Lights, camera, action: Movie production safety tops agenda at first Saudi film industry leaders’ meeting

Hajjar Alnaim, a Saudi Executive Producer and CEO of Studio Production Training. (Supplied)

Leading figures from Saudi Arabia’s burgeoning film industry meeting in Jeddah to discuss key issues related to movie production. (Supplied)

• The training and accountability of film crews and field producers for safety were considered a priority matter
• Studio Production Training announced at the meeting plans to launch e-learning training videos in Arabic to highlight on-set safety

JEDDAH: Leading figures from Saudi Arabia’s burgeoning film industry recently met in Jeddah to discuss key issues related to movie production.
The session, organized by Studio Production Training, was the first of a series of roundtable meetings planned for the Kingdom’s producers, filmmakers, senior executives, production and rental house representatives, and art production staff under the title “Together We Grow, Safety on Set.”
Topping the agenda at the gathering, held at the Angelina restaurant in Jeddah, was talks on ways to improve on-set safety and best practices throughout the sector.
The training and accountability of film crews and field producers for safety were considered a priority matter.
Saudi executive producer and chief executive officer of Studio Production Training, Hajjar Alnaim, said: “Our main aim is to support the growth and development of below-the-line production talent in Saudi Arabia in line with Vision 2030.
“A unified local production industry is the key to a strong future for our talent, crews, and producers. Hence, our discussions not only revolved around safety issues but also looked at ways in which all entities could coordinate with each other in developing a unified standard for safety.”
With the region’s fledgling film industry often forced to operate on low budgets, safety could sometimes be compromised. But the roundtable sessions are aimed at making improvements in working conditions for production teams.
“We want to create guidelines and best practices that fit our industry in Saudi Arabia by redrafting and developing with local partners such as Netflix to reach the best rules.
“The outcome of the first session’s discussions was to share safety guidelines on production workflows designed not to affect crews financially and logistically, and then take feedback. Based on the feedback, we will sign agreements to ensure rules can be applied on set,” Alnaim added.
Studio Production Training announced at the meeting plans to launch e-learning training videos in Arabic to highlight on-set safety. Crew members passing an online test on the subject would receive an industry-recognized certificate of awareness.
The session ended with Studio Production Training signing consultation and skills training agreements with Riyadh audiovisual equipment rental firm EQEW, film rental house CineCrew, and Saudi movie production companies Nebras Films, and Millimeter.
Ahmed Baageel, production designer and CEO of Riyadh video production service Makzn7, said: “We are trying our best to bring the change ourselves in terms of industry safety issues, instead of waiting for a governmental change or for rules to come from above.
“This workshop helped us to discuss the awareness of safety issues and encouraged the industry leaders to take responsibility in adopting a unified safety standard.”