Robin Philip
Geophil is a UAE-based content co-production company lead by Robin Philip. "We focus on creating fiction content in different parts of the world, partnering with the local broadcasters or local production houses," explained Philip, Managing Director of the company. "We bring in our production expertise and the finances for making it happen and we also handle the global monetization strategy," he added.
Recently, the company announced a joint venture with Kerim Emrah Turna's MediaHub called Global Sphere Studios to produce Turkish dramas in Turkey. "Our first series is a telenovela called ‘Alaca’ and it's got everything that you typically see in a family drama revenge, betrayal, romance," commented Philip. "It's been produced in a very fast-paced manner which would with a gripping storyline which changes every few episodes," he added.
Geophil's Managing Director asserted they want to produce in markets globally but, creating global content which has the appeal to travel beyond the country where it's actually produced. "Drama is a great starting point because it travels globally and especially telenovelas has a market internationally in a lot of countries. But maybe tomorrow we will create non-fiction content and we want to do it in markets beyond the shores of where we are located," said Philip.
LANDSCAPE OF CONSOLIDATION
The executive affirmed the biggest opportunity in the current landscape is the consolidation of multiple players, including large OTT multinational players. "They are realizing that there aren’t more subscribers they're going to gain, so the investors are calling for better bottom line to their investments". In these cases, the co-production model is the solution. "That's going to ensure that your cost of production as a singular platform is much lower than what it is otherwise and you're sharing that risk with multiple others who have similar interest in different regions. And when you collide all of those interests, you have a beautiful product," he explained. "We are trying to actually be the bridge that will get all the platforms to collaborate," he concluded.