As execs from the global film industry descended in Jeddah this week for the Red Sea International Film Festival, Film AlUla was one component that was drumming up interest in attracting local and international productions to come and shoot in the region.
The agency’s exec director Charlene Deleon-Jones came into Deadline’s Red Sea Studio to explain how the company is working to promote and assist filming in the untouched northwest region of Saudi Arabia, which is home to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Hegra,
“At a national level, the Saudi Film Commission has released a 40% rebate, which is really competitive but as we know rebates are as good as the environment they put them in,” said Deleon-Jones.
The exec said, at a local level, Film AlUla will “support any applications to the Saudi Film Commission” as they have a “really strong relationship with them” as well as assisting productions in managing their budget.
“It is useful for being here because quite often productions coming in are filming in Saudi for the first time,” she said.
Deleon also shed light on what the company is doing to develop local crew and skill up its below-the-line workforce. “If you are going to create a filming destination that works and that works in the long term, you have to have a crew who are readily available.”
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