Live audience shows have become a major source of revenue for Arab broadcasters drawing huge crowds and contestants from Morocco to Bahrain. We asked producers from two of the region's biggest broadcasters about their approach to this increasingly popular genre.

Nabil Issa Founder and CEO Signature productions
The Middle East and North African production market is overcrowded with production houses. The competition is over price, quality, clients, and territory The challenges they face hinder the industry’s growth but can never stop it. Egypt and Lebanon, especially, are countries of booming production. From 1995 up until now, Signature has establlished a footprint in the congested media market by its high quality productions, reggardless of budget restrictions. It has become a market leader in TV programming, commercials, and feature films.

It has generated TV programs for leading TV stations such as LBC, Dubai TV, and more. Signature is known for working with the best teams and facilities in the global film industry. Signature has recently finished shooting the largest film shot in the Middle East, a musical entitled Sea of Stars, sponsored by Pepsi, and another Hollywood action movie titled Blacklline, shot in Beirut, a first for Hollywood in over thirty years. Signature’s crew included directtor Jan De Bont, director of photography Amir Mokri, Oscar-winning sound designer Steve Flick, and music composer Marc Mancina, winner of nine awards in scoring and sound design. Most of the challenges we face are budget related. Budget restrictions imp posed by clients limit our ability to manp neuver and up the pressure to deliver the expected results. Other challenges arise from smaller production houses springip ing up in the region that are ready to do the job for half the appropriate budget. Their goal is to initially grab the client’s attention, but, in return, they disrupt market rates and workflow. They end up confusing agencies that don’t realize that they run a high risk of receiving an unp professional, visually horrid, final result, thus endangering their product, the cliep ent, and, most importantly, the industry. Lebanon is one of our biggest local talent pools, but it has also proven tobe challenging due to the current circp cumstances, so our strategy was to become a regional network, as opp posed to a local one. We have offices in Dubai and Cairo that are now as strong and independent as our headqp quarters in Beirut. As for competitp tion, we respect our competitors, but focus on improving our own results. The production market will never cease to bloom in the region, as the needs of broadcasters and advertisep ers continue to increase and mature. Our aim is to bring the region more film activity by locally producing quality international feature films alongside big budget high-end Arabp bic films. Of course, Signature takes pride in providing talent with the experiep ence they need and the fact that our “graduates” have become prominp nent professionals, whether inside Signature or independently such as director Nadine Labaki. known for Caramel and director Andre Chammp mas, who is currently working with in-house directors Amin Dorra and Jad Awad with great success alongsp side our long roster of high-caliber, world-class, foreign and local directp tors.We emphasize the fact that experiep ence is an important element of succp cess; the sooner students start workip ing, the faster they will grow and reach their individual goals. We also make sure that they understand that the production field is a continuous learning process; there is always something new coming up and they need to make sure that they are alwp ways up to date. When invited to speak to film schools, I notice that most students want to become directors and prodp ducers, forgetting that the industry has various needs, including special effect teams, art directors, wardrobe stylists, directors of photography, production managers, gaffers, key grips, editors, CGI artists, and so forth, and they all have valid places in the industry. That’s why I consp stantly tell students that the opportp tunities are not limited – do not limit yourself. From our experience, professionap alism, honesty, reliability, forward thinking, courage, and trustworthinp ness are the six key elements that will help you succeed in the market and extend your business within the region and around the world.

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Nermine Zakaria Business Development Manager Baraka Media Productions
Established in 1996, Baraka Media Production started as a set designing company, but has grown into a full-fledged media production company. BMP’s CEO Eng. Mahmoud Baraka is a leading art director in the Middle East, with over 17 years of experience varying from production and art directing to teaching. His motto is “media production is more than just lights, cameras, scripts, and locations – it is an art.” Four years ago, BMP launched the highlyrated program El Beit Beitak with host Mahmoud Saad.

In 2007, BMP produced the three top sports programs on Egyptian television as well as the Ramadan series Sultan Al Gharam. The challenges within the media scene in the Middle East vary, ranging from audience demand and the stars available to the smallest of technical details. We have encountered several of each during the past few years. However, they were overcome, mainly due to our long-term vision and planning. As we constantly seek the best standards in all productionassociated elements, we always identify our target and develop a set of backup plans for each. This, of course, has not been a simple task, yet our flexibility and adaptation, while maintain the goals of quality and uniqueness, are guaranteed to assist in achieving our goals. In this fast growing field, keeping up with the audience’s transforming taste and type of content demanded is quite a challenge. For that purpose, research in different areas has been quite a useful tool. Being aware of new techniques and global trends in production, in addition to constantly broadening our experience, by attending major events around the world, has added to our exposure, making the rough areas less difficult to overcome. The preparation phase is crucial for the success of any project we undertake. Being well prepared not only reduces production costs and budget overruns, it provides us with the opportunity to perform better in terms of cast selectp tion, script preparation, technical setup, location selection, scouting, etc. Beip ing well prepared has contributed to our success to a great extent. We take pride in extending our experience to talent. The best advice we give them is reflected in our line of work. For instance, we believe in partnering with the best business affiliates, as this results in a win-win situation for both parties. The Sultan Al Gharam series is a co-production between MBP and Al Batros, one of the most renowned serial production houses. Any production must target the viewers. El Beit Beitak brings the audience the “pulse of Egyptians” and caters to the demand of all Arab audience around the world. The script for Sultan Al Gharam features very sincere and truthful dialogues that created an immediate bond with the audience. It relates various aspects to people’s actual lives, hopes, and ambitions. To measure the success of your work, you need to listen to the industry’s feedbp back. The series was aired for the first time in Ramadan 2007 over Dream TV and the MBC network. The revp views from the critics were very positive, emphasizing the smoothness of the storp ryline and the development of the events, in addition to the truthfulness and sincerip ity of the script. Therefore, the series was rerun on ART network, Orbit, and Future TV. Whether a student or professional, the true formula for success would be to maintain your development, nourish your experience, be dedicp cated and open to all ideas, and functp tions within an entity. True success in creating art lies in teamwork and learning from others. The success of our work is within a simple formula: planning, dedicatp tion, talent, quality, and meticulous attention to details. Those elements make success measurable, starting with the audience and their feedbp back – and ending with high-quality productions.