Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — Launching its second edition here over the weekend, Saudi Comic Con (SCC) amazed the Saudi audience by a variety of international entertainment events.

Comic Con is an international event held annually in major cities around the globe. A remarkable multifaceted show of entertainment, it showcases famous icons from films, television, video games, science fiction, comics, and other popular arts, alongside a cosplay competition.

In this version of SCC, which took place on March 22-24, the Saudi audience had the opportunity to meet three famous world celebrities: Ian Somerhalder who is known for his role in The Vampire Diaries; Wagner Moura from Narcos; and Gustaf Skarsgard from the Vikings TV series.

On the first day American actor, model and director Ian Somerhalder took the Saudi stage for the first time. He told Saudi Gazette in an exclusive interview: “To be here is amazing, just incredible, the people, the community, the history. I feel so welcomed and so at home and so at peace. It's really special and it was so much fun. I feel the energy and it's beautiful. I hope to become a more stable part of the film and television industry happening here.”

As a message to the Saudi audience, Somerhalder said: "I’m grateful not only to be here but also to experience this with the Saudi audience. I know movie theaters are about to launch in Saudi Arabia again; just enjoy the film experience and be respectful.”

The General Entertainment Authority sponsored the SCC event in line with Saudi Vision 2030, which aims to diversify the Saudi economy through building an entertainment industry in the country.

The event was conducted by Time Entertainment Company, a pioneer in the Saudi entertainment industry. The CEO of Time Entertainment Obada Awad said, “Our goal is to close the gap between the global entertainment industry and the expectations of the Saudi audience. From 2012 we were working to bring here the biggest international events that the Saudi audience look forward to.”

The Saudi YouTuber known as @MaherMosly was the presenter who managed the discussion with the celebrities.

About the goals from this celebrity talks, Maher said: "We wanted to achieve two things to have the opportunity to talk face to face with one of those celebrities to understand more about their lives, their upcoming projects, their current projects as well as to show them that they have a real fan base here in Saudi and how much people love them. Ian Somerhalder was amazed by the level of love the fans showed him.”

For the first time in Saudi Arabia, Netflix participated with a public activity showcasing their finest works to a Saudi audience.

Many DC universe characters were present at the event, where the audience had the chance to take commemorative photos with them.

Local artists and designers had the opportunity to showcase their products and works. One of them was

Dr. Hashem Al-Zain, who displayed his innovative products while wearing the outfit of his favorite comic character Daredevil.

Al-Zain said: “We are an engineering company; we do 3D modeling and our name is 3D Snap. We take 2D pictures and convert them into 3D models and print them. We try to help people hold memories into their hands."

Al-Zain said this was the second time they were participating in the Saudi Comic Con. "We loved it the first time and we loved it even better this time,” he added.