Background

Launched in January 2001, Dubai Media City is a regional media hub, and a location for media related companies to operate from, on a local, regional and international level, with significant competitive advantages.

Vision

Dubai Media City is the media arm of "Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone" which emerged out of the vision of His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister & Ruler of Dubai, to transform Dubai into a global knowledge economy, by creating an infrastructure, environment and attitude that enable technology and media focused enterprises to operate locally, regionally and globally out of the Free Zone, with significant competitive advantages.

Mission

To create and market world class enabling services for the media industry.

Infrastructure and Environment

Dubai Media City brings to the media community a state-of-the-art infrastructure based on next-generation information and telecommunication technologies. Companies can avail of the most advanced scalable ICT network and unique voice/data services at competitive rates. Companies in Dubai Media City are entitled to unique commercial benefits derived from the free zone status. These include 100% business ownership requiring no sponsorship, a guaranteed 50-year exemption from personal income and corporate taxes, and the exceptional facility of a one-stop-shop for all government related transactions for setting up a business. This is what makes Dubai Media City a completely hassle free, non-bureaucratic business environment.

Dubai Media City also offers a host of other cost-effective services. One such service, particularly advantageous to broadcasters, includes a teleport facility run by Dubai Media City’s sister company, SamaCom. SamaCom is a vertically integrated satellite services provider that owns and operates a communication infrastructure, offering competitive transmission services that allow for considerable cost savings through the use of shared world-class professional broadcasting and Internet / data services via satellite. This service is extended to customers operating in Dubai, in the region, and internationally.

Community

Dubai Media City is the place where every kind of media business – Publishing & Printing, Media & Marketing Services Music, New Media, Leisure & Entertainment, Broadcasting, Information Agencies and Film - can thrive and have the freedom to create.

Success Story

Since its official opening in January 2001, Dubai Media City has grown tremendously to become a thriving media community of over 1200 companies and more than 10,000 professionals. Several global media giants and promising entrepreneurial ventures have joined the Dubai Media City community. Three quarters of the media community represents regional and international media companies. A unique conglomerate of leading international media companies operates their regional offices from Dubai Media City.

These companies include CNN, BBC, MBC, Al-Arabia, Showtime, Space Toon and CNBC Arabiya. Over 60 big name broadcasters based at Dubai Media City operate more than 145 TV channels from this location

Other giants like, Reuters, Sony Broadcast and Professional, Bertelsmann, STAR TV, Team Young & Rubicam, Leo Burnett, AFP, Associated Press (AP), LOWE and International Advertising Association (IAA) also have their regional headquarters in Dubai Media City.

The presence of companies from across the media industry spectrum in Dubai Media City has created a large pool of skills, expertise and resources that companies can tap into.

The media community also offers a high quality of business interaction and networking that can be leveraged for enhanced problem solving and knowledge sharing.

Talent

As part of our mission of promoting talent and entrepreneurship in the region, Dubai Media City started the Business Centre, a unique facility for freelancers and independent media professionals. Over 250 freelancers have found the centre an ideal base for gaining visibility and building relationships with the media industry. The Business Centre has made a key contribution to plugging the large gap in the regional market for a freelance workforce. Dubai Media City is also constantly exploring ways of ensuring that media companies here will have a steady supply of talent.

Initiatives

Ibda’a Media Student Awards (June, 2001)

In June 2001, DMC launched the annual Ibda’a Media Student Awards with the objective of identifying, showcasing and fostering talent at a formative stage. Following the continued growth and success of each year, in 2004, Ibda’a went global, attracting 2013 participations from around the world.

International Media Production Zone (July, 2003)

In July, 2003, Dubai Media City announced the launch of the International Media Production Zone (IMPZ), the first dedicated trade zone created in the region for media-related production activities.

Located on 43 million sq. ft of land, the zone seeks to create a cluster environment for media production companies from across the industry value chain to interact and collaborate productively.

The zone will provide a world-class infrastructure to support all sectors of the media and entertainment industry. The first production cluster to initiate business from the new zone will be the printing & publishing industry.

Dubai International Film Festival (Dec, 2004)

In a move that leads Dubai’s strategy to develop itself into a regional centre for international film production, Dubai Media City embraced the reel world with an International Film Festival hosted in December 2004. Titled the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), this mega event showcased a wide variety of films from around the world (more than 75 films) and provided a forum for industry professionals to meet and network.

The main themes of the event focused on building cultural understanding and creating international harmony through showcasing a wide selection of contemporary and classic global cinema.

The event attracted celebrities from all over the world, such as Morgan Freeman, Orlando Bloom, Sara Michelle Gellar, Adel Imam, Leila Eloui, Deepa Mehta and others.

Dubai Studio City (Feb, 2005)

Following the success of the Film Festival in 2004, and in response to a surge of interest in Dubai as a filming destination and production hub, Dubai Media City launched the Dubai Studio City, a free zone dedicated to the specific media segments of music, film and TV commercial production and broadcasting

Dubai Media City Business Segments

• Media & Marketing Services
• Business & Information Services
• New Media & Media Support
• Service Event and Leisure
• Consultancy and Retail