CABSAT marks its 30th anniversary with return of prestigious MENA Co-Production Salon

Dubai, UAE, April 24, 2024, CABSAT, the flagship event for broadcast, media, satellite, and entertainment industries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, celebrates its 30th anniversary by continuing its partnership with HConsult, a leading content market specialist in the Arabic-speaking MENA region, to host MENA Co-Production Salon. The exclusive gathering, scheduled from May 21 to 23 2024 at the Dubai World Trade Centre, is poised to elevate the collaborative spirit that has long been a hallmark of the annual event.

The Co-Production Salon, which is located within a specially designed VIP lounge near the Content Congress area, is an exclusive, invitation-only lounge that assembles the region's most prestigious production houses, OTT platforms, TV networks, content investors, and brand representatives. It serves as a vital platform for exploring co-production and investment opportunities, aimed at creating internationally viable TV and film content.

2023: A Retrospective Look

Last year's Co-Production Salon was highly sought-after edition, with more than 250 companies applying for entry. However, due to stringent participation criteria and the intimate nature of the event, only about a quarter of applicants were admitted. The attendees had the opportunity to participate in an average of 15 high quality meetings each, resulting in numerous  collaborative investment deals in content production both within and outside the MENA region.

Heba Korayem, Content Market and Partnerships Specialist at Hconsult and MENA Co-Production Salon’s host, said: "There are huge things happening in this seemingly compact space. We have tracked USD 8 million in content investment through partnership deals directly resulting from the meetings conducted at the Co-Production Salon in CABSAT. Furthermore, several new deals are still unfolding, but for now, these are the deals we were authorised to announce."  

Stressing on the importance of CABSAT to the media industry, she added “The best part about consistently having the Co-Production Salon at CABSAT, is the diverse mix of companies it attracts. It serves as an ideal one-stop-shop for our participants, producers and broadcasters. When they attend Co-Production Salon, they stick around because they could also find everything they need, from new technologies to cameras and filming equipment, to broadcast support for their content.”

Elena Brodskaia, Head of International Content Strategy at the MENA region’s first Entertainment super App ‘Yango’, underscores her experience from the previous year, which was held just months prior to the app’s remarkable launch in the MENA region. This highlights the success and impact of the Co-Production Salon at CABSAT.

Elena said: “We participated in Co-production Salon at CABSAT 2023 at the onset of ‘Yango’ Play’s development and it offered a unique opportunity to connect with numerous leading production houses of the region all in one place. The panel discussions on Ramadan shows and the insightful analytics presented by HConsult were also very useful and it helped us in shaping our content strategy for the app’s launch.”