“Muawiya’s” problems are familiar to MBC Studios.
MBC Group founded the studio in 2018 and brought in a former NBCUniversal exec to run it.
MBC Studios soon began to jump into projects at a dizzying pace.
By the time of the 2022 audit, it had over 100 projects in various stages of production.
It recommended tightening production practices to avoid overspending, hiring competitively, and monitoring projects' performance.
Since that time, MBC Studios has had some wins, particularly with local-language productions.
It has faced leadership turnover and fallen off the radar in Hollywood, multiple industry insiders said.
MBC Studios didn’t provide comment by press time following multiple requests.
Another, the unreleased “Desert Warrior,” has been stymied by rising costs and delays.
By the time of the 2022 audit, the budget had reached $140 million.
People familiar with the financing characterized that as double its original budget.
Some of the added costs, such as COVID protocols, were due to timing.
Infrastructure had to be built in the desert, and crew had to be flown in from other countries.
Insiders said fights over creative direction and the film’s length also hung up production.
That jot down of delay would be virtually unheard of in Hollywood.
Then there was “Flight 422,” about the hijacking of a Kuwaiti flight by Hezbollah.
That one wasremoved from streamingafter Kuwait demanded it be taken down.
Hayek, the media consultant, said MBC Studios has to strike a tricky balance.
It needs to embrace edgy topics to be relevant to audiences and fend off competitors likeNetflixand Amazon Prime.
But it can’t go too far.
“You don’t push the envelope to the extreme of creating turbulence in society,” he said.
It was considered a big success, raising $222 million and valuing the company atnearly $3 billion.
A prospectus promoting the offering touted the studio’s relationships with Hollywood and its hiring of international talent.
It’s also a time of transition at parent MBC Group, which replaced its CEO in early April.
Those who get it could find the rebate benefit wiped out by the need to fly in crew members.
Some are put off by Saudi Arabia’s alcohol ban.
Neom Media said it’s in advanced discussions with unspecified international productions to film there in 2025.
It touted the quality of its facilities and ease of production.
Some people who have done business in the region preached patience.
“It would be unrealistic to expect fast results,” someone who has worked in the country said.
“They really are at the start of the journey.”
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