A passionate film industry pioneer, Faisal Baltyuor is one of the people leading Saudi Arabia’s movie business into a new era. Committed to developing and supporting local talent, the head of Muvi Studios says that a golden age is arriving for Saudi cinema.
At a time when cinemas were still banned in the country, a high school senior falls in love with movies and decides to make his own film. The premise of last year’s hit Saudi comedy Shams Alma’arif (“The Book of Sun”) mirrors the early life of producer and studio head Faisal Baltyuor, who distributed the film across the country.
“Films have always meant magic for me,” Faisal says. “I was lucky to discover my passion for cinema very early—I started my first production house and began hiring and training people when I was still at school. Today, I have a burning desire to tell untold stories about my country and all our hidden cultures and treasures.”
“We want to take inspiring Saudi films to international audiences. A good story doesn’t have boundaries.”
Faisal Baltyuor, CEO, Muvi Studios
After learning his craft in Egypt and Australia, Faisal returned to his homeland in 2014 to share his passion for cinema and breathe new life into the Saudi film industry. First as head of the Ithra Cinema and Film Initiatives and then as CEO of the Saudi Film Council, Faisal nurtured the talents of a young generation of directors, writers, and actors and helped turn Saudi Arabia’s big-screen aspirations into one of the world’s fastest-growing film industries.
Since the Kingdom’s ban on cinemas was lifted in 2018, growth has outstripped all expectations and there are now more than 500 screens across the country. Over 200 of these screens belong to Muvi Cinemas, which has a 43% share of all admissions.
In May, the company launched its own production house, Muvi Studios, with Faisal as its first chief executive. Aiming to produce around 20 feature films next year, the studio encourages local filmmakers to tell new stories and aims to discover and develop talent across all areas of the Saudi film business.
With two annual film festivals, a government subsidy of up to 40% available for Saudi productions, and ambitious production houses like Muvi Studios active across the country, Faisal says that the future of filmmaking in Saudi Arabia is bright.
“At Muvi Studios our focus is on building capacity in our industry. We want to be part of developing a film industry that is more sustainable, more profitable, and more creative than ever before.”
How have Saudi audiences responded to the arrival of cinemas?
The culture of going to the cinema is spreading and is now part of the Saudi lifestyle. Cinema lovers do not have to fly to Dubai or Bahrain anymore. Shams Alma’arif was the first Saudi film to have more than 114,000 admissions. Many people went to see it two or three times. They fell in love with the film. People went more than once because they were having fun and felt that the film represented them. This shows the importance of having good, locally produced content. At Muvi Studios, we think it is important to have more commercial Saudi films in the cinemas, alongside content from Hollywood and Egypt. It will attract more people to the movie theaters.
What kinds of films will you produce at Muvi Studios?
Our initial goal is to fully produce or coproduce Saudi and Egyptian films for the big screen, especially comedies and action and horror movies. We want to serve the untapped market for commercial films from Saudi Arabia. This will increase the demand for filmmakers, encourage more people to get into the business, and help grow the Saudi film industry. We want to tell interesting stories about Saudis at home or abroad. Saudi Arabia is full of different cultures and diverse ways of living. Our films will promote Saudi culture and help people discover our country.
What are you doing to discover and support local talent?
Producing both short films and features is very important. As a producer and distributor, I sometimes focus on short films, where we can discover talent and bring more directors, writers, actors, and actresses into the field of filmmaking. The number of female talents in the Saudi Arabian film industry is increasing all the time.
We need passionate technicians who know about film. There are a lot of educational initiatives in this area. It will take time to develop the skill sets, and there are still gaps in our capacity, but this is just the beginning. The industry is moving fast and will achieve its targets sooner than we think.
How strong is the international appetite for Saudi films?
I have exhibited Saudi films in Hollywood, London, France, Italy, Sweden and elsewhere. The international audience is hungry to discover different content and explore new cultures.
Saudi Arabia is an inspiring and creative place. We are ready to tell stories that will make a strong impression overseas
As published in Fortune magazine
