(14 November 2013)
intaj, the world class film and television services arm of twofour54,and two of its production partners, Qabeela New Media and Al Mohra Productions, last night scooped a total of three awards at the BroadcastPro Middle East’s Summit & Awards held at Dubai Marina, Dubai, UAE.
The Broadcast Pro awards aim to promote and celebrate excellence in the broadcast industry across the Middle East and North Africa region. twofour54 intaj received an Editor’s Choice Award for ‘Best Live Production of the Year’ for the 21st Gulf Cup of Nations in Bahrain. Two further Awards were presented to twofour54 partner production companies Qabeela New Media and Al Mohra Productions for ‘Peeta Planet’, the pioneering social media travel series which won the ‘Outstanding Social Media Project of the Year’ and ‘Hammam Shami’, a major Syrian drama set in old Damascus which won the ‘Best Studio Set of the Year’.
Jamal Al Awadhi, Head of Sales, twofour54 intaj, said:
“intaj is making great strides in attracting production companies to Abu Dhabi and in providing the film and television expertise and support services to makeworld-class Arab content happen. The Gulf Cup win is a great result for intaj. We were awarded this prestigious contract after successfully managing the organisation and live broadcast of the previous Gulf Cup in Yemen, so the Editor’s Choice Award represents yet another accomplishment for our team. And after working so closely with Qabeela New Media on ‘Peeta Planet’ and with Al Mohra on ‘HammamShami’, it’s great to celebrate their success too. Congratulations to all involved.”
For the coverage of the 21st Gulf Cup of Nations in Bahrain, intaj’s mix of technical capability and production expertise meant it was a good fit for the contract. 37 HD cameras including a spider cam and ultra-motion camera were installed at both locations to ensure all the excitement of the football was captured live and to the highest quality.
twofour54intaj handled the production and post-production for the pilot of Qabeela New Media’s pioneering social media travel series ‘Peeta Planet’ aired on DMI’s Dubai One earlier this year. The pilot, which was shot on location in Tokyo, was supported by twofour54 ibtikar. intaj handled the post production for all of ‘Peeta Planet’s’ commissioned episodes to date and will continue to do so for Series 2.
Al Mohra Productions’ ‘HammamShami’, the major Syrian drama which won ‘Best Studio Set’, was provided with two studiosby twofour54 intajto build the sets for the drama set in the old Damascus of the 1950s. 450m2 of studio space was provided for the old market and an additional 450m2 to build the Hammam.
Paul Baker, intaj Executive Director, had appeared earlier in the day on the Summit’s panel. In his address to industry professionals he covered topics including the Abu Dhabi Film Commissions’ production incentive, which aims to attract further regional and international companies to Abu Dhabi and is available in the form of a 30% rebate on all qualifying spend in the United Arab Emirates.
It’s not the first time twofour54 intaj has enjoyed success at the BroadcastPro Awards. In 2011 itwas awarded a Broadcast Pro ‘MENA Special Recognition Award’ for its stereoscopic 3D lab facility. Its other awards include the Digital Studio Awards’ ‘Post-Production House of the Year’ award, received in 2012 and Digital Studio Awards’ ‘Studio of the Year Award’ in 2010.