Ashok Amritraj to Host ‘CHANCE OF A LIFETIME’’, Bringing Filmmakers Together From the Middle East, India and Singapore

New York, NY (November 01, 2012)–The United Nations, Hyde Park-Image Nation,

and Variety have teamed up to produce a non-scrīpted series featuring filmmakers from

The Middle East, India, and Singapore. This unprecedented effort will bring together

documentary filmmakers from diverse backgrounds in a filmmaking competition where the

contestants must team up to produce one cinematic vision while drawing on their varied

cultural perspectives.

The show will be hosted by prolific film producer Ashok Amritraj, and will shine a spotlight

on a number of United Nations global initiatives. Hyde Park-Image Nation will present the

series in collaboration with the United Nations and Variety.

The series will follow the producer’s search for four teams of filmmakers each with a

member from India, the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), and Singapore. Each week,

Amritraj will present the filmmaking teams with various production tasks that they must

accomplish to finish their final documentaries. The topics and tone of the films will reflect

the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) established at the United Nations and will

include storylines that highlight issues that are central to the Every Woman, Every Child

effort.

The winning team’s documentary will be screened at the United Nations, and they will

receive a special recognition from Variety during the 2013 Festival de Cannes.

“Bringing together aspiring filmmakers from three different regions to create a unified

production epitomizes the ideal of the United Nations. Image Nation is honored to partner

with the U.N., Variety and Ashok in creating such a groundbreaking international project,”

said Mohamed Al Mubarak, Chairman of Image Nation. “We look forward to the exciting work that these teams of documentarians will produce.”

“This is a wonderful opportunity for the United Nations to harness the power of

entertainment and shine a spotlight on some of the world’s most critical issues,” said

Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Communications

and Public Information. “We hope this show will encourage many more people across the

region to think about these global challenges and to become part of the solution.”

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Hyde Park-Image Nation is financing the project. In 2009, Amritraj’s Hyde Park

Entertainment and Image Nation, the Abu Dhabi production company, partnered on a $250

million financing deal to develop, produce and distribute feature films. They extended their

partnership to create a strategic alliance with Singapore’s Media Development Authority

(MDA). Under this deal, Hyde Park – Image Nation Singapore was launched in 2010 to fund

multiple films worth an estimated production value of $75 million.

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If you are documentary filmmaker and is keen to participate, please email to the following contact with your profile:

hp.in.singaporeoffice[at]gmail.com

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