Pyramedia, the Abu Dhabi based media production company, today announced the launch of two new divisions as part of a wider scale expansion plan for the company. PyraMovies and PyraDocs have been established under Arab media personality Nashwa Al Ruwaini’s company Pyramedia to produce a slate of feature films and documentaries over the next 5 years with projects being fully or part financed by Pyramedia. Al Ruwaini quoted, “I am extremely excited to announce the launch of these two new divisions which have developed out of our fast expansion from television into film production over the past couple of years.

The divisions will complement our existing departments consisting of Television format development and TV production units which have grown over the past few years to include some of the highest-rated TV shows in the Middle East.” The PyraMovies division has been established with the objective of fully supporting and nurturing emerging Arab filmmaking talent and to promote more understanding of Arab culture, tradition, religion and history to the international community. Projects are to include films by first and second-time Arab filmmakers and locally-themed feature documentaries. In addition, co-productions with international partners will lead to the production of larger-scale commercially viable projects for the global cinema industry. PyraMovies is designed to act as a vehicle for the numerous new Arab film-training programmes and regional film festivals that aim to nurture Arab filmmakers but who are unable to help them produce and fund their projects. The company will also play an active role in the marketing, sales and distribution of the films as well as regional and international publicity campaigns and coordinating entries to international film festivals. Pyramedia also announced that it has signed a 3-picture deal with award winning film director Bader Ben Hirsi the British-Yemeni director of ‘A New Day in Old Sanaa’. “I am thrilled to be working with Nashwa and Pyramedia again and particularly honoured to be the first film-maker to participate with PyraMovies; we have some very exciting projects ahead and I can’t wait – watch this space!” says Hirsi with contagious enthusiasm. Although two of the three projects Hirsi is developing are feature films, the first, already in pre-production, is the feature documentary ‘Changing Sands’ (see below). The PyraDocs division has been established to focus on the production of documentaries and factual programming for terrestrial and satellite television. The documentaries are planned to vary in topics and include historical, social, environmental and wildlife themes. The division also plans to produce longer series for the Arab and international television markets. Pyramedia already has a proven track-record for producing documentaries with awards under its belt from the Egyptian TV and Radio Awards and MIPTV pitch. Its speciality also lies in investigative reporting with its 24 episode documentary series entitled ‘Behind the Truth’ that was produced for Al Jazeera Documentary channel, focusing on controversial social issues relating to the Arab World. Among the projects that are already in the pre-production stages under the two divisions include ‘Changing Sands’ a 60 minute feature documentary telling the tale of the dramatic changes in Abu Dhabi through the memories of the eccentric British Explorer Sir Wilfred Thesiger; and a 3x50 minute wildlife documentary series produced for television detailing the intricacies of the wildlife present in the UAE. Variety Magazine, one of the largest and most influential entertainment publications in the world, ran a special feature on Pyramedia ‘at ten’ highlighting the company’s growth and expansion over the past decade, last week. The three-part article written by Variety’s Ali Jafaar profiled Pyramedia’s CEO as a media mogul that has turned Pyramedia into a premier company quoting, “If a company’s strength lies in its depth, then Pyramedia knows all about the benefits of diversification.” Pyramedia currently produces the ‘Millions’ Poet’, ‘Prince of Poets’ and ‘Nashwa’ TV shows for Abu Dhabi TV and Dubai TV in addition to providing Event Management, Marketing and Media Consultancy services internationally. Pyramedia functions with the aim of producing ground-breaking content that works towards breaking down the negative stereotypes of the Arab and Islamic worlds in the West as well as nurturing and developing talent in the region. The company currently has offices in Dubai, Cairo, London and New York with Abu Dhabi as its headquarters.