Dune worm scene c Courtesy of Warner Bros Pictures

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros Pictures

The ‘Dune’ harvester scene

Arabic countries cannot rely on servicing international productions alone to develop below the line talent, but must also look to local content to tackle shortages of skilled crew across the region.

Speaking on a panel at the Red Sea Film Festival titled ’A Region Full of Opportunities’, Rula Nasser, founder and producer at Jordanian production company The Imaginarium Films, stressed the importance of local productions in training up talent in the region who can then work in senior roles on both homegrown projects and international features.

“We are the one who can give those opportunities for people to be head of departments. A Hollywood film will not be free to have a DoP [from the region] directing the photography of their film.”

Like many regions in the world, there is a lack of experienced talent to service high-end TV and film production in many Arabic countries, agreed executives taking part in the panel.

Countries such as Morocco, Jordan and Abu Dhabi have emerged as production hubs in recent years, offering incentives, facilities and access to talent. Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part II has been shooting in Jordan and Abu Dhabi in recent weeks. Saudi Arabia is also developing its offer for international productions too, with regions such as Neom and Al Ula attracting shoots.

Wayne Borg, managing director for media, entertainment, culture & fashion industries at Neom said that the MENA region is a 500 million person market place that is “arguably underperforming…because of a fragmentation of infrastructure and decentralisation of talent.” He said that Neom is trying to address this by developing infrastructure (including a predicted 45-50 sound stages), talent, incentives and practical support.

George David, a Jordan-based production and talent development consultant, said that governments need to “promote the craft and skill of filmmaking” and to make people in the region aware that it offers a viable career path, like law or medicine.

“The awareness that this is a viable breadwinning job is very important. In many ways, that’s the responsibility of the government entities in the cultural field,” said David.

Nasser stressed it will take time to tackle the skills gap in the Middle East region. “You can’t build crew in no time, it is an accumulation of experience,” she noted.

Many international films that benefit from incentive programmes offered in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Jordan are required to take on interns. “Every time we accept at least 20 entrants, and we take them from A to Z in different departments,” said Nasser. ”But it does not mean in a year that an intern, who is trained on two or three productions, will be a head of department.”

David said that training programmes and schools are important, but noted that attracting international production is a good way to develop the workforce. “It gives entry level crew the chance to work with top directors and top heads of department, not only from Hollywood, but from many other producing countries. One surfaces the other.”