Charisma Group – one of the largest production companies in the Middle East – has chosen an end-to-end system from FOR-A.
Charisma has production capabilities across the Gulf region, and works with both local and international broadcasters. As the Covid lockdown eased, so the company needed to ramp up productions very quickly, and looked to expand.
It elected to build new facilities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to cope with the unprecedented demand for entertainment and events.
Because the studios had to go live quickly, and the project had limited manpower, Charisma needed a strong, trusted, local technology partner.
“Internally we went through a detailed exercise to explore the best possible options,” said Aiman Al-Ziyoud, CEO of Charisma Group.
“The timescale was the most challenging factor we faced. Although we had numerous dealings with all the industry’s top players, we opted for a solution from FOR-A.”
The initial project built a large production studio, centred around the FOR-A HVS-2000 production switcher, MFR-3000 router, FA-9600 multi-purpose audio and video processor, ClassX dual channel graphics generator and Insight production servers.
FOR-A also provided third-party monitors and other infrastructure equipment.
Now a second, smaller studio has been added, using the HVS-490 production switcher. Both studios include the Insight video server.
They are now in constant use to meet the ever-growing demand for Charisma-produced content from the major broadcasters in the region, including MBC, SBA, Rotana and IMG. Ideas Concept the project system integrator and Charisma looked at the whole market for technology solutions. While speed of realisation was critically important to the project, they also recognised that they needed to maintain the highest technical and creative standards.
They also needed to bear in mind the possibility of upgrading to 4k Ultra HD in the near future.
“Through detailed discussions with the Charisma team, we understood their clear vision of what they want to achieve now and how they will expand it in the future, including the prospect of 4k Ultra HD” said Mohammed Abu Ziyadeh, System Engineering Manager, FOR-A Middle East.
“As a result, we were able to realise their vision with systems that guarantee efficiencies, reliability, time savings and exceptional quality.
“It has been a great pleasure to work with the Charisma team in Saudi Arabia during these challenging times,” Abu Ziyadeh added. “They have been extremely co-operative before, during and after the installations.
“We are all proud of our work on this remarkable production facility, delivered in a very tight timeframe.”
You can see FOR-A at IBC on stand 2.A51.