television News.

Braddel will take up his new post in September and will split his time between London and New York.