With global information technology research experts Gartner predicting significant growth for the gaming industry in the coming years, these strategic investments represent another important milestone for the region’s indigenous digital gaming industry. The new agreements will help boost the development of a gaming cluster in Abu Dhabi, strengthening twofour54’s position as the region’s leading centre for game development in the Arab world.

Commenting on the new investment deals, Wayne Borg, Deputy CEO and Chief Operating Officer at twofour54, said: “Gaming represents a huge area of growth and these investments, with two of the region’s most promising companies, clearly shows twofour54’s commitment to supporting the development of an Arabic gaming industry.

“The worldwide revenue of the industry is enormous with consumer spending expected to surpass $74bn by the end of the year, and online spend expected to double from USD11.8bn this year to some $28bn by 2015 (Gartner 2011). However until recently the gaming landscape in the Middle East was significantly under-developed, despite appetite from local consumers for games that they can culturally identify with, and good levels of local developer and entrepreneurial talent. Our new agreements, which combine Tahadi and Jawaker’s online gaming expertise with twofour54 ibtikar’s investment and strategic support, will help to strengthen the regional gaming industry in addition to Abu Dhabi’s position as the Middle East’s leading Arabic gaming hub.”

Established in 2008 by the founders and previous owners of Maktoob.com, the region’s biggest Arabic language portal, which was recently purchased by Yahoo, Tahadi aims to be the region’s leading online games publisher for client and browser based massive multiplayer online (MMO) games that target the Middle East.

Mr. Steve Tsao, CEO of Tahadi, said: “This investment partnership with twofour54 ibtikar will allow us to focus on our core strengths, whilst utilising their regional and international network and international industry experience to license, develop and publish tailored and relevant content that appeals and resonates with Arab gamers. With the support of twofour54 ibtikar our aim is to publish up to ten localised games over the next five years.”

Jawaker is a multiplayer card gaming website developed especially for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Launched in April of 2009, the website does not require the user to download or install software and is regarded as the leading online card gaming community in the Middle East with over 500,000 registered users, 95% of whom use the site in Arabic. Jawaker serves over 17 million page views per month, and currently has approximately 100,000 visitors per month.

Mohamad Haj Hasan, Co-founder of Jawaker, said: “twofour54 ibtikar’s investment in Jawaker will enable the company to capitalise on the rapidly expanding popularity of online gaming regionally. With the region’s extremely high percentage of young people combined with increased broadband penetration, we will look to work with twofour54 ibtikar to expand our current offering and develop and publish a wide range of Arabic card games for the region’s burgeoning online audience.”

Tahadi and Jawaker have become established players in the Middle East’s rapidly developing online gaming industry - total user registrations are increasing at roughly 100% per annum for both companies. Investment from twofour54 ibtikar will not only see the companies have access to the capital required to grow, but it will also see them provided with the active support necessary to capture revenue and profit opportunities from within the twofour54 ecosystem and beyond. It is these factors that are vital for the development of a sustainable and indigenous digital games industry.

twofour54 ibtikar supports creative entrepreneurship through venture capital funding and operational support for start-up and early stage businesses and talented young Arabs across the Middle East and North Africa. twofour54 ibtikar investment activities focus on Arabic content creation businesses and creative individuals or entrepreneurs. ibtikar goes above and beyond equity investment to offer expertise and support, to facilitate the development of the media and entertainment industry across the Arab world.

To date twofour54 ibtikar: creative lab has completed 11 projects with a several more in late stage discussions for investment and support. In addition to these 11 projects, twofour54 ibtikar: creative lab has helped over 50 people develop their careers in the media industry. These numbers are expected to grow significantly in 2011.

These completed projects include four young UAE Nationals working on different media platforms, including a traditional short film “Ghafet Osha”; the pilot of a series made for digital distribution called “Jirfah” and two music videos shot to commemorate UAE National Day.

“We have been really impressed by the quality of ideas and the skills of the individuals who have come to twofour54 ibtikar for funding and support to turn their ideas into reality,” commented Wayne Borg, Chief Operating Officer, twofour54. “We are looking for passionate applicants with ideas across all platforms. We will nurture and support these talents with a view to establishing future generations for the Arabic media industry.”

Hana Al Zarouni, a 34 year old UAE National whose ambition is to become a famous film director worked with twofour54 ibtikar: creative lab to develop her idea for a short film called “Ghafet Osha” which addresses life in the UAE in the 1950s before the discovery of oil and the establishment of the federation. Despite having no prior film experience, Hana was able to conceptualize and produce what began as a simple idea.

24 year old UAE National Maitha Al Mehairbi worked with twofour54 as an intern before successfully pitching her Arabic web series, “Jirfah”, to twofour54 ibtikar: creative lab. The idea was developed into a pilot ‘web-isode’ about Shamsa, a young Emirati girl living in Abu Dhabi and blogging about her daily adventures, frustrated about her life compared to her brother’s carefree lifestyle.

twofour54 ibtikar: creative lab looks to invest in projects from a range of platforms. During 2010 it invested in the the production of two music videos to commemorate UAE National Day. The first, “Amana Ya Emarati” is a music video about the UAE, written by UAE national, Huda Amin Al Zarooni, a graduate of Ajman University of Science and Technology.

The second is a rap music video entitled “Ana Emarati” by Khalifa Al Rumaithi, a current Media student at Abu Dhabi’s Men’s College. Khalifa met the twofour54 team at a presentation held at his college. He pitched his idea and only two weeks later was appearing on TV across the UAE including MTV Arabia.

twofour54 ibtikar: creative lab was involved in both of these music video projects from development stage right through to delivery of the final product by involving other’s from the creative lab community who became the production and post production crew.

Key to the future of the Arabic media industry is the development of the talent pool and increasing the opportunities that exist for budding media professionals to develop their skills. In order to provide additional opportunities and build a collaborative platform for the industry, twofour54 ibtikar is launching a new creative lab portal, which will be going live at the end of the year.

This new portal aims to provide personal and professional support to its members as well as share training experiences. Of the 50 members who are already signed up, 15 are Emiratis who are taking their first steps into the content creation industry. Many of the community members have had multiple experiences with twofour54 ibtikar: creative lab, from creative writing to music composition, and acting to directing.

“We are delighted with the progress that twofour54 ibtikar: creative lab has made since its launch a year ago,” added Borg. “Not only have we invested in talent across a range of different projects, but as we increase the number of projects we work on, so we increase the opportunities for the community to work on developing their skills.”

Dubai based entrepreneur, Farès Fayad, successfully applied for funding from AppsArabia and the app was developed by local app developers Piranha Byte. Kalimat, a highly addictive multiplayer word game with a difference, has two different game play styles so players can challenge friends in local “pass & play” mode or they can challenge friends or random players via the internet.

Wayne Borg, Chief Operating Officer, twofour54, said: “The launch of Kalimat, marks a new milestone for both AppsArabia and twofour54 as it represents locally developed content which will have a mass appeal not only in this region, but also internationally. That AppsArabia was able to draw on the skills of the talented individuals that have been a part of the wider twofour54 success story – intaj and ibtikar creative lab, is testament to the effective and supportive ecosystem which we are building here in Abu Dhabi.”

“We at twofour54 and AppsArabia would urge anyone with the passion for an app with commercial appeal to approach AppsArabia in order to turn great ideas into world class content.” added Borg.

Designed specifically for the iPhone, the launch of Kalimat will coincide with an online video campaign, focusing on the story of the two central characters Kali and Mat over several episodes. The campaign, scripted and filmed by UAE based Arab students follows the hilarious ups and downs of Kali and Mat’s relationship, as a result of Mat’s addiction to Kalimat.

Commenting on the launch of Kalimat at the Dubai World Gaming Expo, David Ashford, General Manager of AppsArabia, said: “I am delighted to be able to showcase our first app to consumers and to the industry. Working with an entrepreneur based in the region and local developers to create Kalimat has shown that within the Middle East there is the talent and the passion to create world class content that is relevant to the audience, and most importantly fun.”

Ashford added: “Creating the online video campaign about Kali and Mat was a great experience. We shot the footage in the UAE, using scripts developed by students studying at university here, and the filming was all done using twofour54 intaj equipment, staffed by the emerging talent which is really beginning to make the most of twofour54’s grant funding initiative, creative lab.”

AppsArabia is a twofour54 investment fund that is facilitating the development of a sustainable app development industry in the MENA region. To date, AppsArabia has made seven investments and development is well underway for these apps. There’s also a healthy pipeline of further projects for a mix of entrepreneurs and leading brands across Apple, Blackberry and Nokia smartphone platforms. In order to support the growth of an app development industry, www.appsarabia.com has been set up to provide a marketplace for all stakeholders in apps development – entrepreneurs, designers, developers and corporate clients.

Driver Dan’s Story Train is the first CGI animated/live action property to be produced in both English and Arabic. Captain Karim Qitar Al Hekayat is set to air on Baraem TV at the beginning of next year.

Captain Karim Qitar Al Hekayat is being produced by Blink Studios – a leading UAE-based animation and production company – who have established their new, long-form animation production studio at twofour54 in Abu Dhabi. Blink Studios have produced 52 episodes that reflect the cultures of the Arabic-speaking world; the production’s live action sequences feature local children, auditioned with the help of schools in the UAE. The post production work is being carried out using the new state-of-the-art facilities at twofour54 intaj, twofour54’s production, post-production, media asset management and broadcast division.

This deal aligns with twofour54’s ambition to build a regional children’s brand with commercial appeal across a number of media platforms.  To complement the television series, twofour54 is launching an interactive Arabic language website in November and is in discussions with Arabic language publishers to develop an Arabic language book publishing programme. The roll out of home entertainment and consumer products will follow in 2011.

Captain Karim Qitar Al Hekayat can provide a blueprint for emerging content creators working in children’s programming. Utilising the image of a popular Arabic children’s character, media companies can enjoy great success through a range of platforms to include, books, toys, games, stationery and other products.

Since premiering earlier this year in the UK on CBeebies, Driver Dan’s Story Train has established itself as a ratings hit, winning a 40% audience share. Macmillan Children’s Books has successfully released a range of books in the UK to accompany the series alongside the launch of an interactive English language website. 

Wayne Borg, COO, twofour54 says: “To establish and build a brand that connects with the Arabic-speaking world has always been at the heart of twofour54’s ambitions. Given that 35% of the region's 340 million population are children under the age of 14, this indicates that the children’s market is one which has great potential in the region. This acquisition deal is testament to the production quality that is possible across the MENA region and we look forward to working with the team at JCC to make Captain Karim a much loved character for Arabic children.”

Malika Alouane, Director of Channels’ Programming at Al Jazeera Children’s Channel stated: “We are pleased to witness and support the development of a high quality Arabic long form animation production in our region; I would like to believe that Captain Karim Qitar Al Hekayat will bring additional programming value to Baraem TV which is highly viewed in millions of homes around the Arab world and highly respected by parents.”

Driver Dan’s Story Train mixes CGI animation and live-action to introduce pre-schoolers to the magic of books and storytelling by encouraging them to ‘story play’. Since the launch of the first series on CBeebies in January 2010, it became one of the top performing series in the lunchtime slot.  The series has recently been airing as part of the channel’s popular ‘Bedtime Hour’

Driver Dan and his lovable friends can also be enjoyed through the Driver Dan’s Story Train website – www.driverdansstorytrain.com – where children can interact with the characters through games, downloads and interactive storytelling.  In the UK, Macmillan Children’s Books has published a range of books that bring the episodes to life, each introducing key, child-friendly subjects carefully chosen to align with core pre-school learning themes. Internationally, the first TV series has already been acquired by US children’s television channel, Sprout, where it premieres to a potential audience of 50m in November and by ABC Television – the number one platform for children’s content in Australia. 

Wayne Borg, Chief Operating Officer, twofour54, said: “Driver Dan’s Story Train is twofour54’s flagship pre-school brand.  Its success on CBeebies is testament to the quality of the production which has been delivered by the team at 3Line Media.  This re-commission from CBeebies enables us to further develop the brand for pre-schoolers with the support of our key partners.”

Kay Benbow, Controller, CBeebies adds: “We’ve been delighted with the positive response from our viewers to the show  and we look forward to continuing our relationship with twofour54 and 3Line Media and seeing what Driver Dan and his friends have in store for series two.”

‘AppsArabia’ will invest in the best ideas for apps from entrepreneurs, app developers and businesses, and provide commercial guidance, resources and marketing support to make these apps successful. A new community web site, www.appsarabia.com, has been established to provide a supportive marketplace for all stakeholders in apps development - entrepreneurs, designers, developers and corporate clients.

“iPhone OS is the world’s most advanced mobile platform and, with more than 4 billion apps already downloaded from the App Store, it presents a huge opportunity for developers in the Middle East”, commented Tony Orsten, CEO, twofour54. “Mobile adoption in the region is soaring and ‘AppsArabia’ will empower Arab entrepreneurs to create apps that address the growing demand for local content.”

At the same time the company announced that its training academy, twofour54 tadreeb, has been appointed a Pro-Apps Apple Authorised Training Centre (AATC). The certification and training courses will follow Apple’s official pro applications curriculum and offer a range of training options on Apple’s professional photography, audio and film-industry software products including Aperture, Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Server and Logic Studio. The courses will be delivered by Apple Certified Trainers who maintain Apple’s highest quality standards.

“We recognise the need to provide world-class training to existing and aspiring media professionals in the region, which is why we have obtained Apple training accreditation,” added Wayne Borg, COO of twofour54. “Becoming an Apple Authorised Training Centre further enhances twofour54’s reputation as a centre of excellence for content creation in the Middle East and enables us to offer the highest-quality training experience to help the region reach its full potential.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Macmillan Children’s Books, a division of Pan Macmillan, will focus on developing a publishing programme aimed at pre-school children. The programme will start with character based board books and paperback story books before adding new formats including wipe-clean, board, cloth and bath books as well as ebooks.

'Driver Dan's Story Train' was the first partnership signed by twofour54 ibtikar, an agreement with 3Line Media of the United Kingdom in early 2009. It is a fun and educational, bi-lingual animation and live action children’s TV series developed to introduce young, pre-school age children to the delights of storytelling and reading books. It features a cast of animated animal characters who read and explore a different children’s storybook in each show.

The English version of the show debuted on the BBC's flagship UK children’s channel CBeebies in January 2010. It has been a resounding success, with rave reviews across the UK media as well as featuring in the top ten downloads on the BBC’s online i-player platform. A number of international broadcasters are currently in discussion with twofour54 regarding the acquisition of rights.

The Arabic version of the show, which is currently being produced at the twofour54 intaj production and post-production facilities, has been created specifically for the Arab world and features animation relative to the region and live action footage of locally-cast children responding and play-acting to the story. Regional broadcasters have responded positively to the initial pilot episode, with the Arabic version scheduled for completion and ready for broadcast before the end of the year.

This new deal opens up tremendous opportunities for the Arabic publishing industry, as it will enable Arabic publishers and artists to work with one of the biggest names in international publishing on an exciting series of books. Plans include securing an Arabic publishing partner, mass market distribution as well as developing books for the educational market and an initiative based on the importance of literacy.

With over 7000 staff operating in more than 80 countries, Macmillan Publishers Ltd is one of the largest and best known international publishing groups in the world. Macmillan Children’s Books is a division of Pan Macmillan, which is the trade publishing arm of Macmillan Publishers. It is owned by Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH, one of the world’s leading media companies focused on print and electronic media. It is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany and owns around 40 companies apart from Macmillan. Its interests include book, magazine and newspaper publishers and new media firms.

Commenting on the publishing deal, Wayne Borg, COO, twofour54 said: “Macmillan is an ideal partner for twofour54. They have a proven track record within the publishing industry, have a real passion for story-telling and share our aim of making ‘Driver Dan’s Story Train’ a leading, global pre-school brand. This deal will play a key role in increasing the amount of high quality, Arabic content being produced in the region, for the region.”

Macmillan is a winner of several major children’s book prizes including the Nestle prize, the Kate Greenaway medal, Blue Peter and Early Years Awards. “Having taken the decision to enter the licensed arena, we have been determined to wait for the right project,” explained Suzanne Carnell, Publishing Director of Illustrated Publishing. “We are in no doubt that ‘Driver Dan’s Story Train’ is not only the right project, but the perfect one. We have the genuine passion and commitment to focus on Story Train as the first key licensed brand in our preschool publishing and are excited about working with twofour54 to make Driver Dan a global brand.”

-ENDS-

About twofour54

twofour54 is an Abu Dhabi government initiative and an integral part of its 2030 plan, which seeks to diversify the Emirate’s economy and establish the Emirate as the cultural capital of the Middle East.

twofour54’s vision is to establish a sustainable Arabic media and entertainment content creation industry in Abu Dhabi; a regional centre of excellence which is internationally renowned. The aim is to stimulate creative and professional partnerships in the television, radio, film, publishing, online, mobile, music, gaming and animation industries.

The company provides a collaborative and supportive ecosystem that will allow the establishment of a world-class media industry for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The focus is on developing Arabic media and entertainment content by Arabs and for the Arab audience.

twofour54 delivers its advanced cohesive infrastructure through three key pillars: twofour54 tadreeb (the training academy), twofour54 ibtikar (innovation and support) and twofour54 intaj (state-of-the-art production facilities) supported by business enabler twofour54 tawasol (one-stop-shop).

twofour54 has already attracted several of the region and world’s largest and most influential content creation companies. By the start of 2010, twofour54 had more than 60 partners, all of whom have recognised the vast opportunity that the Arab world represents for growth and has committed significant investment and resources to business initiatives that will be led out of twofour54.

The name twofour54 is taken from Abu Dhabi’s geographical coordinates, which are latitude 24 north, longitude 54 east. This name was chosen to symbolise Abu Dhabi’s strategic position within the Middle East, which makes it the ideal location for the centre of excellence for content creation in the Arab region.

About Macmillan Children’s Books

Macmillan Children’s Books is an imprint of Pan Macmillan, which is the trade arm of Macmillan Publishers Ltd. With over 7000 staff operating in more than 80 countries, Macmillan Publishers Ltd is one of the largest and best known international publishing groups in the world. It is characterized by high-quality academic and scholarly, educational, fiction and non-fiction publishing in many forms; from STM and social science journals to serious non-fiction and literary fiction; from educational course materials and dictionaries to college textbooks, academic monographs and reference with supporting online resource sites.

Pan Macmillan, as a division of a privately owned company, is focused on a commitment to investing in quality for the long term. It is part of a network of prominent and successful trade and educational publishing companies around the world.

Macmillan Publishers Ltd is owned by Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH. Holtzbrinck is one of the world’s leading media companies focused on print and electronic media, providing information, disseminating knowledge, and serving the needs of educational, professional, and general readership markets. It owns around 40 companies apart from Macmillan and is headquartered in Stuttgart. Its interests include book, magazine and newspaper publishers and new media firms.