Abu Dhabi, UAE 2016
Workshop Photos
America Abroad Media Brings Top Hollywood Writer and Producers to Abu Dhabi
America Abroad Media (AAM) organized a delegation of leading Hollywood producers and writers who traveled to Abu Dhabi for a groundbreaking series of workshops and events aimed at supporting young creative talent in the UAE and the broader Arab World.
The delegation included AAM Founder and President Aaron Lobel; Ben Silverman,the Emmy, Golden Globe, and Peabody Award-winning executive producer of The Office, Ugly Betty, The Tudors, Jane the Virgin, and Marco Polo; Greg Daniels, a leading comedy writer, producer, and director on shows such as Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons and co-creator of The Office, King of the Hill, and Parks and Recreation; and Howard Owens, Founder and co-CEO of Propagate Content and former CEO of National Geographic Channels.
“Our partners in the Middle East have the ambition and the talent to bring about a new golden age in Arab drama and entertainment," said Lobel, "and they feel that the experience of Hollywood professionals can benefit their efforts. We look forward to forging long term partnerships for Arabic drama and entertainment programming that will reach audiences across the Middle East and far beyond."
During their visit, Ben Silverman and Howard Owens shared their experiences in Hollywood with over 100 Arab counterparts and explored how the UAE can become a regional and global center for storytelling, while Greg Daniels hosted two invitation-only screenwriting workshops with writers from around the region. Sponsored byEtihad Airways, the host of the events was Abu Dhabi's twofour54, which provides world-class production facilities, training, and support services to the country’s growing media industry.
“We are privileged to be connected and inspired by such a fantastic team of professionals and motivated storytellers this week,” said Silverman, "and we cannot wait to expand our partnership and spend more time in Abu Dhabi, where AAM, twofour54, and Chairwoman H.E. Noura Al Kaabi are leading the entertainment industry’s future both in the region and around the world."
H.E. Noura Al Kaabi said: “The US delegation’s visit to twofour54 this week was initiated by America Abroad Media in recognition of Abu Dhabi’s growing reputation as a media hub, as well as the commercial opportunities available in the region. twofour54 is looking forward to developing a long-term partnership with AAM and Ben Silverman to create new, tailored content,developed from the twofour54 campus, and bring international expertise to continue enhancing local skill sets through workshops like those held this week.”
Media coverage of the visit can be found here: Abu Dhabi Week, Elfann, Middle East Directory, The National, Gulf News, Al Khaleej, ElFann, Gulf News Television, Digital Production ME, The National AE, World Screen, Abu Dhabi City Guide and Gulf News.
About America Abroad Media
America Abroad Media’s mission is to promote the free exchange of ideas and foster critical thinking through the development and dissemination of seminal television and radio programming, from South Asia to the Middle East and North Africa. A global media network headquartered in Washington D.C., AAM reaches large-scale audiences through groundbreaking programming and production partnerships, including town halls connecting audiences across borders for dialogue; documentary series about key international issues; and a journalism exchange program bringing prominent broadcast journalists to the United States. AAM’s partners include MBC, Al Arabiya, Sky News Arabia (UAE), ONTV, Creative Arab Talent (Egypt), Attounsia TV, Mosaique FM, Shems FM (Tunisia), Jordan Media Institute (Jordan), MTV (Lebanon), Tolo TV, Killid Radio (Afghanistan), NDTV (India), and Dunya TV, ARY Digital, GeoTV, AAJ TV (Pakistan), among others. In 2013, AAM established The Power of Film, an annual Awards Dinner that brings together the foreign policy community in Washington with the global film and television industry to honor leaders in media whose work addresses serious issues of international importance. For more information, visit: www.americaabroadmedia.org. @America_Abroad
About Propagate
Founded in 2015 and spearheaded by Co-CEOs Ben Silverman and Howard T. Owens, Los Angeles-based Propagate develops, produces and distributes programming built upon great stories spanning all genres, including premium scripted series, longform, non-scripted and formats, to broadcast, cable, digital and emerging platforms worldwide. One of the world’s fastest-growing independent content creation companies, Propagate’s portfolio includes, among others, an unscripted series for Apple; “Isn’t that Rich?” with ABC Studios; “Red Team” for Amazon; “Evil Geniuses” (working title) and “What The…” (working title) for HISTORY; “My So-Called Simple Life” (working title) for FYI; a docuseries with Vivica A. Fox for Lifetime; the shortform digital series “Fall Into Me” for A+E Networks; and National Geographic Wild’s “Animal ER.”
About twofour54
twofour54, home to Abu Dhabi’s media and entertainment industry, aims to cultivate Abu Dhabi’s media free zone and provide products and services to attract local, regional and international media businesses to the Emirate. Tasked with enabling a new generation of creative leaders and building Abu Dhabi as the Middle East’s leading hub for content creation, twofour54 provides world-class production facilities, talent development initiatives and training, and business support services for media companies. Named after the geographical coordinates of Abu Dhabi, twofour54 is now home to 400 media companies – including Sky News Arabia, Image Nation, Ubisoft, CNN, Fox, Flash Entertainment, M&C Saatchi, and Flat6Labs – as well as a bi-lingual freelancer pool and a community of aspiring media talents. For more information, visit www.twofour54.com
Transcript
PRESS RELEASE_ AAM Brings Top Hollywood Writer and Producers to Abu Dhabi_June2016.pd