In less than two years, Neom has become a major production destination and industry hub for film and TV — not just in the Middle East and North Africa region, but internationally.
It has hosted some 35 productions across two state-of-the-art production hubs: Media Village and Bajdah Desert Studios, a 45-minute drive apart. These two facilities are interim sites until the huge 50-stage media hub is completed in a few years as part of The Line, the linear smart city Neom is building to be completely sustainable.
“We are working across the breadth of the industry, whether it’s in documentaries, in TV, in film,” says Wayne Borg, managing director for media industries, entertainment and culture at Neom. “We had a large contingent of international executives here in March, and 100% of them walked away astounded at the progress we’ve been able to make in such a short period of time, not just building stuff and having it as a showroom but utilising it.”
Boosted by Saudi Arabia’s 40% cash rebate incentive, Neom has hosted productions including Rupert Wyatt’s $150m feature Desert Warrior, starring Anthony Mackie and Ben Kingsley; its first Bollywood production, Dunki, directed by Rajkumar Hirani and starring Shah Rukh Khan; local feature Within Sand, directed by Moe Alatawi, which won the jury prize at Red Sea International Film Festival in 2022; Rise Of The Witches, a 10-part fantasy series from Saudi’s MBC Studios that is the biggest TV series ever to be made in the region; Abu Bakr Shawky’s camel racing epic Hajjan, which premiered in Toronto and plays Red Sea; and reality survival series Million Dollar Island for MBC Group.
Neom is now hosting Exceptional, a 200-episode drama series for MBC, and Hobal, a Saudi feature directed by Abdulaziz Alshlahei. Two Telfaz features and a series are due to start production soon as part of a deal that aims to create up to nine TV and film productions over the next three years.
“We’ve got a substantive pipeline over the next 18 months,” confirms Borg. Next year will see Con Air director Simon West bring historical drama Antara to Neom’s desert and mountain landscapes and the Red Sea coastline. The project is co-produced by Irish writer and producer Alexander Amartei; Celtic Films Entertainment CEO Stuart Sutherland is also a co-producer through his Jeddah-based production company Celtic Arabia.
In early 2024, Irish filmmaker Terry George is aiming to shoot Riverman, the story of a Royal Marine recruited by a private arms dealer. Neom is providing soundstages, production support facilities, talent and crews. It is produced by the UK’s Future Artists Entertainment with Camilla Storey of TMS Productions and Mark Foligno of Limelight CTL.
Further expansion
Media Village houses two 2,500 square-metre soundstages, with back-of-house facilities comprising make-up rooms, green rooms, workshops and production offices. Two further stages are under construction and will be ready in early 2024, including a 1,200sqm virtual production stage coming in the second quarter of next year.
Bajdah Desert Studios has two 3,000sqm soundstages with a further four scheduled. It also has a substantial backlot with several standing sets to take Neom’s stage capacity to 10. “The Bajdah site brings together stages and accommodation for productions that want big, expansive locations,” Borg explains. “You’re on location but you’ve got all the facilities there. Cast and crews have loved it because they’re in this amazing landscape, shooting during the day. But, of an evening, it’s like they’re in a desert resort.”
Presently, Neom offers 350 accommodation units for cast and crew, spread across both sites, with 200 more due by mid-2024. Additionally, says Borg, there are “about a thousand hotel rooms within 45 minutes, ranging from five-star down to three”.
The next stage is to build Neom’s post-production and VFX offering. “Now the industry has seen the continuity of the pipeline, people are taking notice and starting to appreciate the level and scale of what’s happening here and the seriousness of our intent,” Borg says.
“Our goal is to evolve into a comprehensive, high-end post-production and visual-effects facility within the next two to three years,” he continues. “These interim facilities serve as a bridge towards our ultimate vision — an expansive media hub on The Line, covering more than 1 million square metres, featuring 50 stages in a single, fully integrated creative campus. Our aim is to pioneer a forward-looking offering for the future of the media and creative industries.”
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