Saudi Arabia Officially Launches $233M Film Sector Financing Program Aimed At Local & Int’l Companies
Saudi Cultural Development Fund has officially launched its Film Sector Financing Program, offering financial support to local and international film companies that want to get involved in the country’s burgeoning cinema industry.
The initiative, with a portfolio of $233 million (879M Saudi Riyal), was first unveiled in early 2022 as part of the country’s $1.1 billion IGNITE Digital Content Program, then teased again during the Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah in December.
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The program officially launched against the backdrop of the film-focused the Ignite the Scene event in Riyadh last week, organized by the Saudi Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.
The CDF said in a release that the initiative is open to local and international companies and that its aim is to support the growth of a sustainable local film industry by empowering the private sector with financing packages that support local content and promote filmmaking.
The program joins a raft of Saudi Arabia state-backed initiatives aimed at kickstarting the building of a film and TV sector in the wake of the lifting of the country’s 35-cinema ban at the end of 2017, as part of a strategy to move the economy away from a reliance on oil.
The CDF added that the financial packages offered under the program are geared toward small and medium enterprises in response to interest in that segment of the emerging film and TV sectors from local and international investors and film enthusiasts.
“We are excited to announce that we have partnered with strategic financial institutions across the country to provide companies working in the film sector with the financial solutions to shore up the film sector, establish financial sustainability for film projects, and enable healthy market dynamics,” said CDF CEO Mohammed Bindayel.
“We invite all financial and investment institutions to join this mission to build and empower this emerging sector.”
The program is split between two key funding streams: a lending stream, under which companies can take out loans and keep ownership of their projects, and an investment stream, aimed at production and infrastructure projects.
During the Riyadh event, the CDF launched the lending stream by signing two agreements with local financial partners, fintech company Lendo and investment company Sukuk Capital, under which they will provide financing packages to companies working in the Saudi film sector.
The investment stream will be launched later this year.
Local and international companies working in the film sector and interested in taking out a loan under the Film Sector Financing Program can apply via the CDF website.
The CDF was launched in January 2021 as one of many development funds supporting different sectors of the economy, all of which are linked to Saudi Arabia’s National Development Fund.
It is complementary to the roles of other government entities in the film sector, with its main role being a financial enabler.
The fund’s services are not targeted at government bodies, but rather at private entities and NGOs that want to work within the country’s growing film and TV ecosystem.
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