Dubai: The projects of the “Arab Podcast Program 2026” have reached their final stage before evaluation as the Dubai Press Club continues its third edition into its second week, focusing on the “Technical Production and Implementation” phase. This phase aims to empower participants to transform the ideas and concepts they developed during the first week into more practical, production-ready models. Specialized workshops addressed the technical and artistic aspects of audio and video content creation.
According to National Iraqi News Agency, program participants engaged in a series of practical sessions and workshops covering project presentation skills, sound engineering, professional processing, visual and cinematic directing, editing, smart script preparation, and AI-powered production strategies, culminating in practical application and the creation of a model episode.
The week’s activities began with a project presentation session titled “Project Presentations: A Platform for Assessment and Readiness Testing,” before an evaluation panel comprised of Jamal Al Shehhi, Emirati writer and publisher and founder of the “Creative Coffee” platform; Patrick Samaha, representing the “Next Audio” platform; Abdullah Al Nuaimi, host of the “Monday Chair” podcast; and Mariam Al Mulla, Director of the Dubai Press Club.
Participants presented their initial projects and discussed their readiness elements, including clarity of concept, target audience, and overall identity, paving the way for more advanced stages of development and production.
Barry Kassab, Business Development Manager at Shure MEA, then led a workshop on “Sound Engineering Techniques and Professional Processing,” which focused on the fundamentals of sound quality, selecting appropriate recording equipment, processing audio files, and enhancing the listening experience to meet professional production standards.
On the visual production side, Ahmed Eid Salem, Regional Training Leader, and Maurice Decker, Director of Photography at Sony MEA, presented a workshop on “Visual and Cinematic Directing for Podcasts.” They reviewed the most important elements of image construction, the use of lighting and camera angles, and the management of the visual scene to enhance the presence of the visual podcast and give it a professional and engaging character.
It is worth noting that the Arabic Podcast Program is one of the initiatives and projects of the Dubai Press Club aimed at honing the creative and professional skills of media professionals and enabling them to keep pace with developments in various media channels, especially the new media formats that have emerged as a result of the rapid technological advancements the world is witnessing, and the resulting new media forms with wide reach, most notably audio and visual content.