AGC Studios is mulling the opening of a Middle East office as it increases its activity in the region, according to chairman and CEO Stuart Ford.
The LA-based film financing and sales company, whose slate includes Richard Linklater’s Hit Man and Anna Kendrick’s Red Sea title Woman Of The Hour, has been active in the MENA region since Ford founded the company in 2018 with Image Nation Abu Dhabi as one its cornerstone investors.
Asked if AGC will open an office in the Middle East, Ford said: “We are absolutely considering it…we are still trying to decide the right place to create that hub but whatever we do, we want it to be a pan regional initiative so it is not specific to any one country. If there is one non-English language sector where I could see us becoming an established producer financier, it would be this one.”
Ford is at Red Sea this week having acquired world sales rights to the opening night film HJWN and special screening Dhafer L’abidine’s To My Son. Both are Saudi-UAE titles. It is also handling sales for Egyptian box office hit Voy! Voy! Voy!, and has partnered with MBC Studios to handle sales on upcoming big budget, English language historical epic Desert Warrior directed by Rupert Wyatt.
Ford told Screen he saw parallels in Saudi with the Chinese market 15 years ago, citing a booming middle class and young audiences with an appetite for top tier entertainment and a push to create a local production sector. “You have ambition, capital and tremendous growth and optimism.”
Looking ahead, he said that the Arabic language market, including Saudi, “has the potential to evolve more in the path of the South Korean industry and to be a really prolific exporter of premium entertainment content.”
No comments yet