JEDDAH: Experts from the United States, Britain, France, Poland, Gulf and Arab countries recently took part in Saudi Creative Week held under the Saudi National Creative Initiative (SNCI).
The experts provided lectures, meetings and workshops with the participation of 86 young men and women.
During the lectures, experts talked about ways to turn media and advertising into creative industries in the Kingdom. One of the featured workshops was designed to give participants an overview of ways to develop projects for television by choosing the right people for the project, improving the creative idea and selling it to broadcasters or investors, as well as giving participants a general overview on how to produce their ideas and present it for TV.
Sofana Dahlan, head of the SNCI, said that media and advertising was chosen as one of the subjects during the creative week due to the traditional and stereotypical view of local TV, where “some local TV channels are importing foreign TV programs and Arabizing them. We want the local media to start producing creative radio and TV programs to enrich our content,” Dahlan added, hoping that this will also instill more trust in Saudi ideas and expertise.
She added that the SNCI aims to discover and analyze the nature of local creative industries in Saudi Arabia and create a platform to help people develop, practice and celebrate their creative capabilities.
Maha Fitaihi, a member of the SNCI, said that creative thinking needs an environment that stimulates creativity. “If the environment isn’t well-equipped, it’s not easy for creativity to be discovered,” she said, explaining that such an environment needs a place for fine arts, a sense of aesthetics when it comes to music, painting, so creators have a better chance to be creative.
“Society needs to change its view on artists in different fields and give them the chance to unleash their creativity,” she stressed.
Khaled Almaeena, a media professional and member of the initiative, said that the lack of trained human resources and qualified institutions are the greatest factors leading to the weakness of media production, in addition to bureaucracy and the monopoly of creativity in specific areas.
The activities include specialized workshops directed for professionals and workers in creative areas in order to improve creative and technical capabilities. Other activities are seminars for the public to raise awareness about the creative sector and its cultural, social and economic potentials.
This is also a unique opportunity for young creative people in Jeddah to meet with executives and stakeholders to discuss the local labor market and its offers.
