The annual LIONS Creativity Report ranks the most creative businesses and people in the world based on performance at Cannes Lions.
Official rankings are presented alongside insights, analysis, and interviews with Lion-winning creators, uncovering what it takes to produce the highest-ranking work in the world.
The LIONS Creativity Report has been released and is available to everyone for free through LIONS’ insights and intelligence platform The Work. Full to the brim with insights and data, the report is the ultimate global benchmark for impactful creativity and ranks the most creative businesses and people in the world, based on performance at Cannes Lions.
Speaking about the report, Simon Cook, CEO, LIONS, said, “It’s a celebration and also a tool for future success. The official global creativity rankings provide a definitive benchmark for the industry, accompanied by insights and commentary from our winners and the talented experts who judged the work this year. I would like to congratulate everyone who ranked this year. Together, they set the global benchmark for creativity.”
The LIONS Creativity Report presents four Regional Network of the year awards and 11 global awards: Creative Company, Network, Agency, Independent Agency, Creative Brand and Palme d’Or, as well as Health Network, Health Agency, Media Network, Agency by Track, and Independent Agency by Track of the Year. The creative rankings also include the top performing Director, Art Director, Creative Director and Copywriter.
The rankings are compiled using data from Lion-winning and shortlisted work from 2022. PwC is LIONS’ Process Integrity Partner and is responsible for independently confirming due process in the calculation and reporting of the Special Awards rankings listed in the LIONS Creativity Report.
In this year’s Lions Creativity Report, Jarred Pitts and Maher Dahdouh from Impact BBDO Dubai share seventh rank as ‘Copywriter of the Year’ – another triumph for the agency, who not only won 8 Lions at this year’s Festival, but has also been ranked the No. 1 creative agency in the Middle East and Africa region for the fourth consecutive year.
Also included in the report is analysis and insights from the winning work and lessons on how brands are growing businesses and tackling some of the world’s most challenging problems in innovative ways. The themes covered include – Creativity for Growth; Scalable Solutions; Craft with a Conscience; Tech in Service to the Idea; and Invite Everybody. It is an essential companion for the coming creative year for it showcases brilliant work that will help guide creativity, as well as give exclusive insight that will support awards entries for Lions in 2023.
The LIONS Creativity Report is powered by The Work, the LIONS intelligence and insights platform that houses 250,000 pieces of work along with how it was briefed, researched, produced and crafted.
Access the full report, for free, here.
Source: Cannes Lions (Press Release)
META Cinema Forum brings cinema stakeholders from the Middle East, Africa, Asia, CIS countries and Turkey to address the demand of theatre facilities and shortage of film contents in certain markets while the overall industry shows strong growth in the MEA region.
The next edition of the META Cinema Forum will address the demand-supply mismatch in film contents and theatre facilities across the Middle East and Africa which will be held from October 25 to 26, 2022, at the Atlantis the Palm, Dubai.
Cinema industry stakeholders from Turkey, Asia and CIS countries will join the META Cinema Forum, making it a truly global cinema industry convention that has become one of the must-attend global cinema conventions.
More than 500 industry delegates, experts and participants will discuss and debate the opportunities and challenges faced by the industry stakeholders at the META Cinema Forum. More than 60 suppliers will display the latest products and services that boost the moviegoer experience. The two-day mega cinema industry conference will be followed by a three-day META Film Fest that will screen over 40 shortlisted full feature films, documentaries, and short films along with premieres of highly anticipated releases of 2022 at the VOX Cinemas at the Nakheel Mall.
“META Cinema Forum has become an international platform for the global cinema industry community to build partnerships and bridge the content gap, and to discuss ways to expand cinema chains into emerging markets,” Leila Masinaei, Managing Partner, Great Mind Events Management, said.
META Cinema Forum also complements the development of the creative economy whose contribution could make a significant impact in the Middle Eastern and African countries. It will boost the Dubai Creative Economy Strategy that aims to transform the emirate of Dubai into an international destination for creativity and the capital of the creative economy by 2025.
A recent report, The Future of the Creative Economy, by Deloitte, shows that the creative industry employed nearly 20 million people in nine countries.
“The nature of the creative economy will continue to change and specific businesses and sectors will thrive or decline. New sectors could emerge entirely. However, we can be optimistic that the creative economy as a whole is likely to grow over time,” Deloitte said in its research paper.
The Dubai Creative Economy Strategy aims to double the contribution of the creative industries to the GDP of Dubai from 2.6 per cent in 2020 to 5 per cent by 2025. It also seeks to more than double the number of Dubai-based creative companies from 8,300 in 2020 to 15,000 by 2025, and more than double the number of creators based in the emirate, from 70,000 in 2020 to 140,000 by 2025.
META Cinema Forum is the first and so far, the only cinema industry-focused convention in the Middle East and Africa region that has one of the fastest growing entertainment industries in the world where governments and the private sector are investing heavily in entertainment facilities to diversify economies and reduce dependency on a single economic sector.
The event brings all the stakeholders on a single platform to brainstorm on the growth of the industry and identify opportunities going forward. It will host seminars, awards, premieres of new movies, workshops, and masterclasses, and showcase new products and exclusive slate content presentations.
META Cinema Forum is backed by all the leading industry players. The event is supported by VOX Cinemas as the Strategic Cinema Partner, and the National Film Authority joining as Supporting Partner. Other leading industry partners include Universal Pictures International, Warner Bros. Entertainment, AMC Cinemas, Cinepolis Gulf, Maison SU, Cinemarine, CineBodrum, FilmHouse Cinemas, Golden Scene, Cinema Plus, Dolby, ME Cinemas, Starz Play, Cinepax and Empire Entertainment.
Motivate Val Morgan is a media partner for this year’s META Cinema Forum.
Source: META Cinema Forum
Cinépolis Cinemas – Amwaj Islands features five-screens with a variety of seating options, and is part of the Amwaj Village project in Bahrain.
Cinépolis opened its newest location at Amwaj Islands in Bahrain on 08 July 2022.
The five-screen cinema features a variety of seating options – including signature standard seating, deluxe seats equipped with on-demand waiter service with a convenient call button, and recliner seats that offer an exclusive luxury viewing experience.
The cinema exhibitor has also elevated its traditional popcorn offering in Bahrain by introducing new flavors – Spicy and Pizza, has introduced online F&B ordering when booking tickets from its website, and will be launching its hot food menu soon.
Alejandro Aguilera, CEO of Cinépolis Cinemas says: “We’re really excited about our latest location in Amwaj, especially as we will be catering to the residents of Amwaj and Muharraq. As an international operator, we are excited to bring our best practices and experiences both to the locals and expats. The design and layout of the three seating categories in the auditoriums gives a different experience for all movie goers.”
The multi-screen cinema is part of the Amwaj Village project, which is home to a host of shopping, dining, and entertainment outlets.
Cinépolis Cinemas currently operates 18 screens in 2 locations across Bahrain, and with the recently opened Al Hokair Time in KSA, the exhibitor has a total of 81 screens in 9 cities across the region.
Contact us to advertise your brand on the screens of Cinépolis Cinemas in the Middle East.
Sources: Cinépolis Cinemas
Marvel Studios is set to roll its curtain down on Phase 4, and has revealed future plans for its cinematic universe at the recently concluded San Diego Comic-Con 2022. The studio announced an exciting line-up of live-action and animated projects in its next phases from 2023-2025.
Phases 5 and 6 feature new titles with familiar faces, starting with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and leading up to not just one but two back-to-back Avengers movies with much to explore in between in the Multiverse.
If you’ve missed those announcements and want more information, here is everything you need to know about Marvel’s latest slate of projects set to release on the big screen:
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Release date: February 17, 2023
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will be the beginning of Phase 5. That film is expected to reveal more mysteries of the pivotal Quantum Realm universe; it will be the first official introduction of Jonathan Majors as Kang (the big bad of this Multiverse Saga) and will debut a new young hero when Scott Lang’s daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton) suits up as well.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Release date: May 5, 2023
James Gunn will be ending his Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy with this film – and he and the cast and crew are letting fans know in no uncertain terms that it is going to be an ending. The movie will be introducing some key cosmic figures – Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) and the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji) – and it’s here that we begin to see a possible pattern forming in Phase 5: powerful villains rising in ways our heroes may not be ready for.
The Marvels
Release date: July 28, 2023
The Captain Marvel movie franchise will meet the Ms. Marvel TV series (with help from WandaVision’s Monica Rambeau) to form a new trifecta of cosmic-powered superheroines in the MCU. Plot details are unknown, but Ms. Marvel left us with a place-switching connection between Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) and Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani), so that’s something. Based on other projects like Secret Invasion, The Marvels could have some serious Kree/Skrull drama to resolve – and again, we could be looking at a major shakeup in the cosmic order, as a result.
Blade
Release date: November 3, 2023
The Marvel Knights supernatural side of things has been teased through Moon Knight and Eternals’ post-credits scene, but Blade is the film that will really open the door to it all. Blade could be a pivotal dark horse story whose significance we can’t yet fully understand.
Captain America: New World Order
Release date: May 3, 2024
Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) has taken up the shield and mantle, but it sounds like the timing could be rather unfortunate. In the comics, the New World Order organization was founded by Red Skull in a clandestine plot to take over the world. There have been many similar stories in Marvel lore since then (Leviathan) that could be streamlined into the premise of Captain America 4. Either way, it sounds like Sam will find out there are some truly seedy (world threatening) things happening in the world of politics and espionage.
Thunderbolts
Release date: May 3, 2024
The end of MCU Phase 5 will be Thunderbolts – a series that started as a team of villains posing as heroes. Given everything we’ve seen in Phase 5 leading up to it, Thunderbolts makes us wonder if Phase 5 will end with a new world order of villains holding the reigns, and heroes left on the run.
While those Marvel Phase 5 plans took their rightful place in the spotlight at Comic-Con 2022, Marvel also announced the first three projects in its Phase 6 slate
Fantastic Four
Release date: November 8, 2024
MCU reboot of the Fantastic Four will be released in November of 2024, marking the first movie in Phase 6 and kickstarting the road to Secret Wars. This movie will be necessary to get to the final film of The Multiverse Saga as Marvels’ first family play a major role in that storyline.
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty
Release date: May 2, 2025
The summer of 2025 will kick off with Avengers 5, subtitled The Kang Dynasty and set to be directed by Destin Daniel Cretton. What’s unclear about the film is…who will be part of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in this movie? One guess is that Captain Marvel and Hulk have continued the team, as seen at the end of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
Avengers: Secret Wars
Release date: November 7, 2025
The Multiverse Saga will officially conclude with this title, as the Avengers: Secret Wars will seemingly draw from the Jonathan Hickman-penned reboot of the title from 2015, one that combined multiple different Earths/timelines/universes into one planet, the all-new Battle World.
Sources: Techradar, Comicbook.com and Boxoffice Pro
The newly launched platform has the capability to offer data and insight driven audience based cinema buying across Motivate Val Morgan’s network of cinemas in the Middle East.
Motivate Val Morgan, the leading cinema advertising company in the Middle East has launched a dedicated platform – CinePlan and CineMeasure, through which advertisers can plan and measure their cinema campaigns with ease.
CinePlan is a tool that can be utilized to build a cinema media plan based on advertiser requirements, and offers two routes: By Admission and By Package. The By Package route presents advertisers with the option to book existing pre-designed packages sold by Motivate Val Morgan, while the By Admission route is a new extension to the existing bouquet of cinema advertising offerings, where advertisers can define their advertising reach at cinema locations of preference.
CineMeasure is a post campaign measurement tool that works seamlessly with CinePlan to analyze and report admission data for an executed campaign.
Ian Fairservice, Managing Partner, Motivate Media Group, said, “As the region’s leading cinema advertising company, with over twenty-three years of regional experience, we are committed to constantly improve and innovate our offerings. The launch of CinePlan and CineMeasure marks a significant milestone for Motivate Val Morgan, as it establishes a first-to-market platform through a self-service model, a major focus for the company as we look to empower advertisers and provide autonomous cinema planning and measurement.”
The platform will add exceptional value for advertisers as it has the capability to offer data and insight driven audience-based buying across Motivate Val Morgan’s network of cinemas in the region, improving accountability and transparency to address concerns on cinema audience measurement, a byproduct of the pandemic.
Avinash Udeshi, Chief Operating Officer, Motivate Val Morgan commented, “While being a market leader, we have always had a consultative approach in terms of buying and delivering on campaign objectives. Through this platform, we will offer the same total flexibility and convenience to advertisers and agency planners, with admission data from the cinema box office. Thus, cinema advertising can now be further planned, bought, and measured through a simple yet comprehensive dashboard. The system has the capability to buy audience by numbers, demography, and income groups, right down to a granular level of an individual screen at a particular location.”
Advertisers can leverage CinePlan and CineMeasure to connect the dots between ad exposure and a campaign’s outcome.
Promo/Launch Video:
Visit: Motivate Val Morgan to start planning your cinema advertising campaign.
Lexus booked a car display with Motivate Val Morgan, through Play Dooh at VOX Cinemas – City Centre Mirdif during the Eid Weekened (7-14 July 2022).
The car display featured the all-new Lexus IS 350 2022 in the foyer area of the popular cinema location, and was timed to coincide with the release of the long-awaited Marvel blockbuster Thor: Love and Thunder.
Perfectly blending power, enthralling performance, striking design and sophistication, Lexus IS delivers a driving experience that stirs every emotion.
Motivate Val Morgan offers a range of off screen promotional activities to compliment and support on screen advertising, ranging from Digital Screens, Sampling Inside Cinemas, to Lighboxes, and much more.
Contact a member of our sales team for more information on how off-screen cinema advertising could help move your brand closer to its target audience, and click here to read more on Lexus IS.
Muvi Park Avenue – Riyadh is the latest addition to the operator’s extensive cinema network in the kingdom.
Saudi homegrown cinema brand Muvi Cinemas opened its twenty-first location at Park Avenue Mall, Riyadh on 28 April 2022.
The 10 screens cinema with a total of 1,277 seats also features a ScreenX and an Xperience screen, and it is the eighth cinema by the operator in Riyadh city.
The cinema is part of the newly opened outdoor mall in the city – Park Avenue, which offers a variety of entertainment and shopping options, restaurants, cafes and children’s amusement parks for the entire family to enjoy and experience.
Muvi Cinemas presently operates 205 screens across 21 locations in 9 cities of Saudi Arabia.
Contact a member of our sales team for cinema advertising opportunities at Muvi – Park Avenue – Riyadh.
Source: Muvi Cinemas
Motivate Val Morgan in partnership with VOX Cinemas, hosted a private screening of Thor: Love and Thunder at Mall of the Emirates on Thursday 14th July at – the first screening post COVID-19 and for the year 2022.
With an attendance of over 75 invitees – a mix of agency and direct clients (and their family members), the private screening was a massive success and the first of many more ahead for this year!
We would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank VOX Cinemas for helping us organize and execute this screening – making it a memorable one!
Finally, a huge thank you out to our invitees who attended, thus contributing to its immense success.
Stay tuned for more updates on future ‘Private Screenings’ by Motivate Val Morgan.
United Arab Emirates wins 2 Grand Prix, 2 Gold, 13 Silver and 5 Bronze Lions at the 2022 Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity.
Cannes Lions – the largest gathering in the creative marketing community, has announced all the winners of its 69th Festival awards, and UAE, once again, has emerged victorious at the event which took place between 20 – 24 June in Cannes, France.
United Arab Emirates won 22 Lions – 2 Grand Prix, 2 Gold, 13 Silver and 5 Bronze, across multiple categories, including first time wins in the category of Entertainment for Sport and Social & Influencer. The UAE also secured 61 shortlists at this year’s Festival.
This year’s winning agencies/clients from the UAE include Havas Middle East, Impact BBDO Dubai, Horizon FCB Dubai, TBWA\RAAD Dubai, VMLY&R Commerce MENA, Keko Dubai and UAE Government Media Office:
Simon Cook, CEO, LIONS, commented: “Cannes Lions is a global platform, and it’s been an incredible week, as the global creative community reunited in Cannes once again. Our community came together from across the globe, and from every corner of the industry, to drive progress through creativity, for business, the planet, and society at large. I would like to congratulate everyone who entered, who made the shortlists and who won a Lion to set the benchmark for creative excellence on the global stage.”
2022 also witnessed 13 professionals from the creative marketing/communication community represent the United Arab Emirates at the Cannes Lions Festival as awarding and shortlisting jury members:
Ali Rez (Regional Executive Creative Director – Impact BBDO Dubai), Priya Sarma (Head of Corporate Affairs & Sustainability – Unilever), Akhilesh Bagri (Chief Creative Officer – Serviceplan Middle East), Paul Banham (Regional Executive Creative Director – MullenLowe MENA), Lucy Harvey (Managing Director Middle East, Turkey, India & Africa – Hill+Knowlton Strategies Middle East) and Ali Cheikhali (Creative Strategy Lead, Creative Works MENA/TR/SSA – Google) were part of the awarding jury across Print & Publishing, Sustainable Development Goals, Brand Experience & Activation, Industry Craft, PR and Creative Commerce respectively. Shortlisting jury members included Alok Gadkar (Executive Creative Director & Managing Director – Group Partnership), Racha Makarem (Chief Executive Officer MENA – Starcom MENA), Aunindo Sen (Executive Creative Director – FP7 McCann), Ivan Bormaister (Associate Creative Director – M&C Saatchi UAE), Dana Tahir (General Manager – Red Havas ME), Pablo Maldonado (Executive Creative Director – Grey Dubai) and Till Hohmann (Chief Creative Officer MENA – Memac Ogilvy) across Health & Wellness, Media, Direct, Film, PR, Design and Outdoor respectively.
Representing the UAE at this year’s International Young Lions Digital Competition (for young creative below the age of 30 years in the digital category) and the Roger Hatchuel Academy (a mentorship programme for university students in the field of creative communications), were Rebecca Menezes and Eduardo Cesar Guimarães from Saatchi & Saatchi MEA, and Fatma Al Suwaidi from American University in Dubai.
As the official representatives of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in the UAE, Motivate Media Group and Motivate Val Morgan warmly congratulates all Lion winners from the UAE, and the jury members and young talent who represented the country at this year’s Festival.
Source: Cannes Lions ‘The Work’
The META Film Fest will be a three-day event filled with star-studded premieres, celebrating Hollywood, Bollywood, Arab and African content.
The inaugural META Film Fest has been launched by META Cinema Forum – the pioneering cinema convention for Middle East and Africa, in partnership with VOX Cinemas – the largest cinema exhibitor in the region, and is set to bring the latest blockbusters as well as independent, regional, and local productions to movie lovers over a three-day jammed packed festival from 27-29 October, at VOX Cinemas Nakheel Mall in Dubai, UAE.
Leila Masinaei, Managing Partner, The Great Minds Group (organizers of the META Cinema Forum) stated, “a selection committee will review all the submissions from around the global and the final 30-40 films will make it to the festival. Expect at least four to five blockbusters that will premiere with their stars walking the red carpet, after-parties with talents, and it will all culminate with an awards ceremony honouring the best in cinema.”
A film fund is another feature of this festival, where 2 pre-production content ideas submitted by regional talent, one full feature film idea and one documentary idea, will be chosen to be funded for production, and will be subsequently screened at the festival’s future editions and will be supported through marketing and worldwide distribution. This feature is dedicated to discovering Arab talent and contributing to production of world class Arabic content.
While the region was initially exposed to festivals such as Dubai International Film Festival and the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, the META Film Fest is billed as the first private-sector and industry stakeholder-led film festival in the Middle East and Africa.
“We are trying to engage as many audiences as we can at this festival … This is going to be a place for creative people to sit together, develop ideas, and produce great content too,” added Masinaei .
Due to the festival’s location, the event guarantees one of the most diversified audiences present at any festival, while boasting the legendary glitz and glamour of Dubai.
Sources: META Film Fest and Gulf News
