Emirati wins British Council award for young media entrepreneurship

posted on 19/09/2012: 869 views

Emirati Mohammed Al Otaiba has been announced as the winner of the British Council's International Young Creative Media Entrepreneur (IYCME) Award in the UAE.

"I am grateful and proud that I have been chosen as the first-ever UAE winner of the British Council Young Creative Media Entrepreneur award. I believe there is wisdom to be gleaned from the UK, and I will be able to draw lessons from the UK's media sector and share them with my peers in the UAE,” said Al Otaiba.

"I realise the value and opportunities that this award can offer, and how well it fits within what I am trying to achieve today both at Image Nation and as a creative professional working on my own projects. I look forward to the opportunity to meet industry professionals and leaders and learn from their experience,” he added.

Al Otaiba is the Head of Image Nation Abu Dhabi, which oversees the company's strategy of local film development. In this role, he is responsible for Image Nation's local development and production activities for the UAE.

Al Otaiba competed with four other exceptional shortlisted candidates, winning for his passion, experience and knowledge of the media sector in the UAE through his work with Image Nation Abu Dhabi, and his willingness to face challenges and take risks.

Prior to his involvement with Image Nation, Al Otaiba spent 10 years working as a diplomat within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where he represented the UAE at the United Nations in New York, Beijing and London.

Al Otaiba received a bronze medal from the New York Festival in 2005 for his documentary Afghan Days. In the same year, his film was screened at the SEE Film Festival in Brighton.

In 2009, he was one of six winners of the Abu Dhabi Film Commission's short film contest for his horror film The Orphanage. Last year, he shadowed director Tobe Hooper on Image Nation Abu Dhabi's latest local film production, Djinn, and acted as the film's cultural consultant. Al Otaiba is currently working on his next project due to be released in 2013. – The Gulf Today

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