Media investment company Vista Media Capital (VMC) has announced that it will form a new UAE-based entity and expand the reach of Arab media content. 

The new entity, which will launch a new nine-day media festival, Vistas Media FZ-LLC, will be set up within Abu Dhabi Media Free Zone’s twofour54. It will provide content creation and entertainment events production services in the region. 

The company will focus on original local content and facilitating pre-filming, production and post-production services for Arabic, Bollywood and other Indian regional language content, as well as Hollywood films in Abu Dhabi, and plans to launch Abu Dhabi Media Fest in the first quarter of 2022. 

Piiyush Singh, co-founder of VMC, who will also head the new Abu Dhabi-based company, said: “So far, we have successfully built and grown the Indian content production, distribution and media investment business and invested in select Hollywood productions. 

“The strategic location of Abu Dhabi allows us to continue to deepen our footprint in India and also expand our experience, network and offerings in the Arab world through producing/co-producing and supporting local content makers to create high quality content. 

“In recent years, Asian content from India, Korea, China and other markets have reached a wider global audience with the boom in digital content consumption. The timing is now perfect for quality Arabic content to reach a wider global audience.” 

The nine-day event that the company plans to launch will include a film festival of productions from South Asia and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region selected by an international jury, a film market for film makers, investors, and content buyers, as well as masterclasses, workshops, gala concerts and a film awards. 

It was announced last year that free zone twofour54 would move to a new location, Yas Creative Hub, in the fourth quarter of 2021. Yas Creative Hub aims to put the emirate on the map as a major global media centre, with the vision of creating 16,000 new jobs. 

VMC is also the parent company of the sponsor for Vistas Media Acquisition Company Inc (Nasdaq: VMAC), a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that is taking MENA region’s music streaming platform Anghami public on Nasdaq, USA. 

(Writing by Imogen Lillywhite; editing by Cleofe Maceda) 

Imogen.Lillywhite@refinitiv.com

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© ZAWYA 2021