As part of its ongoing endeavor to develop a local film and television industry almost totally from scratch, Saudi Arabia is launching soft money projects worth a total of $234 million that will be made available to domestic and foreign enterprises over the course of the next three years. The Saudi Cultural Development Fund formally inaugurated its so-called Film Sector Financing Program.
The Saudi soft money pot is divided into two portions: first half is put aside for loans, totaling $154 million, and the other portion is set aside for investments, totaling $80 million, according to Najla AlNomair, chief strategy and business development officer of the cultural development fund.
The loans component of the new Saudi incentives, which were unveiled in Riyadh, are being handled by two financial partners, Saudi banks Lendo, and Sukuk Capital.
Both Saudi and foreign companies that are either established in Saudi Arabia or have a Saudi partner may apply for loans from the Saudi fund. The loans cover all phases of producing feature films, documentaries, and TV series, including development, pre-production, production, and post-production.
Although qualified projects need not be entirely filmed in Saudi Arabia, the majority of the expenditure must be spent there. Instead, they must follow local cultural norms. Moreover, 25 percent of the crew must be Saudi nationals.
According to reports, the loans may be for a production project, but also for a company that supplies services to the production such enterprises that build film props, as well as for distribution and promotional services, as well as for infrastructure. She made it clear that she wished to refer to movie theatres as “infrastructure”. This cheap money is not intended for Saudi Arabia’s expanding exhibition industry.
According to AlNomair, details of the $80 million in investments made possible by the Saudi fund will be revealed later this year at a major international film festival, most likely Venice or Cannes, where Saudi Arabia is expected to have a significant presence.
