Saudi capital will be the second location globally to house a Snap Creator Studio RIYADH: Snap has announced that it will launch a Creator Studio in Riyadh in 2022 to support its local community in delivering new experiences on Snapchat. The company has recently been investing in such studios to better serve local talent and business partners, including augmented reality Lens developers, verified users and local media publishers. The first Snap Creator Studio was launched in Paris, France, making Riyadh the second location in the world and the first in the region. Snap has confirmed that it will launch additional regional studios in the future. The Creator Studio in Riyadh will engage creators to showcase user-generated content and AR experiences built with Snap platforms, formats, and hardware. The company will draw on its global network of creatives and technical experts and provide in-person and virtual opportunities to train creative and technical talent. Snap will also provide advice, resourcing and investments to support creators within the local ecosystem to prototype and test new ideas, as well as incentivize creators to innovate with new content and AR tools. Choosing Saudi Arabia for its first regional studio was an obvious decision considering Snapchat’s reach and engagement in the Kingdom. The platform has a monthly addressable reach of more than 19.5 million individuals of which 90 percent are 13-34-year-olds in the Kingdom. Moreover, approximately 90 percent of Snapchatters in Saudi Arabia are engaging with Lenses on a daily basis, and 83 percent of those on Snapchat in the Kingdom use AR on a weekly basis to communicate — the highest use case in the world for Snapchat. “The decision to open a Creator Studio in Saudi Arabia reflects the level of creativity we see on Snapchat amongst local users, the high levels of engagement on the app, and our desire to deepen the level of support that we can provide to the creator community and our business partners,” said Hussein Freijeh, General Manager for MENA at Snap. The Creator Studio will support all creators delivering experiences for Snapchat. Notable examples include Lens creators, those producing video content for Discover and Snapchat’s newest entertainment platform Spotlight, as well as developers focusing on Snapchat offerings such as Games, Minis, Layers, and more. Publisher brands will also benefit from the Creator Studio. In Saudi Arabia today, more people watch content on Discover than any of the top ten TV channels. Currently, Snap currently works with premium content partners such as Rotana Media Group, MBC, Saudi Broadcasting Authority, and UTURN Entertainment. “In Saudi Arabia, there’s a real understanding of Snapchat’s full value proposition, whether in communication, entertainment, commerce, or elsewhere,” said Freijeh. He added that Saudi is an “exciting and dynamic market” in terms of media, technology, and creativity, which is only growing as “more businesses move to the digital economy and individuals spend more of their time online.” “The new Creator Studio will thus help inspire the next generation of creators about the possibilities of using the Snap camera across the arts, education, media, and cultural sectors,” he said.