META Cinema Forum brings together cinema stakeholders from the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and CIS countries, committing to elevate the cinematic experience in emerging markets.
The sixth edition of the highly successful META Cinema Forum took place between November 7-8, 2023, at the Grand Hyatt in Dubai under the theme ‘Growing the Region’s Cinema Share,’ exemplifying a dedicated commitment to fostering growth and innovation within the industry.
The event, attended by over 500 delegates, visitors, buyers, sellers, and other industry stakeholders, featured engaging discussions, presentations, and workshops addressing the industry’s challenges, solutions, and current market dynamics. Key topics covered included Regional Content Production and International Collaboration, Cinemas of the Future, as well as a comprehensive exploration of emerging cinema trends and technologies, incorporating vital cinema statistics and case studies delving into Rewarding Patrons and Effective Pricing Strategies.
A myriad of stands, presenting the latest products, services, and technologies from a carefully curated selection of industry suppliers, technology providers, and stakeholders, were also showcased at the event.
The forum also attracted the biggest cinema operators in the region as partners in success, with VOX Cinemas, the forum’s strategic partner, alongside AMC KSA, Cinepolis, Muvi, and other cinema operators presenting their future expansion plans.
A notable feature of this year’s edition was the spotlight on Women in Film and TV (WIFT). The event showcased a round table discussion titled ‘Beyond the Glitz,’ featuring prominent female panelists such as Nancy Paton, Founder of Desert Rose Films and President of WIFTGCC, Charlotte Louise Sutcliffe, Entertainment Lawyer and Associate at CWB, and Head of Events at WIFTGCC, Ozge Conduroglu, Acquisition & Distribution Lead at The Plot Pictures MENA, and Ashleigh Potts, Marketing Director at Studio Distribution, Majid Al Futtaim LLC.
Additionally, the forum celebrated rising female Emirati filmmakers Zainab Shaheen, Maitha Al Awadi, Eman Al Sayed, and Sarraa Al Shehhi. The spotlight also shone on Nayla Al Khaja, the first Emirati film director, who received recognition at the WIFT MENA AWARDS during the event.
Leila Masinaei, Managing Partner, Great Mind Events Management, remarked, “The success of the 6th META Cinema Forum reflects our unwavering commitment to advancing the cinematic landscape in emerging markets. This year’s event has reinforced our belief in the power of collaboration, innovation, and shared experiences within the industry. We are excited about the future possibilities and the role META Cinema Forum will continue to play in shaping the cinema sector in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and the CIS region.”
The two-day cinema conference also featured special screenings, including the latest Marvel movie ‘The Marvels’.
The highlight of the event was The META Cinema Awards and Gala Reception—a night of celebration recognizing outstanding achievements in the cinema industry. Nathan Gilligan, Senior Operations Manager at Comscore, and Nena Loncar, Client Insights Manager at Comscore, presented the awards. Recipients of this year’s META Cinema Awards include:”
Motivate Val Morgan was one of the media partners for the META Cinema Forum and a supporting partner for Meta Cinema Forum 2023.
The fifth edition of the hugely successful META Cinema Forum was held between 25-29th October 2022 at the Atlantis the Palm Island, with renewed optimism following the opening of several large-format cinema screens a few months after the industry began operating at full capacity.
As many as 56 exhibition stands displayed the latest products, services, technology from a select group of industry suppliers, technology providers and industry stakeholders at the convention.
Over 500 delegates, visitors, buyers, sellers, and other industry stakeholders attended the event, which also addressed the shortage of feature films, documentary films, and other film genres in the region.
More than 44 industry officials and experts shared their perspectives on the current market situation, challenges, and solutions through speeches, presentations, training, and workshops etc.
Industry leaders and officials who attended the META Cinema Forum included Toby Tennant, Senior Vice-President for EMEA Theatrical Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures International; Tonis Kiis, Senior Vice President for International Distribution at Warner Bros. Pictures; Paul Higginson, Executive Vice-President, EMEA of Universal Pictures International; Toni El Massih, Managing Director – Cinemas, VOX Cinemas; Andrew Such, CEO of AMC Cinemas; John Schreiner, Senior Vice President for Theatrical Development in EMEA, at IMAX Corporation and Zaur Darabadeh, Chairman of the Board of CinemaPlus, among other global leaders.
The forum witnessed powerful presentations from Saudi Arabia, Asia and Africa regions, the future of the large-format cinema halls as well as the prospects of the streaming services, technology disruptions and other subjects. Experts also addressed the demand-supply mismatch in film contents and theatre facilities across the Middle East and Africa.
Apart from the Middle East and African countries, cinema industry stakeholders from Turkey, Asia and CIS countries also joined the META Cinema Forum, making it a truly global cinema industry convention.
Leila Masinaei, Managing Partner, Great Mind Events Management –organizer of the META Cinema Forum, said: “META Cinema Forum has successfully repositioned the region’s cinema industry in the global map, so much so that large-scale investment has widened the theatre facilities across the region. The industry is currently gearing up to increase the supply of good quality contents and regional blockbusters that will pull more viewers to the cinema halls.”
“META Cinema Forum has now become a global industry convention for which international cinema industry suppliers, technology providers and other industry stakeholders prepare and launch their latest innovations. As a result, we can see a number of global cinema industry suppliers have lined up new products and services for the industry,” she added.
The two-day mega cinema industry conference was followed by a three-day META Film Fest, which kicked off with the screening of three short films from the UAE: Deadline, Children of All and IDI, and screened over 70 shortlisted full feature films, documentaries, and short films from Iran, Jordan, Sweden, Korea, Egypt. The main attraction of the festival was the gala premiere of Emily by director Frances O’Conner.
The film festival also attracted several international and regional celebrities including Cris Mejia, Nayla Al Khwaja, Emirati film director, Maria Bello, and Casey Shannon, Shalila Samavati, Pegah Ahangarani and Neslihan Yeldan among many others.
Motivate Val Morgan was one of the media partners for the META Cinema Forum and a supporting partner for Meta Film Fest 2022.
Source: META Cinema Forum 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
VOX Cinemas wins the Highest Grossing Exhibitor in The Middle East 2020-21 award for generating revenue amounting to US$171.7 million in the Middle East from October 2020 to October 2021 at the META Cinema Forum Awards 2021.
VOX Cinema’s US$171.7 million box office revenue represents more than 21 percent of the US$800 million box office revenue expected in the Middle East in 2021, according to research by Omdia.
The 4th edition of the META Cinema Forum – the largest cinema convention, covering Middle East and African markets, powered by Yummz Hot Chips Cafe, took place between 26th and 28th October 2021 at the Atlantis, The Palm in Dubai.
Eight winners were honoured with the highest industry accolades at the META Cinema Forum Awards for their achievements – based on the numbers collated from industry sources – making it the most authentic industry awards based on performance. Two of the awards were presented by META Cinema Forum while the rest 6 were presented by Comscore.
VOX Cinemas won the Highest Grossing Exhibitor in The Middle East 2020-21 award for generated revenue amounting to US$171.7 million in the Middle East from October 2020 to October 2021.
Cinemarine Cinemas won the Exhibitor of the Pandemic Period of Turkey. Cenk Sezgin, Chief Executive Officer, Cinemarine Cinemas, received the award for his organisation.
Murat Cemcir, Enterprising investor, Producer, Artist, was adjudged the Fastest Box Office Success in a Very Short Seasonal Period in Turkey. His organisation saw 21 million in admission and TL226 million Turkish Lira box office revenue in 10 movies.
Four Star Films won the Highest-grossing English Title in the Middle East 2020-21 for Fast & Furious 9 with box office revenue reaching US$16.98 million in the Middle East.
Empire Entertainment and Orient Films won the Highest-Grossing Arabic Title in the Middle East 2020-21–for Waafet Reggaala, which generated US$15.08 million box office revenue in the Middle East.
Film One won the award in the Highest-Grossing Title in Africa 2020-21 category for Omo Ghetto: The Saga, with box office revenue reaching US$1.66 million in West Africa.
Muvi Cinemas won the Exhibitor of the Year 2020-21 award for its recent accomplishments in growth and development during a period of great uncertainty having established 121 screens over 13 locations across Saudi Arabia.
Eagle Films won the Distributor of the Year 2020-21 in recognition of the support and dedication to deliver a pipeline of quality films during a period of risk and instability having more than 46 most films released during October 2020 – to October 2021 – including Wrath of Man and The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard.
Unlike other industry awards that are based on either corporate marketing presentations, public perception or jury nominations, META Cinema Forum Awards is based on pure numbers that puts them at the top of the ranking in each category where the names were chosen from.
Leila Masinaei, Managing Partner, Great Mind Events Management, said, “This is a true reflection of the best performance in each category in the film industry and we are pleased to honour them with their well-deserved awards.
“The numbers dictate who wins the awards. For example, Four Star Films won the Highest-grossing English Title in the Middle East 2020-21 for Fast & Furious 9 that is based on the box office revenue figure, reaching US$16.98 million in the Middle East. No one can dispute its rank as top-grossing film in the region.
“As MENA Cinema Forum matures as the largest cinema convention in the Middle East and Africa, we want to make thing more transparent to ensure authenticity of the awards that are based on third-party research.”
Box office revenue in the Middle East is set to cross US$800 million in 2021, US$1 billion in 2022 and US$1.3 billion in 2024, recovering from US$250 million in 2020 – marking the fastest recovery in the world, according to research by Omdia.
More than 500 industry delegates, experts and participants discussed the opportunities and challenges faced by the industry stakeholders at this year’s META Cinema Forum. The three-day mega film industry conference took place just a few weeks into Dubai Expo 2020 – the largest event in the Middle East and Africa region.
The Middle East and Africa region has one of the fastest growing entertainment industries in the world and governments are investing heavily to diversify economies and reduce dependency on a single economic sector
Motivate Val Morgan was a media partner for this year’s META Cinema Forum.
Sources: Press Release (Great Mind Events Management)
The META Cinema Forum 2021 will be discussing how the MENA cinema industry has witnessed growth in the past year and is expected to be a billion-dollar market by 2024.
Despite challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and health and safety protocols, the cinema industry in the MENA region has grown against the backdrop of a steep decline in the global cinema industry. Although the global Box Office is slowly making a comeback with pandemic-era record breaking opening weekends for F9 and Black Widow, the cinema box office revenues in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are expected to grow by 4 percent to US$ 1 billion (Dh3.7 billion) by 2024, compared to a 2.4 percent decline worldwide, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), a global auditing consultancy.
Research data analysed by finance website Finaria also showed that globally the combined revenues in the box office industry plummeted by 71.5 percent from $42.5 billion in 2019 to approximately $31 billion last year. Expansion throughout the Arab world and Middle East, specifically in Saudi Arabia, has unlocked a lucrative economic opportunity and Saudi Arabia has now become a major contributor to the growth of the global cinema industry.
The news comes as organisers, GM Events, released the dates for the fourth edition of the META Cinema Forum – the largest cinema convention in the Middle East and Africa – from October 26-28, 2021 at Atlantis the Palm, Dubai. It also follows shortly after Dubai government announced the lifting of restrictions on public entertainment events as part of a gradual opening up of the country’s borders to select countries that have recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic.
META Cinema Forum 2021, which takes place amid the World Expo 2020 – one of the largest global events which is taking place for the first time in the Middle East – will host a conference, awards, seminars, workshops, masterclasses, special screenings, premieres, product presentations, slates, exhibitions and live demonstrations. The conference will tackle industry issues as well as regional industry-specific discussions on the film industry across Africa, Asia, South Asia and the Middle East.
“Back for its 4th edition, the META Cinema Forum, now expanding to cover markets across including Levant, Turkey and Indian subcontinent, is sure to be the hottest cinema event in year 2021.” Said Leila Masinaei, Managing Partner, Great Mind Events Management. “The event is unique in that it highlights the only region with an expanding cinema sector, with participants actively attending to source new design ideas, F&B concepts, technological innovation and alternative content.”
Ignace Lahoud, Chief Executive Officer of Majid Al Futtaim Cinemas and Majid Al Futtaim Leisure & Entertainment added “VOX Cinemas is proud to be the strategic partner of the META Cinema Forum once again, given our shared commitment to the cinematic experience. Now in its fourth year, the META Cinema Forum provides an important platform and inspires dialogues amongst leading players so that we can continuously innovate and enhance the cinema experience and industry. With the META region becoming an increasingly important market to the global box office, events such as this are essential to the continued success of the industry and, we look forward to this year’s event which boasts a stellar line-up.”
Cinemas in many markets are still closed and few countries have opened cinema halls while many have permanently closed as a result of being significantly financially impacted by Covid-19. However, unlike many other markets, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s (KSA) box office was up 3 percent to US$115 million in 2020, the PwC report says. By 2030, one of the governing authorities to regulate and operate cinemas, the General Commission for Audiovisual Media (GCAM), expects there to be around 350 cinemas and 2,500 movie screens in the country, and the industry will be worth around US$1 billion.
META Cinema Forum, the largest industry convention, will focus on the challenges faced by the cinema industry, changing trends as well as focusing on the new cinema projects that will drive the growth of the industry.
The continued participation and support of the African continent, backed by Pan African Film Consortium, will bring the leading African film industry movers and shakers into the conversation.
Mykel Parish Ajaere, President, Pan-African Film Consortium, says, “In 2020, the corona virus heralded a new economy for the creative industry with the global film industry alone suffering a revenue loss of over ten billion U.S. dollars due to the impact of the virus outbreak around the world.”
“There must be a way to balance commercial returns and I believe that the META Cinema Forum 2021 will provide sustainable solutions to Middle East and African cinema, at this difficult time. As president of the Pan-African Film Consortium and as an influencer in the African film industry, I’m excited about our partnership with the META Cinema Forum 2021. This is the time for Africa to strengthen its film economy and harness the enormous benefits the forum will provide.”
META Cinema Forum 2021 is backed by all the leading industry players. The event is supported by Pan-African Film Consortium while VOX Cinemas is once again Strategic Partner. Other leading exhibitors including MUVI Cinemas, Cinépolis Gulf, Novo Cinema, Cinemarine, StarzPlay, FimHouse Cinemas, Cinepax, ROXY Cinemas, Carnival Cinemas, Empire Cinemas and Women in Exhibition have also come on board as Cinema and Event Partners.
Click here to register for this year’s forum or contact Great Minds Event Management for more information.
Source: META Cinema Forum (Press Release)
