Miramax and the Film Committee at Media City Qatar announced on Friday that they are partnering to co-develop premium film titles for audiences across the Middle East and international markets.
All the projects are being developed by Miramax MENA+T through its regional headquarters in Doha, which is managed by Lucy Dertavitian, Head of Content.
Under the new multi-project agreement, the Film Committee will executive produce the development of one original scripted series and one film.
The partners said that the projects were in various stages of development, with production timelines and release details to be announced.
The new accord was among a raft of partnerships announced by the Film Committee at its first ever Industry Days meeting, which is unfolding within the context of the new Doha Film Festival.
Earlier in the day, the body announced agreements with Neon and Department M as well as a new rebate incentive.
Miramax is owned jointly by Qatar’s BeIN Media Group and Paramount Skydance, with the latter’s 49% stake originally acquired by ViacomCBS in 2019.
Speaking on a panel about Miramax’s activities at the Industry Days conference Friday, the studio’s CEO Jonathan Glickman said the joint development slate would draw heavily on the company’s library of some 700 film titles.
He revealed that one of the projects in the works was a remake of the 2001 U.S. romantic comedy Serendipity starring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale.
“We have an incredible partnership with the Film Committee that’s going to allow us to make movies and original movies, using our IP to create stories,” he said.
“The first one we’re going to do is the romantic comedy Serendipity,” he continued. “I don’t know if you guys remember the original movie, but that’s a story that lends itself to all different worlds, and I’m excited to see what an Arabic language and Arabic culture version of that story comes about.”
The slate will also tap into original stories, and Glickman said the partners were scouting established and emerging talents locally and regionally.
“We’re working together to find mid-career writers from the region, but also using the local universities – Doha has this incredible campus – to find emerging voices that we can work with and nurture to create stories that work for the global market and use our knowledge, I won’t say expertise, because these kids are going to have the expertise on what the stories are, but our knowledge of how to get these stories out to the world at large.”
Film Committee head Hassan Al Thawadi said of the discount: “This partnership personifies Qatar’s vision to develop the very best talent locally, regionally and in the wider region, showcasing authentic stories from the Arab world. Working with an industry leader such as Miramax underlines Qatar’s ambition and commitment to build a world-class film industry right here in Doha.”
Talking more widely about Miramax’s activities, Glickman touched on the crossover between film and TV and the benefits of remakes for the original IP.
In that context, Glickman teased a possible series remake of 2002 spy film Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, which was originally directed by George Clooney and written by Charlie Kaufman.
“I read a script on my way out here for an adaptation of a movie called Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. I don’t know if you guys remember that movie, George Clooney directed” he said, noting that the new script was written by Oscar-nominated The Favourite and Poor Things screenwriter Tony McNamara.
“So, we’ll probably make that into a series too and not only do we hope for that to be a traditionally successful television show, but we’ll also push up the original IP.”
In response to a question on whether Miramax has also set its sights on Africa, Glickman revealed a big African project was under development.
“I’m very interested in African stories. We have one that hasn’t been announced. I want to say it out loud, but I can’t because I’ll get in trouble,” he said.
“I think it’s under serviced in terms of the the storytellers that are out there and culturally… I like The Woman King a lot, but I would like to see stories that are very particular to the voices of modern Africa. There’s infrastructure there to shoot in Nigeria and in South Africa that is extremely well set up to tell those stories. So I’m very keen, and I think it’s another huge growth area.”
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