Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Lodge Announces Saudi, Arab, and African Film Projects Selected For Development Funding – Global Bulletin

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Top Middle East broadcaster MBC Group has forged a partnership with U.S. anime and manga distributor Tokyopop under which they are forming a hub dedicated to the licensing, promotion, and production of anime content in the region. The joint venture, called MBC Anime, is led by Stu Levy, the American anime and manga expert who is founder and CEO of Tokyopop, a prominent international distributor, licensor, and publisher of anime and manga. Through the new initiative, MBC Anime “will commission, produce, and invest in a series of world-class quality anime titles,” according to an MBC statement.

EXCLUSIVE: Film Independent announced today the six Fellows and their projects selected for its Amplifier Fellowship. The 2023 Film Independent Amplifier Fellowship is supported by Founding Sponsor Netflix’s Fund for Creative Equity, a dedicated effort to help build new opportunities for underrepresented communities within entertainment.

Producer Of Disney+’s ‘A Thousand Blows’ Staffs Up

Carole Horst The new head of the AFCI has big goals for the organization, and looks to promote stability within the leadership, which has seen a few presidents come and go in the past handful of years. “I really want to reassure people that I’m in this for the long haul and I feel like I have the right skill set to take the organization through and develop a really good strategy for it for the next 10 years,” says Jaclyn Philpott, the recently installed AFCI exec director. “I’ll be ready and willing to answer any questions that they may have. You know, I’ve had a very good look under the hood at the organization, from the financials through the previous strategies to what’s happening in the market right now, and I feel like I have a good idea of what they want based on what they’ve told me and in my own research.”

CRAVITY have announced the dates for the North American leg of their upcoming ‘Masterpiece’ world tour.The Starship Entertainment group will start the North American leg of their world tour at Webster Hall in New York on June 16, before heading to Chicago’s Copernicus Center on June 18. CRAVITY will also play a show in the US territory of Puerto Rico on May 20, before heading back stateside with concerts in Atlanta and Dallas, before wrapping things up in Los Angeles.Aside from the US leg, CRAVITY’s ‘Masterpiece’ world tour will also see the boyband perform two shows each in the Japanese cities of Osaka and Yokohama.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Saudi Arabia is launching soft money schemes worth a total $234 million available to both local and international companies over the next three years in its ongoing effort to launch a local film and TV industry almost from scratch. The Saudi Cultural Development Fund officially unveiled its so-called Film Sector Financing Program during the Ignite the Scene event dedicated to the film industry held in Riyadh last week. In an interview on Monday with Variety Najla AlNomair, who is the cultural development fund’s chief strategy and business development officer, said that the Saudi soft money pot is split into two parts: one allocated for loans that amounts to $154 million, and the other for investments, amounting to $80 million.

Saudi Cultural Development Fund (CDF) has officially launched its Film Sector Financing Program (FSFP) offering financial support to local and international film companies that want to get involved in the country’s burgeoning cinema industry.

Will Smith chats with Lewis Hamilton for a quick minute ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia held at Jeddah Corniche Circuit on Sunday (March 19) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Emmerdale star Roxy Shahidi has revealed she previously refused to film scenes in her underwear for the ITV soap. The actress, 40, who portrays Leyla Cavanagh in Emmerdale, recalled the moment on Steph's Packed Lunch on Thursday, sharing how she was reluctant to take part in the scene, where she was due to be wearing just her bra and pants.

NMIXX have announced their upcoming ‘Nice to MIXX You’ showcase tour that will take the group to cities in North America and Asia.The ‘Nice to MIXX You’ tour is set to kick off on May 2 on the West Coast of the US in Washington, followed by two shows in California. The girl group will the head south, with performance in Texas and Georgia, before moving up the East Coast with concerts in DC and New York.The following month, NMIXX will make their way to Asia, starting with a show in Thailand on June 4.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Hams Fekri, a 29-year-old Saudi wedding singer from Jeddah, has been crowned the winner of the first season of “Saudi Idol” during a moving live finale from The Boulevard Riyadh City recreational complex. The golden-throated Fekri was exultant after battling it out in front of a live studio audience and panel of judges for 13 weeks. She emerged victorious out of three finalists to win most audience votes for the night. Fekri’s mother — who achieved success as a pop singer during the 1980s, but subsequently faded into obscurity — hugged her daughter on stage.  In addition to being named the very first “Saudi Idol,” Fekri also won a recording contract with MBC Group’s Platinum Records label which involves the release of a full studio album in the coming months.

Queen Nzinga” executive producer said the effort would be made through their respective production companies, Green Door Pictures and EbonyLife Media to build capacity and foster authentic representation in global film and TV projects set for production.The two described a two-fold approached that would bring education and mentoring initiatives to help both young people and older creative professionals the opportunity to showcase their skills and tell their stories, and assist in large-scale productions.Abudu, who has Nigerian roots, has deep ties to “Nollywood,” as the Nigerian film industry is known, producing multiple films in that space, including 2016’s “The Wedding Party,” which stood at the time as the nation’s highest grossing film. She’s also involved with Nigerian television, including “Desperate Housewives Africa” in partnership with Disney.“We believe that Africa has the talent and the stories to captivate the world.

Helen Mirren turned her latest premiere into a family affair. At Tuesday night's premiere of her upcoming film, "Shazam! Fury of the Gods," Mirren walked the red carpet alongside her young grandson Basil.The two made their way down the red carpet hand in hand and posed for pictures.  Mirren wore a floor length black gown with lace over the front and on the arms, and Basil wore a blue button down shirt with black jeans.  While the "1923" star doesn't have any children of her own, she is very close with her husband Taylor Hackford's two children, her stepsons Rio and Alexander Hackford.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Chilean filmmaker Maite Alberdi’s documentary about love, memory and Alzheimer’s disease “The Eternal Memory” has scored a slew of international sales after making a splash at Sundance and Berlin. Dogwoof, the British sales company specialized in high-profile docs, has announced multiple deals on “Eternal Memory,” which won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize for World Documentary in January and was a recent standout at the Berlinale where it had its European bow. The hot doc is screening later this week at the CPH:DOX documentary film festival in Copenhagen. Dogwoof partnered with MTV Documentary Films to represent “The Eternal Memory” for international sales soon after its Sundance premiere. They have now scored sales on the doc to: Edge Entertainment (Nordics); Madman (Australia and New Zealand); Sherry Media (Canada); I Wonder Pictures (Italy); BTeam Pictures (Spain); Periscoop (Benelux); Atnine Film (South Korea); Synca (Japan); LEV (Israel), and Restart (Former Yugoslavia).

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Dubai-based CEO Sam Barnett leads the Middle East’s largest broadcaster MBC as it turbocharges its Shahid streaming service through a scripted content drive, and gives Netflix a run for its money. Shortly before the holy month of Ramadan, which is marathon TV time in the Arab world, Barnett spoke to Variety about the still crucial relevance of Ramadan season in luring eyeballs, MBC’s need to offer “interesting new types of content” outside of the holy period, and why the company remains resolutely pan-Arab while riding the wave of Saudi’s production boom. There is a perception that MBC is becoming more “Saudi-centric” since it now plays an important role in Saudi’s drive to become a major content producer. Can you talk to me about how this shift is playing out in your overall production strategy?

tonight, Sunday, March 12, but after playing the , is some Hollywood theater even a challenge? We all joked that it was a Rihanna concert that happened to be at a football game…now, a Rihanna concert that happens to be at an awards show. After all, the Oscars are typically boring AF, and Rihanna is the best thing to happen to the ceremony since….The singer and beauty mogul arrived at the Academy Awards looking completely unbothered in a black sheer and leather dress that felt very reminiscent of her “S&M” days thanks to its bondage-inspired design and cutout sides. She complemented the look with a vampy red lip and nails alongside a playful topknot.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor As a global audience starts to tune in for the 95th Academy Awards, one thing that is guaranteed to surprise viewers is the creative decision not to have a red carpet, but a champagne-colored runner instead. “I think the decision to go with a champagne carpet rather than a red carpet shows how confident we are that no blood will be shed,” joked Oscar host Jimmy Kimmel at the unrolling ceremony. This is the first time since 1961 that the famous Oscars red carpet has not been red, one of the many big changes made for this year’s ceremony including a new dress code and the addition of an Academy Award “crisis team.”

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Kuwaiti-born writer-director Zeyad (also known as “Z”) Alhusaini, whose action movie with comedic undertones “How I Got There” recently won the audience award at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival, has joined United Talent Agency for representation in all areas. The groundbreaking film about two best buddies from childhood, named Salem and Asad, who stumble upon a gun shipment and try to seize this opportunity to get rich quick is set entirely in the Persian Gulf. “How I Got There” provides a relatively realistic glimpse of Kuwait’s present-day melting-pot of cultures, and its underworld of gun-running mercenaries, gangs, and terrorists, plus the local rap scene.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Saudi Arabia’s Film AlUla, the entity looking to attract international productions to a sprawling area of desert and giant boulders that boasts an ancient city, is forging fashion world ties. The film commission for the swathe of northwest Saudi Arabia roughly the size of Belgium that also comprises a lush oasis and vast sandstone canyons, is launching an initiative called AlUla Creates involving use of an eco-friendly studio and the possibility of tapping into development funds for projects by female directors at the intersection of film and fashion. AlUla Creates has partnered with the British Fashion Council and with Saudi actress Mia Al Zahrani (“The Perfect Candidate”); British filmmaker and creative director Alec Maxwell – founder of digital platform Kloss Films whose clients include Bulgari, Stella McCartney, and Carolina Herrera –; and fashion models Helena Christensen and Eva Herzigova as “ambassadors” to promote the platform, according to a statement.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The Locarno Film Festival is launching a first-of-its-kind contest, offering a free complete restoration service to a selected vintage cinema classic. The contest is part of The Swiss fest’s Heritage Online program that was launched in 2021 when its Locarno Pro industry side branched out into vintage cinema creating a platform that serves as a database of film titles that premiered prior to 2005. The goal of the fest dedicated to indie cinema is to play an active role in restoring older films to their former glory and also to become a business facilitator between rights holders and classic film distributors, streaming platforms and other outlets.