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The launch of the initiative, which was attended by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, creates a new industry opportunity for the region by providing a collaborative and fully-equipped centre that brings together local, regional and international companies from across the breadth of the film, broadcast, digital, publishing and music industries.
With some of the world's leading content companies already onboard and announcing major plans, twofour54's advanced ecosystem offers production facilities, infrastructure, training and a new business incubator - all on one site - for the development of world class Arabic content by people from the Middle East region for its 300 million Arab audience.
Speaking at the launch, Tony Orsten, Chief Executive Officer of twofour54, said,
"The Abu Dhabi 2030 vision seeks to establish the Emirate as a regional centre for culture with a 'global capital city' as its hub. An extremely important part of achieving this vision lies in creating a thriving international media industry which, to be successful, needs to be local at the same time."he continued.
"With twofour54 we are launching a major initiative that will encourage, stimulate and support Arabic content creation by Arabs in the Arab world, embracing films, television and music through to animation, digital media and art. Providing a collaborative campus where all types of media company can work together will see Abu Dhabi become a centre and catalyst for content creation and culture throughout Middle East region and beyond."
twofour54 has already attracted several of the largest and most influential content creation companies worldwide, including CNN, BBC, Thomson Foundation, Random House, Harper Collins, Rotana Studios, Financial Times, Abu Dhabi Media Company, C Sky Pictures and the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
According to a global study by PWC (Global Entertainment and Media Outlook report, 2008-2012), the Middle East Media market is forecast to expand at double-digit annual rates over the next five years, by far outstripping the average of 6.6% growth across the rest of the world.
These partners have recognised the vast opportunity that this represents for growth in the Arab world and have committed significant investment and resources to business initiatives that will be led out of twofour54's preliminary campus in Khalifa Park, due to open in 2009.
"Today we are not just launching a business, we are creating an industry and an ecosystem for true Arabic content creation by the people and for the people in the Arab region."said Wayne Borg, Chief Operating Officer, twofour54.
"The market opportunity is substantial by any measure, but the industry needs more than just a location - it needs a cohesive environment that supports education, investment, collaboration and creative partnerships. twofour54 places media right at the heart of the Arab world and offers the tools and infrastructure for driving international-standard quality and success."
twofour54 is built around four pillars - twofour54 tadreeb, twofour54 ibtikar, twofour54 intaj and twofour54 tawasol - located within a campus style environment that promotes cooperation and creative partnerships amongst the companies involved.
Posted by Ehab Al-Abbadi
