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Valleywood successfully debuts in Dubai

Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) and its content division, LiquidThread, hosted the inaugural Dubai edition of Valleywood at Grosvenor House Hotel on 14 May, 2015. The event, in partnership with YouTube, brought together over 200 SMG MENA clients, partners and senior executives together for a day-long immersive experience of content and technology.

The event follows LiquidThread’s recent unveiling of its new offerings as a fully-fledged, tech-driven content solutions division delivering SMARTContent – data–led content designed for people and delivered to the individual. Valleywood featured a line-up of regional and global players in the broadcast, tech and content creation industries, with speakers including Egyptian satirist and comedian Bassem Youssef, Google’s The Zoo, Facebook, Yahoo, Uturn Entertainment, OSN, Endemol and Freemantle Media.

“The entertainment, technology and content creation worlds are converging intersecting and, more often that rarely, overlapping on many levels,” says John Antoniades, CEO, Starwoon MediaVest Group MENA. “The collision has ignited a chain reaction that neither brands nor agencies can afford to ignore – and contrarily, must utilize to its fullest potential. Valleywood came about to address this inevitable shift and transformation, for both our clients and the industry.”

 

Media figures dominate Arabian Business Brit List

Media leaders have dominated the second edition of the Arabian Business Brits List – a study that lists the top 50 most influential British expatriates in the UAE.

While MBC Group’s CEO Sam Barnett has landed the top media spot, ranked 4th most influential Brit, Starcom MediaVest Group’s CEO John Antoniades isn’t far behind in 5th place. John Brash, owner of Brash Brands has also made the cut, ranked 17, Motivate Publishing’s Managing Partner Ian Fairservice comes in at number 27, while BBC Middle East Correspondent Mark Lobel snagged the 30th spot. Other notable media influencers who have made the top 50 include television and radio personality Tom Urquhart, DABO & CO Managing Partners Camilla and Lucy D’Abo, Face to Face agency owner Chris Bell and Francis Matthew, Editor at Large, Gulf News.

To see the full Arabian Business Brits List, click here