After Al Jazeera and the 2022 FIFA World Cup soccer tournament put Qatar on the world map, the small oil and gas-rich Arab nation is now turning its attention to film and television. And Hollywood is an integral part of that plan.
The just-concluded Industry Days of the Doha Film Festival was attended by top executives from Sony Pictures and US indie studios Neon, A-24, Department M and Miramax (co-owned by Qatar’s beIN Media Group and Paramount Global), as well as former James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli. Broccoli and actor/director David Oyelowo have announced a modern adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Othello set in Doha, directed by Oyelowo and co-starring Rachel Brosnahan and Cynthia Erivo.
US studios that joined Doha’s CanFab are now doing business with Qatar through co-development, co-production and co-financing agreements. Announced earlier this week, the aim is to generate primarily Arabic-language projects, although details are still unclear. Also in attendance was Hollywood veteran Stephen Paul, who is President Donald Trump’s film affairs adviser and was considering a co-production deal.
“We are building the foundations of a world-class (film and television) ecosystem with new infrastructure, production facilities and post-production capabilities supported by vast technology and data analytics,” said Qatari lawyer Hassan Al Thawadi, who oversaw the 2022 World Cup. He currently heads the Qatar Film Board, a public body that is part of the Media City Qatar Hub and tasked with driving the growth of the country’s entertainment industry.
But Al-Tawadi made it clear that Hollywood should not expect help from Qatar.
“This deal is much more than film financing,” he said after announcing a relatively modest deal with Neon that includes six to 10 feature films and shorts over four years, to be co-financed and distributed by Neon. “It is about creating a new platform for telling the stories of the Arabic language and the region, and ensuring that the stories of Qatar and the wider Arab world are seen, celebrated and shared around the world.”
“We are here to champion Arab cinema, foster regional talent, and deepen cooperation across the Arab world,” Al-Tawadi continued to point out. “And our goal is for this region, and the broader Global South, to be recognized as a powerhouse of global creativity that centers Arab stories.”
“By expanding opportunities for cooperation, attracting investment and building international partnerships, we aim to build an ecosystem that is self-reliant, globally connected and fearless and proud of its roots,” Al Thawadi continued to point out.
Stuart Ford, a Los Angeles-based producer who heads AGC Studios and has been doing business in the Middle East for years, said the flurry of deals between Qatar and Hollywood companies announced in Doha are “part of a well-thought-out strategy.” Industry Days “was like a springboard for Qatar to become another prominent regional player in the entertainment sector,” he added.
“Clearly there is a strategy at work, and that overall strategy may be different than the more experienced and sophisticated UAE or the more populous KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia),” Ford said, noting that “there is clearly a preference for excellence over quantity.”
A cornerstone of Qatar’s nascent film and television industry is a newly announced rebate called the Qatar Film Production Incentive, which provides up to 50% cash back on eligible Qatari production expenditures. This combines a base rebate of 40% with an additional up to 10% for works that meet defined criteria such as hiring Qatari talent, investing in local training, promoting Qatari culture, and other aspects of industry development.
Qatar’s new rebates are “separated and unrelated to production,” said Stefan Sonnenfeld, head of post-production and VFX giant Company 3. The company, which handles post-production for the majority of Hollywood series and movies (including most recently “Wicked: For Good” and “Stranger Things” Season 5), comes just as Sonnenfeld announced a deal to establish a post-production and VFX studio in Doha.
“Basically anyone can work here and participate,” Sonnenfeld added. He was also a consultant on the Qatar rebate, calling it “one of the best rebates in the world at the moment.”
Doha-based film director and producer Ahmed Al Baker, CEO of Katara Studios, unveiled his psychological thriller Sa3ood Wainah?, billed as Qatar’s first feature film, at the festival. – Invitations to take advantage of Qatar’s new rebates will go to Hollywood as well as Arab production companies that are “next door, just a few hours’ flight away,” he said.
“The Middle East is our turf, okay? The Middle East is our industry,” Al Baker said. “What the Film Commission is trying to promote is an incentive for Qatar to bring in projects from the region, and hopefully the beneficiaries of that will be everyone around us.”
