Behind the Scenes

If Cairo is the Hollywood of the Middle East, Beirut might aptly be called the region’s Vancouver, where canny filmmakers regularly recreate glamorous locations for a fraction of their on-location price. Lebanon may not churn out the cinema blockbusters that Egypt does, but it has successfully cornered a large section of the Middle East’s market for producing television commercials and music videos. “I would say Lebanon has 60 percent of the whole region’s market share, excluding North Africa,” said Gabriel Chamoun, chief executive officer of The Talkies, a major Beirut-based production house, opened in 1988, which primarily produces television commercials. In North Africa, added Chamoun, commercials are generally produced locally. Sten Walgren of The Gate — Lebanon’s only film processing center — told Executive that Lebanon produces as many as 80 music videos and 300 commercials annually. Before the worldwide economic recession took hold of the region, Walgren said those