With Hollywood strapped for cash, Saudi Arabia is re-emerging as a key financial backer

Hollywood is feeling the lure of Saudi Arabian money.

Hollywood is feeling the lure of Saudi Arabian money.

The stars are taking it, with many set to receive checks for attending this week’s Red Sea Film Festival. Studios are interested in it, with their executives traveling to the kingdom to meet about potential deals. And at the highest levels, Saudi money could end up helping to finance a massive media merger.

For the entertainment industry, Saudi financing has become more appealing as other sources of money have dried up in the aftermath of the 2020 Covid pandemic, the 2023 dual actors’ and writers’ strikes, and shifting audience habits away from film and TV to social media.

“Money is good, that’s Hollywood’s perspective,” said entertainment attorney Schuylar (Sky) Moore at Greenberg Glusker. “For the Saudis, it’s all about building their own film industry, and they’re trying to get the expertise and the people there.”

But Saudi Arabia’s controversial human rights record makes the relationship an uneasy one for some in the West — and a sensitive topic to talk about in Hollywood, where more than a dozen insiders including agents, producers, executives, bankers and publicists declined to go on the record about the inrush of potential Saudi cash.