An all-female-cast reality television drama is currently being filmed in the UAE aimed at shining a spotlight on the increasingly popular influencers’ industry.
And Andrew Maskall, CEO of Middle East Youth Media, the holding company behind the ‘Zerosل Heroes’ series, told Arabian Business he is currently in discussion with a number of organisations, both local and international, to take the show to as wide an audience as possible.
He said: “We are looking both local and international. We have got lines into both and we have had some preliminary discussions and we’re certainly got interest.”
The foursome, from Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon and Morocco, are all either students or recent graduates who are looking to pursue a career as an influencer.
“We know there’s a gap in the market for premium youth content. Particularly the time is right for young, female content as well,” said Maskall.
“What is an influencer? And what responsibilities does an influencer have? Those are the questions we ask. Is it a worthwhile career? Is it a viable career? These are the questions that come up in the series. But we do not approach it in a business-like way, we approach it very much as entertainment, but with a serious message behind it,” he added.
Last month it was revealed in a report by Duff and Phelps that one in six UAE-based businesses have suffered a loss of between $100,000 and $250,000 from a negative experience at the hands of a social influencer.
Maskall admitted it’s “a tricky space to be in”, but hoped the 12-episode series would “hold up a mirror to it” and “explore it”.
The four girls will be joined by well-known vlogger Sandra Sahi.
The four girls will be joined by well-known vlogger Sandra Sahi
“It’s about four aspiring, young influencers. All with very different interests, and they are given the chance to go on a journey with a very successful vlogger and it becomes a competition at some point,” said Maskall.
“First of all whether they want to be an influencer or not, because we know influencers are getting a bad rap at the moment, and we don’t doubt that at all. It’s a hugely growing industry but it’s one that is obviously in its infancy,” he added.
The first of 12 episodes, which has already been filmed, takes the four females to the mangroves at Emirates Marine Environmental Group, with further filming planned for throughout the UAE.
Maskall said: “These four girls all want to be influencers. They’ve just left university, or they’re still at university. They all certainly see a career as an influencer, but they’re getting push-back from their parents, they’re not necessarily making money on it.
“Part of the journey they’re going to go on will be lessons that Sandra has learned while she has become a successful influencer, but there’s also things she’s done, where she’s come across cyber bullying and obviously it’s a 24-hour job, it’s relationship damaging, stuff like that which makes you think maybe this isn’t the career for me after all.”
Maskall explained that the winner at the end of the series will receive a business start-up kit to launch their career.The company also runs a successful YouTube series called AYA (As You Are), involving nine females, which is produced for Gen Z viewers targeting Middle Eastern youth.
“It means that it’s relatable content. We’re aware that there’s a lot of aspirational influencers out there, people who are kind of ‘look at me’, and that can be very damaging to teenagers, that idea that I need to be perfect like you,” he said.
“Our presenters are very different, they’re all different body shapes, but they’re all strong women in their own rights, they’ve all got their own thing,” he added.
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