DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s $500 billion signature giga-project NEOM has launched a new sound stage and hosted a gathering of 140 leaders from the international TV and film industry at a two-day showcase event.
The event showcased NEOM’s stages, production support facilities, talent and crews and also highlighted Saudi Arabia’s production incentives, specifically its incentive program offering financial refunds of up to 40 percent for local and international producers shooting in the Kingdom.
According to NEOM, guests travelled from Saudi Arabia itself, North America, the UK, France, Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands, Portugal, the UAE, Turkey, India and Morocco.
The showcase also celebrated the opening of NEOM’s second purpose built, industry standard, 2,400m? sound stage at its Media Village. (Supplied)
Industry insiders were treated to a tour of NEOM’s production facilities before they embarked on an excursion through the area’s array of impressive locations and varied landscapes — NEOM is located in northwestern Saudi Arabia on the Red Sea in an area famous for its natural terrain.
The second day of the event focused on the future of the film industry with a conference based on the theme “The Future of Storytelling and Production.”
Wayne Borg, Managing Director of Media Industries, Entertainment, and Culture at NEOM, said: “This event was a huge success. The response from industry attending was overwhelming. Our ability to attract the numbers and caliber of industry leaders we had at NEOM for our event demonstrates our offering is resonating and is competitive on the world stage. Whether it’s our world class facilities, our amazing crews, or our globally competitive 40%++ production cash rebate incentive, the package is in place and working. Everyone experienced first-hand our rapid and dramatic build up in capacity and capability reflecting the seriousness of our intent and ability to compete across the value chain internationally.”
The showcase also celebrated the opening of NEOM’s second purpose built, industry standard, 2,400m? sound stage at its Media Village, bringing the total of operational stages to four, offering a total of 12,000 sqm of production space in addition to support and backlot facilities. A further six stages offering 10,000 sqm of production capability, including a volumetric stage, are under development and set to open by the end of 2023.
NEOM’s facilities include resort-style accommodation for 350 cast and crew rising to 500 by the end of 2023.