Background
Rise Studios was founded in 2021 in Dubai by Amanda Turnbull to unite specialized production teams across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). From the outset, Rise championed “intelligent creativity,” pairing data analytics with localized storytelling to support underrepresented voices in the region. In April 2023, the company partnered with Parrot Analytics to optimize its slate of Arabic-language productions for both regional and global audiences.
“Ensuring that our work is supported with insightful and meaningful data combined with our industry knowledge is important for us as a business. We are delighted to partner with Parrot Analytics who are specialists in global audience analytics and content valuation, enabling us to make informed decisions for our content creation and distribution strategy,” remarks Amanda Turnbull, CEO and Founder of Rise Studios.
Challenge
Before partnering with Parrot Analytics, Rise Studios sought a comprehensive data solution to guide decisions in three primary areas: Fostering creativity among its talent pool, shaping development and production choices, and measuring performance post-launch. Existing analytics options often lacked robust coverage for emerging MENA markets. Rise needed reliable, real-time audience demand metrics, language insights, and support at every stage of the content lifecycle.
After evaluating multiple tools, they found Parrot Analytics uniquely capable of providing both the depth of global data and a strong MENA focus.
Solution
By leveraging Parrot Analytics’ entertainment analytics solutions, and working closely with its partnership insights team, Rise Studios integrated real-time, actionable data into production workflows:
Strategic Greenlighting: Audience demand metrics revealed the most promising themes and creative angles for strong appeal among both local and international viewers.
Informed Market Exploration: Parrot Analytics identified foreign content resonating with MENA viewers, which Rise localized to boost engagement.
Decision support: The partnership helps de-risk decisions, whether adapting foreign formats or pitching original Arabic concepts to networks and streamers.
Post-Launch Analytics: The team moved beyond simple social sentiment to track performance across multiple markets, ensuring accurate measurements of audience engagement and travelability.
“An original story with authentic roots not only travels well but can create an industry-wide accelerator effect. We saw this with titles like Squid Game and La Casa de Papel, which were incredibly popular with audiences across the world and as a result, captured international interest in Korean and Spanish storytelling. This effect arises when powerful, locally grounded narratives attract a broader audience, prompting further investment, sparking innovation, and ultimately setting the stage for other content from the region to gain traction on the global stage,” explains Turnbull.
Impact
Armed with robust entertainment analytics leading to deep insights, Rise Studios has taken a leading role in showcasing MENA’s creative potential to global buyers. Since adopting Parrot Analytics’ data-driven solutions, Rise Studios has seen a clear uplift in creative output and international visibility. Confidence in greenlighting new projects has grown alongside openness from distributors worldwide. Key indicators include:
Strengthened Production Pipeline: With reliable data from concept to post-launch, Rise Studios can now tailor content across genres - thrillers, dramas, documentaries - to evolving viewer tastes.
Global Reach of Arabic Productions: Recent successes like Forgetfulness have attracted attention from international audiences, highlighting the travelability of Arabic narratives.
Adaptation Success: "All But Divorced", Rise’s first-ever direct-to-Arabic adaptation of a Japanese format, premiered as the 5th most popular Arabic title. With a demand of 8.6x higher than the average series, it stood at the top 3% of all series.
Driving Adoption of Arabic Content: Arabic-language shows now account for over 25% of total demand in MENA, signaling robust regional appetite and cross-border potential.
Over 50% MENA Demand for Non-English Titles: There now exists a dominant preference for non-English content, aligning with Rise Studio’s focus on local-language productions. This underscores the viability of Arabic productions as globally appealing content in a marketplace increasingly embracing non-English narratives.
Thought Leadership & Industry Influence: The partnership’s collaborations and market insights have positioned Rise Studios as a trendsetter for how Arabic content can mirror the success of Korean and Spanish titles.
“The region is in a transformative era in entertainment and our report highlights the nuances of audience preferences, paving the way to fully harness the potential of the market. At Rise Studios, we work with our strategic partners to scout for stories that resonate with the 375 million Arabic speakers worldwide while also appealing to international viewers. By combining global appeal with local relevance, we produce content that is not only in high demand but also culturally rich, solidifying our presence in the global entertainment space,” adds Turnbull.
As a result of this partnership, entertainment analytics has been embedded into every development strategy and renewal decision, advancing Rise Studios’ global mission to amplify Arabic storytelling worldwide.
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