Film AlUla recording studio rendering
courtesy of Film AlUla
Saudi Arabia’s Film AlUla is getting into the music business.
The country’s official film agency has unveiled plans for a music recording studio to complement its recently launched film studio complex. Film AlUla plans to open in June 2024 a recording studio with a control room and booths to be used by music artists, choirs, rehearsals for film score production, music videos and orchestral work.
Film AlUla’s already opened two 26,000-square-foot soundstages with workshops and a backlot for short term infrastructure and set builds. Saudi Arabia is, through huge investments, offering a full-service creative hub as the country looks to host more concerts and festivals with facilities for fully-fledged movie and music making amid the sand dunes, desert oases and ancient ruins of the country’s historic Incense Route, which in turn is home to Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site.
“Following the successful launch of our film studios last year, we are continuing to strategically expand the complex and become a one-stop destination for creatives, with the recording studio being a natural next step in this vision,” Charlene Deleon-Jones, executive director of Film AlUla, explained in a statement.
Film AlUla already hosts the annual Azimuth festival that in 2023 saw Peggy Gou, R&B singer Jorja Smith and Egyptian rock artist Cairokee perform. And the Kingdom’s Maraya venue hosted concerts for Alicia Keys, Andrea Bocelli and James Blunt.
But Film AlUla also aims at developing film and music as sustainable sectors in the Kingdom. To that end, Saudi artists gaining attention across the Middle East and internationally include Sawsan Albahiti, The Saudi Arwa, Zena Emad, Aedh Yousef and Dalia Mubarak.