Saudi Arabia is launching soft money projects worth a total of $234 million that will be made accessible to both domestic and international businesses over the course of the next three years as part of its continuous effort to establish a local film and TV industry nearly entirely from scratch.
During the Ignite the Scene event, which was held in Riyadh last week and was devoted to the film industry, the Saudi Cultural Development Fund formally launched its so-called Film Sector Funding Program.
The chief strategy and business development officer of the cultural development fund, Najla AlNomair, stated that the Saudi soft money pot is divided into two portions: one portion is set aside for loans, totaling $154 million, and the other portion is set aside for investments, totaling $80 million.
Two financial partners, Saudi banks Lendo and Sukuk Capital, are handling the loans portion of the new Saudi incentives that were revealed in Riyadh.
Loans from the Saudi fund are available to both Saudi and foreign businesses that are either incorporated in Saudi Arabia or have a Saudi partner. The loans cover every stage of making feature films, documentaries, and TV shows, from development to post-production and everything in between.
The majority of the budget must be spent in Saudi Arabia, although eligible productions do not have to be wholly shot there. Instead, they must adhere to regional cultural standards. Also, there must be 25% Saudi nationals on the crew.
According to AlNomair, the loans “may be for a production project, but also for a firm that provides services to the production [such companies that produce film props], as well as for marketing and distribution services, as well as for infrastructure]. She made it clear that she intended “infrastructure” to refer to movie theatres. This soft money is not intended to help Saudi Arabia’s thriving exhibition industry.
AlNomair stated that information regarding the $80 million investment component of the Saudi fund will be made public later this year at an international film festival, most likely Venice or Cannes, where Saudi Arabia is anticipated to have a sizable presence.