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29 March 2024

Capital courts Hollywood's A-listers

(SUPPLIED)

Published
By Bindu Rai

Last September, Imagenation Abu Dhabi made a promise to court Hollywood's elite through its $1 billion (Dh3.67bn) film fund. Now, less than a year later and more than $500 million invested, the halfway mark reveals five feature films in the works, three money-spinning partnerships with major studios and A-listers such as Sean Penn, Brendan Fraser and Naomi Watts on the company roster. It seems even the global economic downturn is unable to stop them.

"The latest addition to our bouquet of films is the Doug Liman-directed political thriller, Fair Game, which is a result of our long-standing $250m five-film partnership with Participant Media," Stefan Brunner, Chief Operating Officer of Imagenation, tells Emirates Business. "For this project, we have also partnered with River Road Entertainment and roped in Sean Penn and Naomi Watts to star in the film."

This announcement follows close on the heels of the $100m partnership with National Geographic Entertainment that has resulted in its first feature – the Peter Weir-directed, The Way Back, starring Colin Ferrell, Ed Harris and Jim Sturgess.

Brunner, 32, adds that in a few short weeks, Imagenation will also reveal its slate of films that are the result of a $250m, 20-movie partnership with Ashok Amritraj's Hyde Park Entertainment; the American company is known for producing films such as Bringing Down The House, Raising Helen and Premonition.

But these announcements are a mere stepping-stone to the Big Kahuna: the company's first release, which comes in the form of the Robert Rodriguez-directed family comedy, Shorts. "This joint production with Warner Bros studio will release worldwide on August 21, but due to Ramadan, the film just may come as an Eid release here," reveals Brunner.

A star-studded UAE premiere has not been ruled out by Brunner, but he says it's too soon to comment.

A partnership with a Bollyood production house is also creating a buzz and even though the German confirms the company is feeling out the Asian market, no definite plans have been set.

"However, television is certainly happening," he says. "We are also closely working with National Geographic, which is in the process of producing a television series that will showcase small, untold stories from this region.

"In fact, executives from the show arrived here a few weeks ago for background research. The ultimate goal is to bring physical production down to the UAE, which would help us build a local infrastructure. Unfortunately, the way things stand, it is too expensive to accommodate a film unit here."

This statement sounds odd considering the tax-free economy here has often been considered one of the few places where Hollywood productions can keep their overheads low. However, Brunner disagrees.

"We are merely in the process of creating a production set-up here – we don't even have studio space or a fully-trained crew," he explains. "If a Hollywood unit were to head up here, it would be expensive to fly down the entire crew, pay for their airfare, housing, food and other miscellaneous costs. A tax break does not offset all these expenses."

In these last 10 months, Imagenation has been striving hard to raise the country's public profile, working closely with the Abu Dhabi Film Commission and the government-supported Middle East International Film Festival in the capital. Some insiders even say that it was Imagenation's credibility that saw last year's MEIFF boasting celebrities such as Susan Sarandon and Jane Fonda.

Earlier this year, a visit to the recession-hit Cannes Film Festival in France saw the company announce two prestigious projects with Participant Media: the biological horror, The Crazies, and the family comedy, Furry Vengeance.

The downturn clearly hasn't affected the film fund and Brunner says the economy has worked in their favour, turning the film industry into a buyers' market and enabling them to get the cream of the crop at a lesser price.

One of their long-term goals, however, is to shatter reel-Arab stereotypes that have plagued this region for decades.

He says: "We are working with our international partners to create a positive profile of the region. I think everyone here is fed up of the stereotype, which portrays the Middle East as an oil-rich region, perpetually embroiled in conflict and harbours terrorists."

This is one of the reasons why Brunner and his team ensure every international script that has the Abu Dhabi government backing portrays this area in favourable light, "and of course, does not insult Islam or the ruling families," he adds.

Yet, history as we know it, has seen such ideas work wonders on paper but fail during implementation.

Case in point is 2005's Syriana. After the script was given the green light and allowed to film in Dubai and the Northern Emirates, fans of the George Clooney-starrer were disappointed when many of those very bits that were filmed locally were censored before releasing in the cinemas here.

"I am not familiar with the process that allowed Syriana's local shoot, but I have heard the complaints," says Brunner. "This is one of the many reasons why we have Emiratis who work with us on the core team of script selection. They are aware of the sensitivities of the region and are able to make the right decisions."

In fact, Imagenation is also striving hard to work with local Arabs and ultimately, provide them with the expertise to launch their own films. Graduates from the Abu Dhabi campus of New York Film Academy and other local institutions are finding internship programmes at the company, while a special section within the business unit specially handles the funding of locally produced projects.

"Hollywood productions are the start, but what we want is a local film industry. We are still miles behind Egypt or even Morocco," states Brunner. And when the COO says 'local' he doesn't only mean Emiratis.

"Expats with film projects that somehow highlight this region or the Arab culture are also welcome to tap into the film fund. We want them to cut themselves a slice of the pie. That is what we've always wanted."


Imagenation films

SHORTS

This Robert Rodriguez-directed film sees 11-year-old Toe Thompson come in possession of a rainbow-coloured rock that grants wishes. But ultimately the wishes go wrong and the magic rock falls into the hands of the bad guys. Now Toe and friends must fight off the bad guys and save the world from an evil inventor. The movie is set to release on August 21, but it could appear as the Eid release here. Stars William H Macy and James Spader.

FURRY VENGEANCE

Set for an?April 2, 2010 release, this Brendan Fraser family comedy sees The Mummy star play a real estate developer who drags his family off to the Oregon wilderness. However, his plans to develop a new housing subdivision in the forest faces a unique group of protesters: local woodland creatures that don't want their homes disturbed. The film also marks the return of former supermodel and TV star Brooke Shields to the big screen after 10 years.

THE WAY BACK

Inspired by Slavomir Rawicz's acclaimed novel, The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom, as well as from other real-life accounts, the film chronicles the escape of a small group of multi-national prisoners from a Siberian gulag in 1940 and their journey over thousands of miles across five hostile countries. The film stars Colin Farrell and Jim Sturgess. A 2010 release is scheduled.

THE CRAZIES

Timothy Olyphant and Radha Mitchell star in this zombie horror flick that is reminiscent of old grindhouse films of yore. Inhabitants of a small Iowa town are suddenly plagued by insanity and death after a mysterious toxin contaminates their water supply. Planet Terror, weep your eyes out. The film was announced earlier this year at the Cannes Film Festival in conjunction with Participant Media. Release is set for February 2, 2010.

FAIR GAME

Two-time Academy Award winner Sean Penn stars in this thriller that provides a glimpse into the dark corridors of political power. What promises to be a riveting action thriller is based on the autobiography of real-life undercover CIA operative, Valerie Plame. Set for a 2010 release, the buzz surrounding this movie has already tipped it as a hot Oscar contender for next year. Brunner says, after the final edit, we will decide on its marketing.

 

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