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Film AlUla and Hollywood production company Stampede Ventures have signed a $350 million three-year deal to bring 10 projects to Saudi Arabia's historic locations.
The partnership, announced at the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh, is a part of the Royal Commission for AlUla’s drive to establish the city as a creative hub, with the film agency also offering additional rebates and incentives to lure big-ticket productions.
Greg Silverman, the CEO of Stampede Ventures, is an entertainment industry veteran known for his track record at Warner Brothers, where he worked on more than 125 films to generate more than $38 billion at the worldwide box office, most notably, the Harry Potter series and Christopher Nolan’s Batman series.
“Over the past three years, Film AlUla has steadily and sustainably built a film economy that is capable of hosting productions from around the world. We are nearing completion of a 30,000 square metres studio complex and are upskilling Saudis to assume leading roles in front of and behind the camera. A partnership of this scale will accelerate our growth and increase our global visibility,” Amr AlMadani, CEO, Royal Commission for AlUla, said in a statement.
Since 2020, the AlUla agency has hosted over 700 days of filming including the action movie Kandahar starring Gerard Butler, the Russo brothers’ drama Cherry starring Tom Holland, and Saudi filmmaker Tawfik Alzaidi’s debut feature Norah, the first Saudi feature film to be shot at AlUla and featuring an all-Saudi cast and over 40% Saudi crew.
Film AlUla is also focusing on accelerating industry growth through its film funds for Saudi and regional filmmakers.
(Writing by Bindu Rai, editing by Seban Scaria)
