The Saudi Cultural Fund is preparing to launch a new program to finance the film industry, worth $ 233 million, during the first quarter of 2023, according to the “Syria” website.Deadline“.
The website, which specializes in film industry news, stated that the new program will be available to local and international entities.
The new film sector financing program aims to stimulate the growth of the sustainable film industry and encourage private entities to participate in this sector, as the funds will be disbursed through different financial packages targeting different parts of the production, distribution and exhibition chain.
Saudi Arabia launched the Cultural Fund in December 2021 as one of 16 development funds to support various sectors of the economy, all of which are linked to the Kingdom’s National Development Fund.
The fund was among a number of Saudi organizations that attended this week’s Red Sea International Film Festival in the coastal city of Jeddah from December 1-10.
The new fund joins a group of initiatives introduced by the Saudi government to support building the cinema and television sector following the lifting of the ban on cinema in the country at the end of 2017.
The move was part of a broader strategy to open up the country and move its economy away from dependence on oil.
Other major subsidies include a 40 percent discount for film productions shot in Saudi Arabia, among other conditions.
“As a cultural development fund, we are a financial enabler of the national cultural strategy,” said Naglaa Al-Numeir, Head of Strategy Sector at the Cultural Fund.
She added, “We look at the national cultural strategy and we look at the goals to be achieved. We also think about where financial intervention can have the greatest impact or accelerate the achievement of those goals.”
She said that the ultimate goal of the Cultural Development Fund is to create a film and television industry system that does not depend entirely on government funding.