Filmpot, an offshoot of Belgium-based entertainment company Proshot, is to open its doors in Dubai shortly. The company plans on offering a premium streaming service in Arabic with the aim of making content more accessible to customers in the Middle-East.
In a recent media interview, the CEO of Filmpot and Proshot, Iman Khatibzadeh, said that with the rise of subscription-based streaming models like Netflix and Hulu, more customers were making the shift from TV to on-demand entertainment. He noted that many of the existing players would have to evolve and shift in response to changes in this demand. “It can be challenging for many subscribers outside North America and Europe to gain access to premium content. This is because most streaming services do not support countries outside this geographic area. Filmpot’s new service aims to address this gap and is working to make content more accessible to customers within the Middle-East.
“Filmpot will provide a streaming service model similar to Netflix. We have been working on this concept for over three years and have offices in Iran, Belgium, and now in Dubai. Filmpot is poised to shortly launch its premium service to the public in the region so that finally, the media content gap in the Middle-East can be narrowed.
“The market for Over-The-Top (OTT) services is poised to grow into billions of dollars over the next decade. The Filmpot project is a huge undertaking for us, and so far, the team has raised $20 million through private investors and retention funds. And current talks with WNS, a business process management company in Dubai, looks hopeful and might lead to a joint venture.
“The Middle-East is a significant cultural melting pot and can prove to be a thriving market for any media production company. There is enormous variety within the region, and this yields a diverse range of sub-industries who each have an active market base. This is one vital element that Filmpot has recognized and integrated into its business plan. We aim to create a professional and premium video-on-demand service for the Middle Eastern region.
“While Filmpot’s content plan is mainly Arabian movies with subtitles in English, French, and Farsi, we will also include Hollywood and Iranian movies but with Arabic dubbing. The company is also launching an app engineered to be as inclusive as possible that will be compatible with all smart TVs and IPTV boxes.”
He also said that Filmpot has plans to form a joint venture with an Indian company for production of films and serials for its streaming operations. “We will be different from the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime as we will be streaming movies from Hollywood, Bollywood, Iran, etc. dubbed in Arabic.
We will also have Arabic movies with subtitles in English, French and Farsi,” said Khatibzadeh Pointing out that Filmpot is a revolutionary product that is coming at the best time to fill a market gap, Khatibzadeh added, “The team at Filmpot proves that good content can come out of any place, regardless of how far removed it is from the mainstream market.”