Timur Bekmambetov & Image Nation Abu Dhabi Team On UAE Screenlife Accelerator Program
EXCLUSIVE: Image Nation Abu Dhabi is teaming with L.A.-based Russian-Kazakh director Timur Bekmambetov and his production banner Bazelevs to launch the Screenlife Accelerator Program in the UAE.
The initiative will train local talent – both UAE nationals and residents – in the innovative digital filmmaking format, pioneered by Bekmambetov and in which the action is entirely set on computer, tablet or smartphone screens.
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Four projects incubated under the program will be developed into feature films.
Screenlife pioneer Bekmambetov’s credits using the low budget technique include box office hits Unfriended and Searching, which earned $65M and $75M in the U.S. respectively against a budget of $1 million.
The latest instalment in the subgenre, Missing, grossed $48.8 million and topped the Netflix movie chart in the US last summer.
The pioneering screenlife format has earned Bekmambetov’s film and TV production company Bazelevs a spot among the top 10 most innovative video companies in the world by Fast Company.
Bekmambetov is currently working on his new Amazon MGM thriller Mercy, starring Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson.
As well as developing four feature films, the Screenlife Accelerator Program aims to establish the UAE as one of the emerging hubs for digital filmmaking in the region.
Through the partnership, Bazelevs intends to expand the popularity of screenlife films across the Middle East and add it to key film markets like South Korea, India, and the UK, where the company has previously launched accelerator programs and secured strategic partnerships for local movie productions in the screenlife format.
“How we create and consume content is changing at an unprecedented rate thanks to technological advances and changing viewing patterns,” said Image Nation Acting CEO Ben Ross.
“The Screenlife Accelerator Program is an opportunity for filmmakers to be at the forefront of this evolution, challenging how we think about moviemaking and pioneering an exciting new format as we continue to build a successful and sustainable film and entertainment industry across the GCC and wider MENA region.”
Bekmambetov said the Screenlife technique offers the fastest way to break into the film industry.
“It’s quicker and less expensive to produce than traditional films, but most importantly it captures the new reality of spending much of our lives on digital screens — a transition traditional cinema struggles to reflect,” he said.
“I hope the accelerator program in Abu Dhabi will popularize screenlife in the growing MENA film market and pave the way for establishing a worldwide community of screenlife filmmakers.”
The accelerator program in Abu Dhabi will be open to aspiring and experienced filmmakers with a basic understanding of scriptwriting, directing, and production, as well as an interest in telling stories in a screenlife format.
Twenty finalists will undergo an intensive 12-week course divided into three phases. The first phase focuses on acquiring the essential technical tools for making a screenlife film.
The second phase revolves around the development and packaging of the participants’ projects by refining their concepts and narratives, while also learning about budgeting and planning for the execution of their projects. The final phase sees participants working collaboratively on a proof of concept and a pitch.
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