In Variety, Ali jafaar reports on a new production company poised to pump a billion dollars into film production.

From the piece:

Abu Dhabi has set its sights on joining the big leagues of pic production.

The Abu Dhabi Media Co., which oversees the emirate’s film, TV and radio outlets, is launching a production shingle with $1 billion to spend on developing, financing and producing feature films over the next five years.

Company dubbed Imagenation Abu Dhabi, which will also oversee Abu Dhabi’s existing $1 billion production fund with Warner Bros., has a mandate to produce eight features a year for the worldwide marketplace. Majority of the fare commissioned will be English-language features aimed at mainstream auds. The banner is set to ink a number of deals with U.S. and international film companies in the coming weeks.