On.DXB: everything you need to know about Dubai's music, film, social and gaming fest

The first On.DXB is a matter of weeks away. The Dubai event features three days of music, film and media with interactive sessions, panel discussions, talks and performances, running from Thursday, November 21 until Saturday, November 23. Here is what to expect, and when, at the Dubai Studio City festival... Spike Lee, the man behind Do the Right Thing and Oscar-winning Blackkklansman , will host an official talk at 7pm on Saturday, November 23. Lee will also participate in a discussion about the power of media, moderated by the Dubai Film and TV Commission's Omar Butti. See the discussion on the Circle Stage at 5.15pm on Saturday, November 23. Mr Bean producer Tom Beattie is coming to the festival to discuss the global success of the show, starring Rowan Atkinson. The discussion will take place at 3.30pm on Friday, November 22 on the Circle Stage. Also speaking will be Roser Canela-Mas, the Bafta sustainability industry manager, and Zena Harris, president of the Green Spark Group. The pair will be discussing sustainability in entertainment in a discussion titled Greener Screen: How to Create a Sustainable Film, TV and Digital Production at 4pm on Friday, November 22 on the Sessions Stage. An audience with Kano will be taking place at 5.15pm on Friday, November 22 on the Circle Stage. The talk will be moderated by The National 's Saeed Saeed . The rapper and Top Boy actor is expected to talk about the power of music and entertainment as a tool for positive change. He is also performing on the Main Stage at 10pm on Saturday, November 23, to close the weekend. Also appearing on the Main Stage on Saturday, November 23, will be the comic-inspired lyricists behind The Knavie Show at 3pm; DJ Trina at 4pm; Egyptian singer, Ahmed El Ruby at 6pm; DJ Bliss at 8pm and Freek, a pioneer of Arabic drill rap music, at 9pm. Speaking about the regional music scene will be Claudius Boller, Spotify's managing director for Middle East and Africa; Mike Fairburn, the general manager of Sony Music Entertainment Middle East; Qanawat's Ahmed Nureni and DJ Bliss. They will be taking part in a discussion titled The Business Behind the Music, moderated by Channel 4 Radio's Nimi Mehta, at 2pm on Thursday, November 21 on the Sessions Stage. Vlogger, writer, actress and social media phenomenon Liza Koshy will be speaking about her rise to stardom in the digital content age on the Circle Stage at 5.15pm on Thursday, November 21. The conversation will be moderated by Khalid Al Ameri. At 6pm on Friday, November 22 she will be taking to the Main Stage. At noon on Thursday, November 21, The National' s Nyree McFarlane will be moderating a conversation called How Are Women Changing the Media Landscape? The discussion will take place between Dubai TV's Sarah Al Jarman; writer, director and producer, Pegah Ghaemi, and influencers Safa Srour and Asala Maleh, on the Sessions Stage. Also speaking about social media throughout the weekend will be digital influencers Alex Hirschi aka Supercar Blondie, Manal Mansoor aka Manal Muffin and Ibrahim Ramzat. The three will take part in a discussion called It's Not As Easy As It Looks: How to Create Content that People Want to Watch at noon on Saturday, November 23. The chat will take place on the Sessions Stage. A talk titled, Are Influencers the New Brands, will take place between Noor Naeim aka Noor Stars, the Iraqi YouTube phenomenon; Saudi social media star, Abdulaziz Aldjlah, known as Dyler; influencer MRJM Games and Diwan Media's Michel Chahda. The conversation will take place at 3pm on Saturday, November 23 on the Sessions Stage. The National 's Ayesha Khan will moderate a talk called, Podcasts Take Centre Stage: Behind the Mic Yet Leading the Way, with Finyal Media's Leila Alanani, Sowt's Mayss Al Alami, Kerning Culture's Hebah Fisher and Chirag Desai, and Hamburger Genration's Jamil Adas. Note: Bar Main Stage performances, all of the above talks, discussions and sessions are accessed with an Industry Arena Pass only. There are multiple ticketing options available for On.DXB. To attend all three days of the festival, choose between Festival Square access (Dh275), Industry Arena access (Dh950) and Students' Industry Arena access (Dh500). One-day access for Festival Square costs Dh100-per-day for Thursday, November 21 and Friday, November 22, and Dh150 for Saturday, November 23. One-day Industry Arena passes cost Dh475 and Dh1,500 for VIP access. The Festival Square pass entitles visitors to access the Main Stage and gaming cafe; as well as seeing showcases from regional and global brands; digital video content features; indie film screenings; award-winning films; live music; workshops and work from the Call for Content finalists. The Industry Arena pass entitles guests to access all of the Festival Square activities, as well as the audiences with Liza Zoshy, Kano and Spike Lee – on the applicable ticketed day(s); regional and international speakers; industry networking; talks on creativity, data and technologies, regional trends, business insights and successes; industry discussions and debates; pitch sessions and Q&A sessions. The VIP pass gets guests access all areas, as well as fast track entry; a access to a VIP lounge; On Cinema Stage front row seats, access to a Main Stage VIP area and more. Main Stage 11am – Opening ceremony with the Emirates Youth Symphony Orchestra 4pm – Spinning Tunes in the City of Dunes, with DJ Trina 5pm – Celebrating 25 Years of Excellence, with the Emirates Youth Symphony Orchestra 7pm – Karrouhat 9pm Live: Island After 10pm – The Recipe x Tac x Brooklyn The Circle Stage (Access with Industry Arena Pass) 11:30am – Facebook: Social Video, the Content of Our Lives, with Facebook’s Fares Akkad 12:30pm – Between the Local and the Global: Representations of the Mainstream and Marginal, with Middlesex University’s Dr David Tully 1:30pm – In conversation with Noor Stars 2:30pm – TBC 3:30pm – TBC 4:30pm – My Journey from YouTube to Hollywood, with producer and actor, Rami Jaber 5:15pm – An Audience with Liza Koshy. Moderator: Khalid Al Ameri The Alfan Showcase Stage (Access with Industry Arena Pass) 11am – Call for Content: Video Pitch 1pm – Humanising Beauty: Making Beauty a Source of Pleasure not Pressure, with Innate Motion’s Kanchana Moodliar 2pm – Why Creators from the Arab World are Now Broadcasting Live at Line Live, with Jina Jeehyun Cho and Neven, and YouTuber Naz 3pm – Piracy in the Digital Age … Why it Matters to You, with Digisay Egypt’s Ahmed Abbas 4pm – Disrupting the Narrative: How Compelling Storytelling and Pushing the Creative Envelope Can Transform Anyone’s Story, with Blink Studio’s Lea Badro Hamadeh 5pm – Let Me Tell You a Story, with writer, director and producer, Pegah Ghaemi The Sessions Stage (Access with Industry Arena Pass) Noon – How are Women Changing the Media Landscape? with Dubai TV's Sarah Al Jarman, influencer Safa Arour, writer, director and producer Pegah Ghaemi, and influencer Asala Maleh. Moderator: The National 's Nyree McFarlane 1pm – How to Drive the Best ROI from Social Platforms, with influencer Anas Marwah and 360 Vuz’s Khaled Zaatarah. Moderator: Alfan Group’s Mohammad Fattal 2pm – The Business Behind the Music, with Spotify’s Claudius Boller, Sony Music Entertainment’s Mike Fairburn, Qanawat’s Ahmed Nureni and DJ Bliss. Moderator: Channel 4 Radio’s Nimi Mehta 3pm – Inside the Directors Locker Room, with director Mustafa Abbas, producer Ali Mohamed Al Marzouqi, director Jac Mulder. Moderator: Film critic, William Mullally 4pm – Funding to Fruition: How to Raise Funds and Leverage Finance, with producer and actor, Rami Jaber; director Asri Bendacha and documentary film director and producer, Reshel Shah Kapoor. Moderator: Casting director, Miranda Davidson 5pm – Future of the Gaming Industry, curated by Tencent, with Newzoo’s Tom Wijman and Riot Game’s Rafed Salem Workshops 2pm – How to Engage with Video, with Square Motion’s Vit Kodousek 3:30pm – Content Film Making and Video Blogging, with Canon’s Muhammad Al Nuhasi 5pm – Anghami for Artists: The Science Behind the Platform, with Mark Abou Jaodeh 6pm – Guerilla Film Making, with Canon’s Hasan Asla On Cinema Noon – Call for Content: Shortlisted Films 2pm – God Children screening, plus Q&A with filmmaker Shah Kapoor 3.30pm – I Am Yazidi screening, plus Q&A with filmmaker Pegah Ghaemi 4.30pm – Makr short film screening 5:30pm – Streetlifedxb short films 6:30pm – Opening panel with regional and international industry speakers 7:30pm – You Will Die at 20 (Gulf Premiere) presented by Cinema Akil Main Stage 2pm – The Knavie Show 3pm - Hamza3ssam and Don Kamelo: hip hop and rap performance 4pm – '70s rock festival: Bluespower 6pm – Liza Koshy 7pm – Anghami Presents 9pm – Around the World with Sandra Sahi The Circle Stage (Access with Industry Arena Pass) 11:30am – The Power of Writing Female Driven Content and Youth Oriented Stories, with Boxing Girls creator, Afnan Alqasimi 12:30pm – The Power of Bilingual Design: Creating Global Work, with Local Relevance with Wali’s Studio’s Ghada Wali 1:30pm – In Conversation with MRJM Games. Moderator: Baraa Abdulla 2:30pm – Success Won’t Find You, You Need to Go and Earn It, with Wizel Studio’s Reine Abbas 3:30pm – How Mr Bean Took Over the World, with producer Tom Beattie 4:30pm – Can Your Brand Sing? with Angami’s Elie Abou Saleh 5:15pm – An Audience with Kano. Moderator: The National 's Saeed Saeed The Alfan Showcase Stage (Access with Industry Arena Pass) 11am – Call for Content: Game Pitch 1pm – Call for Content: Music Pitch 3pm – Get the Best Profit Out of Your Content as an Independent Artist, with Arpu Plus’ Arreem Tarek 4pm – The Art of Audio: Storytelling with Sound, with Finyal Media’s Mshari Alonaizy 5pm – The Evolution of Gaming, with Robocom VR’s Karim Ibrahim The Sessions Stage (Access with Industry Arena Pass) Noon – Podcasts Take Centre Stage: Behind the Mic Yet Leading the Way, with Finyal Media's Leila Alanani, Sowt's Mayss Al Alami, Kerning Culture's Hebah Fisher and Chirag Desai, and Hamburger Genration's Jamil Adas. Moderator: The National 's Ayesha Khan 1pm – Gaming: From Art to Business, Digital Games Conference Dubai’s Habib Chams, Gameloft’s Ahmed Tehemar, Tentacle Gaming’s Mohammed Alturkistani, Shanab Games’ Hiba Muhareb and Red Thumbs’ Nafla Al Zaabi. Moderator: Bahrain TV’s Baraa Abdulla 2pm – The Change IGTV Brought to Instagram 3pm – The Challenge of Creating Valuable Content and Growing Your Audience at the Same Time, curated by Kharabeesh, with influencers Maha Jaafar, Hadeel Marei and Salam Katani. Moderator: Kharabeesh’s Wael Attili 4pm – Greener Screen: How to Create a Sustainable Film, TV and Digital Production, with Bafta’s Roser Canela-Mas and Green Spark Group’s Zena Harris. Moderator: CMS Gulf’s Bassam Alas’ad 5pm – The Art of Story-telling and Creating Compelling Content, with Telfaz11’s Alaa Yousef Fadan, Blink Studios’ Lea Badro Hamadeh, AUD’s Roozbeh Al Kafi, Tayarah’s Mohamed El Bassiouni Workshops 2pm – How to Engage with Video, with Square Motion’s Vit Kodousek 3:30pm – Instagram Story School with Samer Jonny Jamal 4:30pm – Guerilla Film Making, with Canon’s Hasan Asla 6pm – Anghami for Artists: The Science Behind the Platform, with Mark Abou Jaodeh On Cinema Noon – Call for Content: Shortlisted Films 3pm – Nightmare of Gaza exclusive preview, plus Q&A with filmmaker Farah Nabulsi 4pm – AFS Short Films, with Image Nation 5pm – DanTDM Presents The Contest screening, plus Q&A with producer Tom Greenwood-Mears 7pm – Emirati Cinema in Focus: Musk presented by Cinema Akil 9:30pm – Late Night Horror: Dachra (Gulf Premiere) presented by Cinema Akil Main Stage 3pm – The Knavie Show 4pm – Spinning Tunes in the City of Dunes, with DJ Trina 6pm Tarayah’s New Rising Talent: Ahmed El Ruby 8pm DJ Bliss 9pm Freek Live 10pm – Kano Live and in Concert The Circle Stage (Access with Industry Arena Pass) 11:30am – Gamification of Engagement, with Surkus’ Stephen George 12:30pm – YouTubers: Online to Onstage, with Cut and Mustard’s Tom Greenwood-Mears 1:30pm – In Conversation with Dyler. Moderator: Ahmed Al-Nasheet 2:30pm – Breaking Through the Stereotypes to Make it in Hollywood, with The Honor Code Studios’ Jumanah Shaheen 3:30pm – Is Content Still King? With CNN 's Caroline Faraj 4:30pm – From Finance to Filmmaking: A Journey from the Corporate World to Creating Art with Meaning, with filmmaker Farah Nabulsi 5:15pm – Spike Lee Discusses the Power of Media. Moderator: Dubai Film and TV Commission’s Omar Butti The Alfan Showcase Stage (Access with Industry Arena Pass) 11am – Call for Content: Film Pitch 1pm – How to Turn Your Acting Dreams Into Reality, with casting director Miranda Davidson 2pm – Virtual Reality of Filmmaking, with Giga Works’ Karim Saad 3pm – The Ascent: Music Marketing in the Middle East, with Freek, Gaya, Tobie Allan and Lucky 4pm – How to Identify Influencer Fraud, with Alfan Group’s Mohammad Fattal 5pm – When Music Becomes the Voice of Your Campaign, with Tayarah’s Ahmed El Ruby and Ramex Youssef The Sessions Stage (Access with Industry Arena Pass) Noon – It's Not As Easy As It Looks: How to Create Content that People Want to Watch, with influencers Alex Hirschi aka Supercar Blondie, Manal Mansoor aka Manal Muffin and Ibrahim Ramzat. Moderator: Lovin Dubai 's Casey Fitzgerald 1pm – Distribution Trends: Considering Digital and Theatrical Options, with Empire Entertainment’s Serge Zabbal, Dolby Laboratories’ Jayesh Veralkar and The Works Network’s Sanjay Das. Moderator: Presenter Emma Brain 2pm – The Rise of Alternative Music in the Middle East, with Wasla's Amr Ramadan, Street Life's Fabian Dagostin and Big Beards Entertainment's Elia Mssawir. Moderator: The National 's Saeed Saeed 3pm – Are Influencers the New Brands? with Diwan Media’s Michel Chahda, and influencers Noor Stars, Dyler and MJRM Games. Moderator: Influencer Ahmed Al-Nasheet 4pm – Game On: The Rise of Esports in the Middle East, with Power League Gaming’s John Lacey, Fifa Community Manager Saeed Binkhadeya and Webedia’s Edouard Griveaud. Moderator: Ahmad Abduljalil 5pm – Excite and Engage: Creating Unique Platforms that Lend a Global Voice to the Regional Music Industry, with Dubai Airport’s Matthew Horobin, Holla Sonia’s Oliver Wood and Angami’s Elie Abou Saleh Workshops 3pm – Combining the Power of Facebook and Instagram: Tips for Building a Holistic Content Strategy, with Instagram’s Samer Jonny Jamal and Facebook’s Moon Baz 5pm – How to Build a Business as a Content Creator Today, with Ayman Itani 6pm – Anghami for Artists: The Science Behind the Platform, with Mark Abou Jaodeh On Cinema Noon – Call for Content: Shortlisted Films 4:30pm – Contemporary Classic: West Beirut presented by Cinema Akil 7:00pm – An Audience with Spike Lee (Access with Industry Arena Pass) 8:00pm – The Pursuit of Greatness screening, plus Q&A with filmmaker Asri Bendacha For more information, visit www.ondxbfest.com

On.DXB: everything you need to know about Dubai's music, film, social and gaming fest

Here are all the top industry names that you can catch speaking at the upcoming creative event