Film Sector Development Strategy

The Film Sector Development Strategy is a plan that includes a set of initiatives and programs to develop the film sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It was launched by the Film Commission, affiliated with the Saudi Ministry of Culture, on November 28, 2021. It aims to consolidate the Kingdom's global standing in the field of filmmaking, execute projects and initiatives that benefit the sector and its partners, and foster growth in the Saudi film production industry, ultimately positioning it as a productive and competitive industry.

The Film Commission formulated its strategy after a benchmarking comparison between twenty leading countries in the cinema industry. This led to providing a definition of the film sector, determining the role and competencies of the commission, and establishing projects, initiatives, and programs aimed at developing the sector.

The Film Commission aims, through its strategy, to achieve the national goals set by the Ministry of Culture by 2030. This includes a focus on increasing the percentage of job opportunities in the film industry, directly contributing to the growth of the total gross domestic product, and fostering the trend toward producing feature films. The commission works toward achieving its strategy by managing and regulating the film sector, fostering production development, and supporting filmmakers and companies in creating and marketing their work both locally and globally.

The Saudi film sector development strategy is based on six pillars: supporting local film production, enhancing domestic and international demand for Saudi films, attracting global production to Saudi films, creating a regulated environment to help the sector develop, ensuring access to talent, and providing the necessary facilities and services for the film sector at a competitive cost.

The Film Commission aims, through its strategy, to cultivate an artistic movement within the Saudi film industry. This involves introducing nineteen initiatives, followed by forty-six projects, implemented over specific time periods. These initiatives are designed to attract talent and enhance the capabilities of those engaged in cinematic activity. The focus is on preparing production infrastructure, establishing training and education programs and workshops, facilitating services through an electronic platform, adhering to international film sector guidelines, regulating licensing procedures, establishing a network of regional production studios and a program of incentives for local films, encouraging co-productions, creating a national production archive, organizing film exhibitions and events, supporting production and screening systems, and fostering partnerships and memberships.

The Film Commission has established seven criteria to measure the level of achievement and performance. These include: revenues generated from screenings of Saudi series and films, both domestically and internationally, across electronic and traditional screening platforms; the number of films produced within the Kingdom; the count of cinema screens; the index of the number of students enrolled in film specialization programs at Saudi universities; studio spaces within local production studios; and the satisfaction rate regarding business facilitation within the sector.