Dubai International Content Market Expects 200 Buyers From 30 Countries This Week

The event runs on 10 and 11 November at the Madinat Jumeirah Conference and Events Centre. Organiser INDEX Conferences and Exhibitions, part of INDEX Holding, says more than 80 companies will take part and over 2,000 business meetings have been scheduled. Exhibiting organisations come from 15 countries, among them Egypt, Lebanon, the United States, Turkiye, Japan, India, Germany, China, Russia, South Korea and Saudi Arabia.

The fair is a small but useful marker of Dubai's ambition to be a trading point for content rights between the Arab world and the large drama exporters of Turkey and Korea. Turkiye, South Korea and Russia each have a dedicated country pavilion. Turkish participants include broadcaster TRT, Kanal D International, ATV, Inter Medya, OGM Universe and Calinos Entertainment, while the Korean contingent includes KBS Media, CJ ENM, MBC, SBS, Studio Gale and the Korea Creative Content Agency. Latin American groups TelevisaUnivision and Caracol Television and India's Shemaroo Entertainment are also listed.

Two programmes aim to move projects into production. Spotlight Stories invites creators from the Middle East and North Africa to pitch original Arabic-language scripted projects live on 11 November to a panel that includes Malek Jaber, head of content at AFLAM Production. The winning project can be developed with Writables and move towards production through AFLAM Production, the organisers said. Producers Connect pairs producers seeking co-production partners; companies that have registered include Blue Media, Assada Productions, TelevisaUnivision, Prime Target and Inter Medya.

The talks programme reflects pressure on the industry's economics, with sessions titled "Content Isn't King Anymore" and "The Great Content Reset", and a panel on what cinema and YouTube can learn from each other featuring YouTube's Meryem Raji.

Registered participants can already browse company catalogues and available titles through an online Content Business Hub to arrange meetings before the doors open on Tuesday.