Exclusive Interview: twofour54’s Noura Al Kaabi

PREMIUM: Noura Al Kaabi, the CEO of twofour54, met with TV MEA to discuss the company’s progress in developing a vibrant media sector in Abu Dhabi.

TV MEA: What are the major advances you’ve seen in Abu Dhabi’s media sector since twofour54’s creation?
AL KAABI: Back in 2008 when we started twofour54, our aim was to build a hub for creating excellent Arabic content and attracting talent to Abu Dhabi. We had to construct the proper ecosystem to help foster this talent and develop the industry. We’re not building an industry, but we’re developing it and we’re attracting youth to be part of it, to build up the culture. It’s not something exclusively local—it’s local, regional and international. Since twofour54’s inception, we have nurtured that ecosystem, secured more partners and greater services that enable us to be the perfect home in the region for producers, broadcasters, game developers, animators, and for students, make-up artists and set designers.

TV MEA: The organization is involved in so many activities, from training to investing in content. Can you tell me about some of the key areas of the business?
AL KAABI: The umbrella is the regulatory framework that enables partners to set up in Abu Dhabi and at twofour54. From twofour54’s business-unit perspective, we have tadreeb, our training academy. So far we’ve trained more than 6,910 individuals. We are partners with Cartoon Network in the Cartoon Network Animation Academy, which is the first ever in the region and worldwide. We also have partnerships with Ubisoft for the twofour54 Gaming Academy and between the BBC and tadreeb. tadreeb ensures that we are up to date with media technology and training individuals.

The second business unit is our production facility, intaj. We have more than ten studios and more than 20 post-production facilities. These are beautiful studios, but we need the talent too, so we have our freelancers’ scheme that helps get productions up and running. Local and international productions are relying on our local talent to form crews and on freelancers, instead of having to source these individuals [from] abroad.

As I mentioned earlier, we have built a strong infrastructure that includes studios and post-production facilities. The studios are currently fully utilized, so we need to build additional studios to cover demand. Our post-production facilities are also being utilized at 90 percent. We have generated over 18,350 hours of television content; our local, regional, and international production partners are using the studios and post-production facilities to generate world-class content. This makes Abu Dhabi an exporter of productions, which certainly wasn’t the case prior to 2007.

Our third business unit is ibtikar, twofour54’s content and talent development arm. We support pilots like Peeta Planet, a new social media travel series—its first season was commissioned and shown on Dubai One TV—and the show’s second season is in production. We have supported many pilots that have in turn been brought to broadcasters. The creative lab, a part of ibtikar, supports creative media projects ranging from short films, digital publications, video games and applications to everything that involves content development. Our mandate is to support young media talent and to encourage youth to view media as a commercial industry. We have more than 6,300 members in our virtual creative lab community portal and have created a physical space for them: #thelab was launched last year and it’s a place where young community members can meet, collaborate, brainstorm or simply relax and share ideas while having the opportunity to access editing and sound labs, a stage area and a mini screening wall.

We are proud to have more than 250 partners. Of course, to facilitate all of this work internally and externally, we have tawasol, which is twofour54’s business support arm for partners based in our creative campus. It helps the companies setting up in Abu Dhabi with visas, permits, driving licenses, travel arrangements and virtually anything you can think of. If you’re with your family, what is the best community to live in? Where are the best schools? We want to make sure that setting up your business in Abu Dhabi and specifically in twofour54 is an easy, hassle-free process.

TV MEA: What are the major challenges you’ve faced in attracting international media companies to Abu Dhabi?
AL KAABI: We are a country with more than 200 nationalities. We’re cosmopolitan. The UAE is a place where we believe in diversifying the economy, and nurturing the creative industry directly in line with the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030 [plan of action]. There are two dimensions to the challenges faced by twofour54. Number one: attracting international production houses. We have succeeded so far, but in the beginning it wasn’t easy. We [are] attracting international production companies by showcasing successful production stories in the UAE, as well as the different services and benefits offered by twofour54 like infrastructure, talent, and production investments and incentives. We visit and attend various events and conferences, like MIPCOM. Such events, for example, have helped us attract a full Syrian drama to be filmed in our studios. We provided a 30-percent rebate scheme introduced by the Abu Dhabi Film Commission from which production companies can benefit.

From a local perspective, the challenge is how to convince youth that media can be a rewarding career. This is what we’re doing via our creative labs and outreach programs, visiting universities and schools. When we have projects, when we have film sets from local and international producers, this is when we get young people to look seriously at the industry. The old perception of having a career in the media industry used to revolve around presenting a TV show, working as reporter, and directing a film or acting in it. The full picture of a media career wasn’t understood. This is part of what we’re doing. There is an increase in youth joining media, youth wanting to hold the camera, wanting to build sets for filmmakers or TV shows. This is our mission, to help more youth be part of that culture, enrich the culture of twofour54, and support the building of a sustainable media and entertainment industry in the region.

In 2014, we are going to focus on doing our best in securing big projects that have great impact on the media sector, help the community and have a positive [result] both economically and in talent development.

TV MEA: What advice would you give specifically to young women looking to make it in Arab media?
AL KAABI: We at twofour54 arrange a series of visits to different academic entities across the nation, introducing students to various career opportunities that the media industry in the UAE offers. We provide students an overview of twofour54 and how it is working on developing the region’s media and entertainment industry. During these visits we highlight case studies of successful projects done by Emirati and Arab creative talent, and how it helped them take their first step in their future careers. My advice to Emirati and Arab women would be that the media industry is booming and is growing rapidly in the region and there are many opportunities available for them to play their part and contribute to its development. For example, twofour54 has created over 3,000 job opportunities since it was launched five years ago and the market is seeking young talent, especially in content development, video games, animation, post-production, advertising, and in law and finance related to mass media. This represents real opportunity for us all, men and women. Emirati women will also have a major role in contributing to the growth of the industry. It is expected that by 2030, 40 percent of employees in the media industry will be Emirati women. The media industry, along with other industries, has seen women very successfully assume leadership roles through the opportunities and support provided by the leadership and government of the UAE. This is the best time for women to benefit from and take advantage of the opportunities available in this vibrant market.