ONE Championship (ONE), the world’s largest martial arts organization, today announced that Season 2 of “The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition,” the organization’s critically acclaimed reality series, is now available to stream in Qatar and across the Middle East and North Africa region on TOD, a beIN Media Group OTT platform.
Prior to the official MENA launch of ONE’s “The Apprentice” on TOD, the show was featured at the Ajyal Film Festival 2024, presented by Doha Film Institute.
The red-carpet premiere was attended by ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong, Task Captain Dom Lau, Media City Qatar CEO Jassim Mohamed Al Khori, and Doha Film Institute’s Head of Production Ricardo Ceballos, who all took part in a panel discussion hosted by popular Qatar personality Mr. Khalifa Al Haroon, also known as Mr. Q. Doha Film Institute CEO Fatma Hassan Alremaihi delivered opening remarks to kick off the festivities.
Chatri Sityodtong, Chairman and CEO of ONE Championship, stated: “‘The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition Season 2’ would not have been possible without a beautiful partnership with the Qataris. All different stakeholders, the Qatar Investment Authority, Media City Qatar, Qatar Hospitality, Qatar Airways, Ooredoo, and so many important business and government leaders who have been so supportive of this amazing partnership.
“What makes me so happy is that Qatar is now leading the way in the entire region, showing what’s possible by using magic, imagination, risk-taking, and passion that a media industry can be born from scratch and put on a world-class production distributed all over the world.
“What we really tried to express throughout the whole show are the foundational values of integrity, humility, honor, respect, courage, and compassion. This is something we believe, that our athletes live and breathe, and we wanted to showcase this because values are not something that you can just put on a wall and read. You have to live them every day.”
Be the first to know when ONE Championship returns to Qatar for another thrilling event! Sign up now to receive the latest updates and an exclusive ticket pre-sale code.
Jassim Mohamed Al Khori, CEO of Media City Qatar, stated: “Thanks to all the generations of people who contributed to the amazing media ecosystem we now have with Media City Qatar. I’m just a project engineer who led this organization, and I could have never done it without the support I’ve received from such an amazing panel of experts.
“We don’t want to be only importers. We also want to be exporters of culture, of heritage, and of hospitality. We have a lot of great stories that we can share for the world to experience. With shows like ‘The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition Season 2,’ we really look forward to fostering new talent and taking these ideas to the next level.”
Ricardo Ceballos, Head of Production of Doha Film Institute, stated: “The progress of production in Qatar has advanced rapidly. The opportunities for local and international companies to collaborate in Qatar are incredibly promising, and I am excited for the future, which is very bright. We have a lot of very talented filmmakers, and we are seeing Qatar become a significant filming destination.”
Dom Lau, Task Captain, stated: “Qatar’s old traditions mixed with these magnificent structures — it just paints a perfect canvas to shoot ‘The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition.’ It’s a Director of Photography’s dream backdrop to have this diversity. For us on set, it was just a joy to work here. We gave the candidates a big change — something they had never experienced before. They embraced it, and viewers will too.”
“The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition” brings together 10 candidates from around the world to take part in a series of high-stakes competitions involving both business and physical challenges, and compete for the grand prize of a one-year, US$250,000 job offer to work at ONE’s headquarters in Singapore under Sityodtong.
Season 2 was directed by Singapore’s Refinery Media and co-produced by Media City Qatar, with filming taking place across several iconic locations in Qatar, including Katara Hospitality’s Raffles Hotel in Doha, Souq Waqif, and Zekreet. A portion of the show was also filmed and produced in partnership with the Singapore Tourism Board and supported by Ooredoo, Qatar Airways, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, TUMI, and Katara Hospitality.
