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Saudi Film Fund Geared toward Advancing Investment in Film Content

Saudi Film Fund Geared toward Advancing Investment in Film Content
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Saudi Film Fund Geared toward Advancing Investment in Film Content

Saudi Film Fund Geared toward Advancing Investment in Film Content

MEFIC Capital launched on Monday the Saudi Film Fund with a total capital of SAR375 million, including a 40% investment from the Cultural Development Fund, underscoring the attractive investment landscape in the Kingdom's film and media sector.

The fund aims to spur investment in this industry and provide financing for innovative content production and distribution projects infrastructure.

The strategic Saudi Film Fund is bound to promote high-quality local production; it marks the first investment by the Cultural Development Fund, in collaboration with MEFIC Capital, who will manage the fund.

Roaa Media Ventures will serve as the technical partner that seeks to facilitate collaboration with leading international studios and create content that highlights Saudi culture and values.

The Saudi Film Fund complements the agreement reached by Cultural Development Fund, MEFIC Capital, and Roaa Media Ventures during the Cannes International Film Festival last year. It is a major investment in the industry, and part of the film sector financing program initiated by the Cultural Development Fund in 2023 under the Digital Content Program (IGNITE) that aims to increase digital content in the Kingdom.

The Saudi film production market has experienced significant growth, with an annual growth rate exceeding 25%. It is the largest consumer market for creative and cinematic content in the Arab world, driven by initiatives from the Ministry of Culture and the Quality of Life Program, part of the goals of Vision 2030.

This growth is proof of the rising demand for local culture and language in cinematic works, influenced by the increasing role of digital broadcast networks as competitors to traditional cinema halls, which boosts the consumption of visual content.

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UK Blues Legend John Mayall Dead at 90 

English blues singer John Mayall performs with his band The Bluesbreakers, on the stage of the Miles Davis hall during the 42nd Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland, late Monday, July 7, 2008. (AP)
English blues singer John Mayall performs with his band The Bluesbreakers, on the stage of the Miles Davis hall during the 42nd Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland, late Monday, July 7, 2008. (AP)
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UK Blues Legend John Mayall Dead at 90 

English blues singer John Mayall performs with his band The Bluesbreakers, on the stage of the Miles Davis hall during the 42nd Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland, late Monday, July 7, 2008. (AP)
English blues singer John Mayall performs with his band The Bluesbreakers, on the stage of the Miles Davis hall during the 42nd Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland, late Monday, July 7, 2008. (AP)

John Mayall, the British blues pioneer whose 1960s music collective the Bluesbreakers helped usher in a fertile period of rock and brought guitarists like Eric Clapton to prominence, has died at 90, his family said Tuesday.

Mayall, a singer and multi-instrumentalist who was dubbed "the godfather of British blues," and whose open-door arrangement saw some of the greats in the genre hone their craft with him and his band, "passed away peacefully in his California home" on Monday, according to a statement posted on his Facebook page.

It did not state a cause of death.

"Health issues that forced John to end his epic touring career have finally led to peace for one of this world's greatest road warriors," it said. "John Mayall gave us 90 years of tireless efforts to educate, inspire and entertain."

Mayall's influence on 1960s rock and beyond is enormous. Members of the Bluesbreakers eventually went on to join or form groups including Cream, Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones and many more.

At age 30, Mayall moved to London from northern England in 1963. Sensing revolution in the air, he gave up his profession as a graphic designer to embrace a career in blues, the musical style born in Black America.

He teamed up with a series of young guitarists including Clapton, Peter Green, later of Fleetwood Mac, and Mick Taylor who helped form the Rolling Stones.

In the Bluesbreakers' debut album in 1966, "Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton," John Mayall enthralled music aficionados with a melding of soulful rock and gutsy, guitar-driven American blues featuring covers of tunes by Robert Johnson, Otis Rush and Ray Charles.

The blues music he was playing in British venues was "a novelty for white England," he told AFP in 1997.

That album was a hit, catapulting Clapton to stardom and bringing a wave of popularity to a more raw and personal blues music.

Mayall moved to California in 1968 and toured America extensively in 1972.

He recorded a number of landmark albums in the 1960s including "Crusade," "A Hard Road," and "Blues From Laurel Canyon." Dozens more followed in the 1970s and up to his latest, "The Sun Is Shining Down," in 2022.

Mayall was awarded an OBE, an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, in 2005.