Netflix is building a global audience by empowering Arab creatives

When Netflix reality show Dubai Bling debuted in 2022, it became a global sensation, garnering viewers across 51 countries. And it’s kept up the momentum: The show’s recently released third season racked up 18.6 million hours of viewing time in its first week alone. 

Dubai Bling, filmed in English and Arabic, is subtitled in 31 languages and dubbed in 5. The show has been part of a surge in Arabic content on Netflix attracting global viewership. Last spring’s Honeymoonish, an Arab-language rom-com from Kuwait, trended in the top 10 film list of 73 countries, amassing more than 22 million views. 

Danya “Diva Dee” Mohammed in Dubai Bling, Season 1 [Photo: Hyku Desesto/Netflix]

Love Is Blind Habibi, the Arab adaptation of the hit reality show Love Is Blind, premiered on Netflix in October 2024 and ranked among the top 10 global non-English shows in 26 countries.

Netflix’s commitment to showcasing stories from the Arab region has been a game changer for Arab filmmakers, according to Dubai Bling creator Mazen Laham. Though he had worked on multiple Arabic-language shows previously, they were local projects with nowhere near the scope of Netflix’s viewership. 

As the streaming platform has invested in stories told in Arabic, it has given Arab-led projects global reach by dubbing them in multiple languages. “[Before Netflix] we didn’t have the chance to show the world what content we can produce,” Laham says. “We were always producing for local platforms and channels. Nobody had the opportunity to see what we do.”

Netflix’s targeted move

Investing in original content from the Arab region is a strategic move for Netflix: The world’s fastest-growing population is in the Middle East and Africa. Arab-speaking countries have a combined population of more than 473 million people, and more than 55% of the people in the Middle East and North Africa are younger than 30. A young and growing population poses a lucrative viewership opportunity for Netflix.

 Nour El Haj in Love is Blind: Habibi [Photo: Netflix]

Netflix has also launched several initiatives aimed at encouraging young creative talent from the Arab world, focusing especially on nurturing female filmmakers through financial grants and upskilling opportunities. Because She Created provides a platform for female creatives in the Arab world who are pioneering new paths in the film industry. As part of the Netflix Fund for Creative Equity, the initiative also offers a onetime grant of $250,000 to support female filmmakers in their creative endeavors. In July 2024, Netflix also launched the Saudi Female Future Filmmakers Program, an advanced mentoring initiative designed to identify the next generation of female talent in the Saudi film industry.

“Through these projects [Netflix is] automatically nurturing the industry. The more projects that we deliver to the industry, the better the industry will become,” says Wael Abumansour, a Saudi producer with Telfaz11, the studio behind Netflix films such as AlKhallat+, The Matchmaker, and Naga. He adds that the demand for content from the Arab region is “accelerating really fast,” which makes it “an exciting time” to be an Arab filmmaker.

Taking Arab content global

Abumansour says the creative freedom that Netflix extends to showrunners and filmmakers allows them to explore diverse narratives and cultural themes. In 2024, the platform aired a diverse slate of shows and films from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Kuwait, and Jordan from both emerging and seasoned creatives from the region.

Raneem Haitham (in pink) plays Farah in the second season of the Jordanian series AlRawabi School for Girls. [Photo: Courtesy of Netflix © 2024]

One of those emerging talents is Tima Shomali, the Jordanian writer-director of the teen drama AlRawabi School for Girls, one of Netflix’s most successful series, garnering solid viewership in 43 countries. Shomali believes that Arab content has increasing appeal on streaming platforms because of its well-crafted scripts and characters who resonate with audiences. 

Tima Shomali created and directs the Jordanian teen drama AlRawabi School for Girls. [Photo: Courtesy of Netflix © 2024]

“The most important thing in a story is writing root-worthy characters—characters that people can relate with, sympathize with,” Shomali says. “AlRawabi connected with people regionally and internationally, because maybe a lot of people actually connected or saw themselves or someone they know in one of these characters.”

The hope is that Netflix’s investment continues to pay off for Arab storytelling. “It’s time for Arabic content to travel,” Shomali says. “We’ve always imported content from the West. And now it’s time for us to export our content.”

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