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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates The American special effects company that brought the "Transformers" movies to life and recently wowed concertgoers with a performing hologram of late rapper Tupac Shakur is setting up a studio in oil-rich Abu Dhabi.

The deal signed Monday between Digital Domain Media Group and Abu Dhabi's government-backed twofour54 deepens the Emirati capital's ties to Hollywood as it accelerates its efforts to become a media hub.

Port St. Lucie, Fla.-based Digital Domain plans to establish an animation, visual effects and motion-capture studio and a media school in Abu Dhabi as part of the deal. The wealthy emirate is providing $100 million in grants for the project.

Although several movies have been filmed in the Middle East including last year's "Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol," set partly in Dubai it is the first time an international studio is laying down such deep roots in the region, said Wayne Borg, twofour54's deputy CEO and chief operating officer.

"I think it's a real game changer for the region in terms of giving us a seat at the table," he said by phone from the Cannes Film Festival, where the deal was signed. "Historically we've never had the access and exposure to a company like that in the region."

Digital Domain expects to begin hiring immediately and start work at the studio by early next year. The aim is to produce animated feature films, visual effects and other content both for the region and for international productions.

Over time, it plans to employ about 500 people in Abu Dhabi. A 150,000 square foot (14,000 square meter) production center is slated to open in twofour54's main media campus by the end of 2015.

Borg doubts Abu Dhabi's conservative Islamic culture will influence Digital Domain's work in the region, saying the U.S. company will be producing "mainstream content ... for the international market."

Neither company disclosed how much Digital Domain is kicking in. But Digital Domain Chairman and CEO John Textor said in an interview his company would make "a material capital expenditure" to the project.

"Travelling around the world and collecting grants is not a business model," he said. "We're not going to Abu Dhabi just to say we've got our toe in the water," he added, saying the planned Gulf center could end up employing roughly as many people as its Florida headquarters.

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Movie visual effects company Digital Domain to set up studio and media school in UAE capital

PLAINVIEW, NY--(Marketwire -05/22/12)- RaiseCapital.com, Inc. has announced that its domain name RaiseCapital.com is for sale.

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Digital Domain, the award-winning visual effects company behind the blockbuster Transformers films and Tron: Legacy, is expanding into the Middle East with plans to open a 150,000-square-foot production studio in Abu Dhabi in 2015.

Parent company Digital Domain Media Group, of Port St. Lucie, Fla., said Sunday night that it was partnering with Abu Dhabi government-backed media and entertainment company twofour54 to build a studio that would create English- and Arabic-language animated movies targeted at Middle Eastern audiences, as well as produce visual and 3-D effects. The project also would include a media school run by Digital Domain, similar to one it operates in West Palm Beach, Fla.

The studio will employ more than 500 people and cost more than $50 million to build. The government of Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates, will partly subsidize the project. The investment is part of an effort by Abu Dhabi to further bolster its goal of becoming the entertainment hub of the Middle East. Game publisher Ubisoft, Fox International Channels and the Cartoon Network already have offices in Abu Dhabi.

Using money from the oil boom, Abu Dhabi and its smaller neighbor Dubai have in recent years made deals with such Hollywood studios as DreamWorks Animation, Universal Studios and Warner Bros. to build theaters, theme parks and other facilities as well as to finance movies.

The latest deal comes as California visual effects companies have been expanding abroad to tap low-cost labor and attractive film tax credits to produce effects more cheaply. Abu Dhabi announced over the weekend that it would begin offering a 30% rebate toward qualified production costs. Since its founding in Venice in 1993 by director James Cameron and other partners, Digital Domain has opened offices in Florida; London; Vancouver, Canada; and Mumbai, India. The effects company also is teaming up with Chinese production outfit Beijing Galloping Horse Film Co. to form a 3-D production studio in China.

There is tremendous opportunity to produce original entertainment content for Middle Eastern audiences worldwide, and to bring the Hollywood work and our own original productions here as well, said Digital Domain Chief Executive John Textor. Pairing the school and the studio enables us to help the Emirate to build a sustainable creative industries base.

Wayne Borg, chief operating officer of twofour54, called the project a significant event in the evolution of the media industry in the Middle East, noting it will enable young Arabs to develop skills and careers in an area of the media industry that has simply never existed in the region before.

Digital Domain also is producing its own movies, including next years live-action release Enders Game, a sci-fi feature starring Harrison Ford, and an animated movie called The Legend of Tembo.

But the company, in which Cameron no longer holds a stake, has struggled financially. It posted a loss of $14.8 million in the first quarter, compared with a loss of $39.1 million a year earlier, while revenue in the quarter dropped 19% to $31 million. Executives cited higher costs from opening a new animation facility in Florida this year and having fewer major film projects.

Textor recently created a stir over remarks he made about the companys new animation and digital arts institute, an unusual public-private partnership with Florida State University. The project has caused an uproar among visual effects artists in Hollywood, who fear it will encourage students to work for free at Digital Domain's planned visual effects studio in West Palm Beach.

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Digital Domain to open animation and visual effects studio in Abu Dhabi

CANNES, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

At the Cannes Film Festival today, digital production company Digital Domain Media Group (NYSE:DDMG - News), and twofour54, the Abu Dhabi government-backed media and entertainment hub, announced that they are collaborating to drive development of the local film, TV and media production industry in the Middle East.

Digital Domain Media Group (DDMG) will establish an animation, visual effects and motion capture studio and Digital Domain Institute media school in Abu Dhabi. The collaboration is designed to support the Emirates goal to become the regions center of excellence for media content creation, growing both the industry and national talent.

DDMG will begin production of visual effects and animation in studios in twofour54 at the beginning of 2013, with plans to recruit and hire staff immediately from local and international talent pools. Over time the studio will employ upwards of 500 people. DDMG will develop a purpose-built 150,000 square foot (14,000 square meter) state-of-the-art entertainment production complex, which is expected to be operational by the end of 2015.

The new Digital Domain studio will create animated feature films, produce visual and 3D effects, engage in the production of original Middle Eastern-branded entertainment for global audiences and contribute to international productions. The studio will become part of Digital Domains global feature film VFX and animation pipeline, connected to its studios in Los Angeles, Vancouver, San Francisco, London, Florida and Mumbai.

The Digital Domain Institute/Abu Dhabi, modeled after the Digital Domain Institute in West Palm Beach, Florida, will train students in the essential skills of digital media production for entertainment, simulation and related applications. Classes at the Digital Domain Institute/Abu Dhabi are scheduled to begin early in 2014. The market development initiative and creation of the DDMG studio and school are funded by $100M (US) in grants from the Abu Dhabi government.

This marks the first time a major, global studio has established a presence in the region, highlighting the impact that twofour54 has had on the media industry in the Arab world. By bringing leading edge technologies and creative techniques to Abu Dhabi, DDMG will support the wider film and TV production industry and provide massive opportunities for talent and creative development in the region.

Separately, earlier this week, twofour54 announced that the Emirate of Abu Dhabi now offers one of the worlds most competitive production incentives -- a 30% rebate for film, television and commercial media projects.

We are incredibly excited to join twofour54 in building a strong foundation for the filmmaking industry in Abu Dhabi, said DDMG CEO and Chairman John Textor. There is tremendous opportunity to produce original entertainment content for Middle Eastern audiences worldwide, and to bring Hollywood work and our own original productions here as well. Pairing the studio and school enables us to help the Emirate to build a sustainable creative industries base. Abu Dhabi was the natural location for us given its strategic location, modern infrastructure and supportive government. Were looking forward to grooming up-and-coming Arab filmmakers at a time of such great awakening in this part of the world.

Digital Domain represents the next great leap forward for twofour54 and Abu Dhabi a strong move into digital production and the development of locally created feature films and TV content, said Wayne Borg, Deputy CEO and Chief Operating Officer of twofour54. The establishment of DDMG in Abu Dhabi is a significant event in the evolution of the media industry in the Middle East. It will provide incredible opportunities for young Arabs to develop skills and careers in an area of the media industry that has simply never existed before in the region.

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Digital Domain Announces Abu Dhabi Expansion, Receives $100M Grant for Animation Studio and Educational Institute

Readmore: Local, News, South Carolina, South Carolina Department of Transportation, DOT, Highway 707 and 17 Intersection, Traffic Shift, Detours Coming to Backgate Construction Area, Traffic Detour, Traffic on Highway 17, Market Common

Big changes are coming next week to one of the Grand Strand's busiest intersections. Traffic will be re-routed to make way for construction work on the Highway 17 and 707 interchange.

When the backgate interchange is completed, it will speed traffic through what is now one of the most clogged intersections in Horry County, but state transportation officials say that won't be until August, 2014.

For the next two years, local drivers will have to get used to a couple of streets - Ranchette Circle and Coalition Drive - being closed off permanently to Highway 17, and other streets, including Northgate Boulevard and Crow Lane, seeing heavy use to detour traffic around construction.

Many drivers are dreading it.

"It's going to be a nightmare," said MaryAnn McGirr of Myrtle Beach. "I mean, we're 8 months into a 4 year project and I'm not looking forward to it, because there's really not as easy way for me to get from where I live to where I got to go."

During the weekend of June 1,SC DOTofficials say traffic on Highway 17 will be switched over to newly-constructed lanes, but there will always be four lanes of traffic open on the road, except for a few overnight hours. No left-hand turns will be allowed on Highway 17 at the intersection during the 26-hour period of the changeover.

Drivers will still be able to accessMarket Commonon Farrow Parkway and other locations on Socastee Boulevard, but it'll be by different routes, so drivers are urged to watch the variable message boards that will be posted in the area, and drive carefully.

"If you've driven it every day, you get used to it being a certain way, but it'll be a different traffic pattern, so safety and following the traffic laws is of extreme importance," said Mike Barbee, DOT construction manager for the interchange project.

Market Common officials say they're not concerned the traffic changes will have a big impact on their business.

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Traffic shift, detours coming to backgate construction area