< PreviousLA LIGA FINED $280,000 BY DATA PROTECTION AGENCY APP LISTENED IN TO CATCH MATCHES BEING STREAMED ILLEGALLY Spain’s national data protection agency (AEPD) has slapped the country’s soccer league, LaLiga, with a $280,000 (€250,000) fine for alleg- edly violating EU data privacy and transparency laws. La Liga’s app, used for keeping track of games and stats, used the phone’s microphone and GPS to track estab- lishments illegally streaming soccer games, Spanish newspaper El País reported. The app has been downloaded over 10 million times. Its terms of service tell users that by giving the app permission to access location and microphone, they are consenting to LaLiga using their phones to detect fraudulent behavior, like illegally broadcast soccer games. However, the Spanish data protec- tion agency claims that the app didn’t make this clear, and has ordered La- Liga to take down the app by June 30. La Liga plans to appeal the sanc- tion, claiming that the agency doesn’t fully understand the app’s technology. Spain’s top professional football divi- sion said that it has always complied with data protection regulations and denied breaking the law. “La Liga disagrees profoundly with this deci- sion, rejects the penalty imposed as unjust, unfounded and dispropor- tionate and considers that the AEPD has not made the necessary efforts to understand how the technology works,” it said in a statement. South Asian and cricket channels are be- ing scrapped by OSN next month. The entertainment provider said in a statement that the move to axe the hugely popular Pehla channel and cricket cover- age was down to the eff ects of piracy in the MENA region. It read: “Illegal streaming sites, pirate IPTV decoders within OSN’s licensed territories, has made it diffi cult for OSN to continue off ering Pehla.” All Pehla packs will be discontinued and further subscriptions stopped from July 15, the day after the fi nal of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. The statement continued: “These changes may inconvenience some Pehla customers, however, they will be given the choice to retain their favourite non-South Asian channels and watch an eclectic mix of additional world-class series, movies, kids’ and factual entertainment, as well OSN BLAMES PIRACY FOR AXING PEHLA AND CRICKET PEHLA PACKS ARE NOW DISCONTINUED AND FURTHER SUBSCRIP- TIONS WILL BE STOPPED FROM JULY 15 as some of OSN’s exclusive channels, that showcase popular content from around the world like Chernobyl, Handmaid’s Tale, Keeping up with the Kardashians, La La Land and more.” In March, OSN announced it was clos- ing its sports off ering aside from its two cricket channels. The latest move will close the sports coverage altogether. OSN, owned and operated by Panther Media Group, has the broadcast rights into 24 countries across the MENA region. BEIN SPORTS SIGNS FOOTBALL STAR NADIA NADIM AS HOST Football star Nadia Nadim will host a Women’s World Cup show across beIN’s digital platforms during this year’s tourna- ment in France. beIN is exclusively broadcasting the Women’s World Cup across 31 countries worldwide. Nadim, who plays for Paris Saint-Ger- main and the Danish national team, will interview and interacts with team mates, players, staff and fans throughout the tournament in France (until July 7). A trained surgeon who speaks 11 lan- guages, Nadim is an Afghan refugee, who was forced to fl ee the country for Den- mark. She has won more than 80 caps for the Danish national team. SHE WILL INTERVIEW AND INTERACT WITH FANS AND PLAYERS OSN has now closed all sports offerings Nadia Nadim NEWS UPDATE www.digitalstudiome.com10 / JULY 2019A cinema that screens free movies opened in Jordan’s Zaatari camp with a celebratory event under the patronage of HRH Princess Rym Ali. Cinema Zaatari is a project initiated and supported by the Lumiere à Zaatari foundation in Paris, in partnership with Unicef and the Imaginarium Films, the cinema management company. The opening ceremony was attended by Brigadier General Bilal Al Omari, the head of the Syrian Refugee Affairs Directorate and the camp director, Colonel Ahmed Saud, as well as the Royal Film Commission, Al Balad Theatre, the French Institute and the Jordan manage- ment team of Unicef , UNHCR, Acted and a number of Jordanian artists. HRH Princess Rym expressed her hap- piness in launching the first cinema for Zaatari residents, stressing the impor- tance of such efforts in improving the living condition of refugee children, and hoping they inspire the community to tell its own stories in the future. David Bertolotti, French Ambassador CINEMA FOR YOUNG REFUGEES OPENS IN JORDAN’S ZAATARI CAMP to Jordan, praised the hard work of the French and Jordanian teams that resulted in bringing Cinema Zaatari to life, off ering its management an unlimited access to the French Institute catalogue of fi lm releases. “Inaugurating a cinema in a refugee camp is no small feat. It’s our belief that bringing cultural activities to the camp is essential for families’ wellbeing, allowing them to escape their routine,” he said. Brigadier General Bilal Al Omari invited the residents of Zaatari to make use of this facility as a way to support similar projects in other refugee camps. Lumiere à Zaatari foundation director Xavier Giannoli said Cinema Zaatari would not have been a reality without the gener- ous donations of hundreds of people from many countries around the world, as well as The French Ministry of Foreign Aff airs and many major companies in France such as Gaumont, Canon, Institut Lumière and others. The ceremony concluded with a screen- ing of Finding Nemo for dozens of excited children from the Unicef Makani centre and their families. Aiming to off er a combination of en- tertaining and educational fi lms, Cinema Zaatari is planning to start its fi rst series of public screenings by next month with a summer fi lm programme of eight titles. xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx NEWS UPDATE www.digitalproductionme.comJULY 2019 / 1112 / JULY 2019 EDITOR’S COMMENT www.digitalstudiome.com he era of big summer releases – the films that urge you to trade in the sweltering outdoors for a cool dark theatre – started in 1975 with Jaws, and Star Wars (1977) made it all official. This year, we have had a pre-summer blockbuster in Disney’s Aladdin. Watching it with my kids, it was impossible not to be charmed by Will Smith’s wisecracking genie, or the Bollywood-inspired songs and dances set against Wadi Rum’s breathtaking landscapes. With principal roles going to actors of Indian, Iranian and Egyptian heritage – definitely a step up from when actors in Hollywood films were “brownfaced” to depict Middle Eastern characters – Aladdin does beat the drum for diversity, however confused the sound. Another production that made the most of Jordanian scenery was Jinn, which premiered last month on Netf lix. The VOD platform’s first Arabic Original series has caused quite a backlash amongst conservative Jordanians, appalled by the teen protagonists’ substance abuse and salty language. We caught up with the American co-executive producers of Jinn, Rajeev and Elan Dassani in the wake of the controversy ( page 13), who believe they have been authentic in their portrayals of privileged Amman high schoolers. Netf lix India’s recent dystopian drama Leila directed by Deepa Mehta, has also attracted praise and condemnation in equal parts for its political messaging. While Netf lix has always managed to tap into the cultural zeitgeist with its English content (whether it’s You that made us question the obsession over social media or Stranger Things that left us yearning for the 80s), has the streaming giant managed to be culturally relevant when it comes to regional content? Jinn is just the first of several more Arabic Originals planned by Netf lix. Our cover star for this issue, Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy, is also associated with Zodiac, now streaming on Viu, and Paranormal, expected to drop next year on Netf lix. In our interview ( page 16), Hefzy discusses the Middle East’s evolving film industry and what the future holds. Technology has brought in sweeping changes in the M&E landscape – and while it can be blamed for the demise of linear TV and the rise in piracy, it has also democratised production as Nayla Al Khaja says ( page 50). In this issue’s special report, we look into the latest advances in audio consoles, where new tech may even cause the physical console to disappear. From all of us at Digital Studio, here’s wishing you a summer full of amazing possibilities! THE SUMMER OF CONTENT SHALAKA PARADKAR T “TECHNOLOGY HAS BROUGHT IN SWEEPING CHANGES IN THE M&E LANDSCAPE – AND WHILE IT CAN BE BLAMED FOR THE DEMISE OF LINEAR TV AND THE RISE IN PIRACY, IT HAS ALSO DEMOCRATISED PRODUCTION” JINN’S OUT OF THE BOTTLE Netfl ix‘s fi rst Arabic Original started streaming this June and has attracted equal measures of favourable reviews and controversy. Digital Studio caught up with Rajeev Dassani, co-executive producer with his twin brother Elan Dassani, who also co-wrote Jinn with Amin Matalqa By Shalaka Paradkar roadcast to 190 countries and 148 million subscribers, Netfl ix’s fi rst Arabic Original, Jinn, has been one of the most-anticipated shows in the region. But when it premiered on June 13, the teen drama series caused an unprecedented uproar in Jordan, where it is set. Jordanian offi cials were outraged by “lewd scenes” of Amman high schoolers shown drinking alcohol, kissing and swearing. With calls for censorship and removal of Jinn from Netfl ix Jordan, the young actors were trolled online as well. The Royal Film Commission of Jordan and Netfl ix MENA tweeted their support of Jinn, calling for an end to the bullying and more tolerance of diverse lifestyles. Digital Studio caught up with co-executive producers Rajeev Dassani and Elan Dassani (also the head writer) to unpack all that’s happened since Jinn dropped on Netfl ix. B Digital Studio: Did you expect this sort of backlash at all? Elan Dassani: In general, we tried to portray the issues young Arabs face in their real lives as authentically as possible: love, bullying, their aspirations, hopes, and dreams. We expected diff erent groups would react to Jinn in diff erent ways. Our hope was to create a show that young adults in the Arab world, and worldwide, could naturally relate to. DS: What inspired the script for Jinn? ED: We’ve worked in Jordan many times, for shows including Star Trek: Discovery and Heroes Reborn, and our own short scifi Arabic language fi lm Seam (seamfi lm. com) and have grown to love shooting there over the past 10 years. During our trips, we spoke to people who had jinn stories. Rajeev and I found them fascinating, especially as we looked deeper into the Arabic mythology of the jinn and how it connected to modern Jordanians. We realised there was an opportunity to both talk about modern Arab teens in a way that hasn’t been done before, as well as explore a jinn mythology that hadn’t really been done in a TV series context. DS: How is Jinn different from existing content for teens? Which teen fi lms have infl uenced you? Rajeev Dassani: We love the Netfl ix series, Stranger Things, Dark, Baby, and The Rain for telling modern teen stories that are authentic to their regions. We also love series like Freak and Geeks, Buff y the Vampire Slayer, and The OC. Let the Right One In was very infl uential in the making of Jinn, you could almost call our show Let the Right Jinn In! Recently we loved It and it’s camaraderie amongst the teens. Arab youth have been under-represented in entertainment content worldwide, and we’re excited to help change that. The Jinn cast and crew at the series premiere in Amman IN FOCUS / JINN JULY 2019 / 13 www.digitalstudiome.comDS: Which were some of the hardest scenes to fi lm? RD: Shooting in Petra features some unique challenges: cell phones don’t work deep within the canyons, it’s diffi cult to get trucks and generators out to remote locations, and the weather can fl uctuate signifi cantly. Thankfully, we had a lot of support from our Petra location managers and the community; we couldn’t have done it without them. We also had only a limited of days to shoot there, so we tried to maximise our shooting days as much people across the Middle East and around the world. We understand some viewers may fi nd parts of the show provocative. Our hope was just to be as authentic as possible to the specifi c story we’re telling. DS: Any moments of cultural confusion in Jordan? RD: When we started researching in Jordan, we had quite a learning experience about the diff erences between some high schools in Jordan versus where we grew up. For example, we assumed that students travelled from class to class throughout the day, just as at US schools. However, we learned that in Jordan, teachers move from classroom to classroom! Small details like that really helped to land the specifi city of a show in the Arab world. One of the highlights of the entire shoot was shooting in Bedouin villages near Petra. We were so impressed by the little Bedouin girl in Petra, we wrote additional lines to give her more screen time! DS: How are your actors coping with the reactions to the show? ED: The actors are staying strong, they became such good friends on set and were so supportive of each other, that they can help each other process the reactions to as possible. The scene in the Roman ruins of Petra where we last see Yassin, was especially diffi cult. It was a cold and windy night, and because of the wind we couldn’t use our wide-area balloon lights as planned for lighting the scene. But the cast and crew really did a stellar job and were very excited to fi nish shooting and show the world what we created. DS: What was the experience of fi lming in Jordan like? RD: We’ve fi lmed in Jordan many times and it’s been a great experience. The Royal Film Commission has always been helpful and welcoming to fi lm productions of all sizes. There is a strong equipment and crew base in Jordan, and the locations in Amman and Petra are unmatched. We were also pleasantly surprised by the quality of acting talent in Jordan. Our cast made us so happy with their hard work and they gave amazing performances. DS: How do you respond to criticism that Jinn should have been more representative of Jordanian society, and not just of its privileged layer? ED: We tried creatively to set our show in a segment of Arab society, in an attempt to create a show that would resonate with The young cast on location in Petra, Jordan “OUR HOPE WAS TO CREATE A SHOW THAT YOUNG ADULTS IN THE ARAB WORLD AND WORLDWIDE COULD NATURALLY RELATE TO.” IN FOCUS / JINN 14 / JULY 2019www.digitalstudiome.comthe show. Generally we’re excited about the next stages of their careers. They are all so talented and we look forward to seeing what they do next! DS: Can you shed some light on the equipment used for the shoot? ED: We used a lot of aerial drone shooting on this show, to really capture the epic landscapes of both Petra and Amman. We used the new DJI Inspire 2, a professional cinema drone that we kept with us throughout the shoot so whenever we needed, we could grab shots. I piloted the drone, while Rajeev operated the camera on the drone. In Petra, we were one of the fi rst productions to use advanced ‘baloon lights’ to light up wide areas in Petra. This was essential so that even at night we could appreciate the amazing place we were shooting in. We also avoided needing a Steadicam or dolly by using the DJI Ronin camera stabiliser, used in every single scene of the show due to its ability to attain smooth camera motion. DS: Elan, as a writer, how do you see VOD platforms infl uencing content being created in the Middle East? ED: I hope streaming giants such as Netfl ix will allow a freedom of storytelling to fl ourish in the Arab world and allow fi lmmakers of many diff erent types in the Arab world to tell their stories. This includes underrepresented genres: teen drama, scifi , and fantasy that can really resonate with audiences world wide, not just in this region. We hope through more Arab content, the world will see a side of this region they’ve never seen before, and hopefully show our audiences that people are more similar than diff erent. DS: What kind of stories do you want to tackle in future projects? ED: Rajeev and I tend towards aspirational stories grounded in reality; stories that deal with what real people are dealing with, such as Mira and her family in Jinn. Many of our stories deal in genres such as fantasy or scifi , to make them more entertaining and accessible. DS: Despite the rich tradition of storytelling, there is a dearth of Arabic digital content available for young people in the Middle East… ED: Hopefully with Jinn, more networks and streamers can see there is an appetite for Arabic digital content for young people in the Middle East. By having more shows such as Jinn, hopefully more content providers will create more shows like this and give them a chance to fl ourish that they wouldn’t have had before. And mostly, young people just need to keep supporting and asking for such content until people listen. We certainly tried to do our part! DS: Do you see Jinn going some way to dispel biases against the Middle East? ED: That was one of our primary goals with Jinn — to allow people around the world to see that Arab teens are like teens anywhere in the world. They have crushes, worry about their future, love their families, and everything in between. When we fi rst pitched Jinn, neither of us had ever seen an Arabic language teen show. We hope that this is just the beginning of a new wave of Arabic content that can really travel around the world and show people the Arab world in a truly authentic way. Actors Aysha Shahal- tough (Vera) and Sultan Al Khail (Yassin) on set Salma Malhas(Mira) and Ban Halaweh (Layla) “ARAB YOUTH HAVE LONG BEEN UNDER-REPRESENTED IN ENTERTAINMENT CONTENT WORLDWIDE GENERALLY, AND WE’RE EXCITED TO HELP CHANGE THAT” IN FOCUS / JINN JULY 2019 / 15 www.digitalstudiome.com16 / JULY 2019www.digitalstudiome.com COVER STORY www.digitalstudiome.com COVER STORY 16 / JULY 2019www.digitalstudiome.com COVER STORY www.digitalstudiome.com Mohamed Hefzy remains a lode star for independent fi lm makers in the region. In the 13 years since setting up his production company Film Clinic, he has produced 34 fi lms, written seven and presented them at more than 100 fi lm festivals. Shalaka Paradkar caught up with Hefzy, crowned Arab Cinema Centre’s Personality of the Year at this year’s Cannes Film Festival ONWARDS AND UPWARDS n March 2018, Mohamed Hefzy was appointed president of the Cairo International Film Festival by Egypt’s Minister of Culture. Helming the festival in its 40th edition, Hefzy became the youngest president of the Arab world’s oldest fi lm festival. This year in Cannes, Hefzy was awarded Arab Cinema Centre’s Personality of the Year 2019 – a well-earned honour for the metal- lurgical engineer-turned-screenwriter and producer. A prolifi c talent who has scripted seven and produced 34 feature fi lms in Egypt, the US, the UK, and the Arab world, Hefzy is a well-known fi xture on the festival circuit, he has taken his fi lms to Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Sundance, and Toronto. In 2016, Hefzy’s Clash was chosen as the opening fi lm of the Un Certain Regard section of Cannes Inter- national Film Festival. In 2018, he returned to Cannes as co-producer of Yomeddine (“Judgement Day”), this time in the festival’s offi cial competition section. Hefzy has been a long-time champion of the cause of independent fi lmmakers in Egypt and the Arab world company through his production company, Film Clinic. Digital Studio caught up with Hefzy to fi nd out more about his plans and projects. Congratulations for the success of Yomeddine. You’ve said before that it has also been a fi nancial success. What in- spired your trust in a fi rst-time director and a cast of non-professional actors? I met Dina Emam [Yomeddine’s producer] in Cannes in 2017. She told me about the fi lm. I had already heard about it and saw it as a fi rst cut when we returned to Cairo. So I came on board after the fi lm had already been shot. They wanted some support, as funds were fi nishing post production, and needed help with distribution in the Middle East, and lobbying internationally for festivals. Film Clinic came on board. We fi nanced the post production and helped with the distribution. I didn’t think it was much of a risk, to be honest, as I had seen the fi lm. It was much easier to evaluate rather than just going by the script if you are dealing with a fi rst-time director. I got lucky here! I am very proud of the fi lm. I think Dina I JULY 2019 / 17 COVER STORY18 / JULY 2019www.digitalstudiome.com COVER STORY and Abu Bakr Shawky has a great future ahead of him. I am really looking forward to being a part of his second fi lm. You are also collaborating with VOD platforms: producing the Netfl ix Original series Paranormal and the Viu Original Zodiac; both adaptations of Ahmed Kha- lid Tawfi q’s novels. Why does Tawfi q’s work appeal to you? I have actually been a part of the Paranormal project since 2006 when Amr Salama nar- rated the idea to me. I met Ahmed Khalid Tawfi q and we bought the rights from him as early as 2007. We have been trying to make it since then but it wasn’t happening. Traditional television was only interested in Ramadan series and the 13-episode format. Paranormal was not feasible as a typical 34 THE NUMBER OF FILMS HEFZY HAS PRODUCED OR CO-PRODUCED SINCE 2008 Ramadan drama. We wanted to make it the way we believed it should be made. Luckily, Netfl ix decided to enter the Mid- dle East. It was a good opportunity because they were really the only platform that saw the potential of the show. We began talking about a year ago and just recently, we fi nally signed over rights to Netfl ix for the develop- ment and production. It’s a very exciting time right now – we are putting the team together and are about to start selecting the cast. By the end of this year we should be well into production of the series, and hopefully it will start streaming on Netfl ix next year. Zodiac was loosely based on the Ahmed Khalid Tawfi q novel series, Hazak El Youm. But Netfl ix gave us the big project Amr Sala- ma and I have been dreaming about. Tawfi q was really ahead of his time. He wrote in a genre that very few people dare to explore and he really mastered it. So many writers have grown up reading his novels, especially Ma Waraa Al Tabiaa and the character of Dr Refaat Ismael (on which Paranormal is based). It was ready to be adapted into a moving image because it’s such a diverse, rich world full of fantasy, horror, funny... Very Egyptian in its visual richness and excite- ment, yet universal at the same time. Do you think Arab cinema is going through a bit of a watershed moment right now? Well, yes, I think it’s an exciting time. I have to point to the success of Nadine La- baki’s Capernaum, especially in territories like China. It’s very new for an Arab fi lm to perform like that in one of the biggest territories in the world, as big as the USA. Right now, there are a lot of great direc- tors coming out of unexpected countries. You will see exciting fi lms coming out of Sudan, Tunisia, Palestine, Lebanon – which was at the Oscars two years in a row. Palestinian Elia Suleiman’s It Must Be Heaven got a special mention in the main competition and picked up the Fipresci Critics Award at Cannes this year. Egypt continues to produce good work. New directors like Abu Bakr Shawky and Mohammed Diab are coming up. This year, in Cannes, the Egyptian short fi lm The Trap, was included in the Critics’ Week. Certainly, it is an interesting time for Arab cinema. I still expect to see more: for these films to come out of their festival bubble and really influence world markets. I am yet to see an Egyptian film that does well in theatres across the world, or for that matter any Arab film. With the excep- tion of Capernaum, I have yet to see an Arab film breaking records or doing well in foreign markets, whether it’s the US, Europe or Asia. When more Arab fi lms fi gure in nominations for Academy Awards, it will improve their chances in some of these very diffi cult territories. t t Yomeddine was the fi rst Egyptian fi lm invited to screen at the Cannes Film FestivalJULY 2019 / 19 www.digitalstudiome.com COVER STORY Also, I think fi lm festivals have a big role to play in promoting Arab cinema locally and internationally. Contributing to the growth of Arab cinema are new festivals, such as El Gouna. Cairo is transforming, there’s the Red Sea Film Festival next year in Saudi Arabia, Jordan is also starting a fi lm festival next year for fi rst and second fi lm makers, Marrakesh is rebranding itself, opening up more to Arab cinema. Yes, it’s defi nitely an exciting time! You are working with streaming giants. How do you assess their impact on the Arab fi lm industry and audiences? No one can deny the infl uence of Netfl ix on Arab audiences at the moment. Rather than fi lms, they have been more adventur- ous and started producing original series for their market. I guess I am one of the lucky few who already have a deal with Netfl ix for an Arab series, and surely, there will be others. (Despite the controversy Jinn has a lot of good things and is quite a good production in my opinion.) Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Hulu — which will eventually venture into the Arab world, all these players are going to dominate the world production of series and fi lms. The interesting thing is how this aff ects theatrical play for fi lms that are, at the end of the day, intended for a theatre audience. I really hope we can fi nd a way to keep the cinema experience alive because I believe fi lms are meant to be shared as a group by an audience. There will always be fi lms that play better in a theatre, rather than the small screen. Smaller fi lms, more inti- mate dramas are going to be more likely to fi nd a better chance on a streaming platform rather than on multiplex screens. Your thoughts on the state of indepen- dent fi lm making in the Middle East? The challenge for independent cinema in the Arab world is how to fi nd an audience. How to get fi lms distributed, seen, fi nanced – it’s really about transforming the interest in Arab cinema into an industry. All the inde- pendent fi lm makers who are making their personal, low budget fi lms, need a chance to really tell their stories in a way that can reach an audience. Part of the answer is streaming plat- forms but also for driving theatrical busi- ness we have to look at how we can grow the markets. Saudi Arabia is great news, because it is a big market but also other emerging mar- kets will start to see a surge in theatrical distribution. Tunisia has really started to grow. There has been a great improvement in the market for Lebanese cinema; though it’s small compared to the population, it is actu- ally quite good. For Egypt, 2019 is going to be “THE CHALLENGE FOR INDEPENDENT CINEMA IN THE ARAB WORLD IS HOW TO FIND AN AUDIENCE. HOW DO WE GET FILMS DISTRIBUTED, SEEN AND FINANCED. IT’S REALLY ABOUT TRANSFORMING THE INTEREST IN ARAB CINEMA INTO AN INDUSTRY” Set entirely in a police truck, 2016’s Cannes-bowing Clash captured the turmoil of the Arab Spring in EgyptNext >