The prominent media analytics firm has partnered with Qatar’s Emerging Films Commission to open a regional office in Qatar’s capital Doha, which will provide data-driven intelligence to the small, oil-and-gas-rich Arab nation as it looks to take its emerging film and television business to the next level.
The Qatar Film Board is a public institution that is part of the Media City Qatar Hub and is tasked with promoting the growth of the country’s entertainment industry. The group is led by Hassan Al Thawadi (pictured), a Qatari lawyer who oversaw the 2022 FIFA World Cup soccer tournament, which was seen as a victory for Qatar.
“Under this partnership, the Film Committee will incorporate Parrot Analytics’ predictive analytics into every investment decision, transforming the way content is selected, developed and marketed,” a joint statement said.
“With this, Qatar becomes the first country in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region to adopt an end-to-end, data-driven film financing strategy, setting a new standard for investment-driven domestic content return on investment,” the statement said.
The partnership was announced during Industry Day at the inaugural Doha Film Festival, and included a rapid succession of announcements, including the launch of regional production rebates offering up to 50% cash, production deals with US studios Neon, Miramax and Sony, and production deals with three major Hollywood post-production and VFX companies to set up post-production and VFX studios in Doha.
By leveraging Parrot Analytics’ global audience analytics, Qatar Film Commission joins top streamers and studios such as Disney, Amazon Prime Video, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Sony Pictures.
