VENICE — The Film Commission has participated in a discussion panel on the future of the film industry in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its regional and international influence, as part of the official program organized by the Venice production bridge at the Venice International Film Festival in Italy.

Director General of the Sector Development and Attracting Investments at the Commission Abduljalil Al-Nasser participated in the panel along with Film AlUla Executive Director Charlene Deleon-Jones, Managing Director at Red Sea International Film Festival Shivani Pandya and Managing Director of Media, Entertainment, Culture and Fashion Industries at NEOM Wayne Borg.

The panel went over the incentives program that the commission has launched to support films with up to 40% of financial recovery, which aims at attracting international production and stimulating the local production in Saudi Arabia.

The program is part of a series of enablers that Saudi Arabia enjoys in the film industry, such as filming places, logistical support and technical personnel, which make Saudi Arabia among the most attractive countries for cinematic production.

Al-Nasser said that there is a high level of coordination between public and private sector institutions in Saudi Arabia to build all part of the value chain related to the film industry, which is a result of the commission's awareness of the importance of the creative cycle of the film industry to build a comprehensive sector that serves filmmakers.

He noted that all participants in the panel praised the rich reserve of filming locations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which forms a fertile land to host several stories from across the world in high-quality production projects. — SPA