Arab News How would this film starring an American in Saudi Arabia differ from any other of the types of films that are usually set with a Western protagonist inside an Arab or Middle Eastern country? Carla DiBello How is it different? First of all, Paris Verra she"s an aspiring actress. She"s lived in LA for many years and she"s been living in Saudi for the last two years. And how it"s different, I would just say it"s more just kind of showing people the relatability. We have our first-time Saudi director, Lina Malaika, who we"ve been mentoring for the last few years, collaborating with David Darg, who"s an Oscar-nominated, Emmy-winning director. And this is a project that we"ve been speaking about for a while. We"ve always wanted to do something in Al-Balad (in Saudi Arabia) as nothing really has ever been filmed there. Arab News What would you say about the location that gives it its unique filmability? Carla DiBello I think the history behind it is so special. You know, being in this historical district, which is also the same place that the first ever Red Sea Film Festival is taking place in. And it"s just something so magnetic about the area. So, just being able to showcase this to the world. It"s kind of the old and new in Jeddah to kind of see what that contrast is. I mean, you have Formula One, where people got to really experience the corniche, and the beach and the water. But you also have this contrast of Al-Balad with so much history. Arab News What can you tell me about working with the Saudi director and working with the Saudi assistant directors, let"s say, or crew on the ground? Carla DiBello So I mean, this is something we"ve been really passionate about for the last probably four and a half years. So we found the first-ever Formula E documentary and Diriyah. And our structure has really been, you know, handpicking young Saudi filmmakers and young Saudi creatives to come on board with our team, which is experienced producers and directors, and really we need them and they need us. So, it"s always been a very productive collaboration. Lina, specifically, we have been working with her for the last three and a half years, just kind of teaching her the business, and she"s been working closely with our director. So for her, to be able to give her the ability to let this run its course, has been just exciting to watch, because she has the tools now and the experience from our Western crew in the US. So I think this is just the, you know, the beginning of a new era of how well foreign productions work with Saudi productions, crews. Arab News Why choose a thriller film in the beginning, rather than a different genre? Carla DiBello You know, I think I think a lot of stuff that we"ve been doing in the Kingdom has been very, you know, documentary style. We"ve worked a lot with all the different ministries, from Ministry of Sports to Ministry of Culture, and we really wanted to, you know, kind of have something diversified where we can show another side of Saudi and these very rich stories that exist that maybe the outside world doesn"t know about. So we"re launching a platform at the end of the month called Arabia+, which will be Middle East stories told in English to a global audience. And I feel like with the 2030 vision and everything that"s being developed, and how closed off the Kingdom has been for so long, it"s really a great opportunity to use this platform to showcase rich stories that people don"t really know exist, like Maskoon playing on the beliefs of the djinn.There"s so many books around it and about it, but people from my world or coming from the UK or the US wouldn"t really know these stories existed. So they are filming a lot of productions now in Saudi, which is great. But I think we"re at a point now where we want to really develop homegrown stories, and work with local talent to really showcase that we have our own stories. I"ve been here for so long, and I"ve been coming to the Kingdom since 2013, and I"ve lived, obviously, in Dubai for the last eight years and a lot of times we bring out these huge Hollywood, big-budget productions but there"s really no story about the actual location. Arab News Where would you kind of source these stories? Are these people who have written scripts or short narratives that you can adopt? Carla DiBello What we"ve been doing, which is maybe not the regular way to go about it where a normal production company would actually go and source different scripts. And, you know, I think it"s just been us working so well with local young filmmakers and hearing it from them, how they grew up, certain beliefs that took place in different areas. I mean, we were filming in Abha, Khamis Mushait, Rijal Almaa, all these remote places that even Saudis have never visited. So I think in every place we"ve been, whether it"s with a tour guide, or a young kid that lives there, or a young filmmaker that we"re working with, or someone on our crew, that we"re really learning these stories firsthand that are actually authentic, and we just help them develop it. Arab News What can you tell me about the atmosphere at the first ever Red Sea Film Festival? Carla DiBello Well the atmosphere was, I mean, it was definitely history in the making. I think Saudi, as a country, should be very proud. I don"t think I"ve personally ever visited - and I"ve been to a lot of film festivals - and it really reminded me of Cannes Film Festival like back in 2008. You know, where everything was just so glamorous, and that old Hollywood feeling, which I feel certain festivals have kind of shifted a bit but I think they really did a good job at getting the right people, showcasing their work and just the area alone was a historical moment. Even pulling up to the red carpet and seeing all the - before you enter Al-Balad, seeing all the old shops, where some of these these workers - because we"ve actually gone in and spoken to them before, have been here for 20, 30, 40 years. And for them, to be able to see limousines and black cars and women in gowns and red carpets and flashes going off which is probably like nobody could have imagined it. Arab News What can you tell me about what"s next after Maskoon? Carla DiBello So we have a few things in development. We"re starting on a TV series with the Ministry of Culture called “Seven Wonders of Saudi” which we already shot a trailer to. And that"s kind of, you know, a very like Anthony Bourdain-style TV series, where we kind of went around to all these different places again, like AlUla, Abha, Rijal Almaa, Al-Souda, and just speaking to the locals. There we went to Farasan Island diving, we met with a woman who"s never left Farasan Island and Jizan and cooked for us in her backyard. So we"re just really trying to find very authentic, rich stories to tell that have never been told before. And in March, we"re planning to shoot the Formula One, again, that"s taking place here. And we"re really focused on Arabia+, and allowing Arabia+ to be a home for filmmakers in the Middle East to showcase their work to a global audience, as well as creating our own original content of Middle East stories told in English. Arab News Where and when can everyone watch the film? Carla DiBello We"ll have it exclusively launching after the premiere on Arabia+, so we"ll be in parallel launching Arabia+, and someone can go and watch it there. It"s a free streaming platform. So we"ll have it there. And we have about three screenings, I believe in Vox Cinemas.