Eric Paquette’s Meridian Pictures, Saudi Arabia’s Hakawati Entertainment Strike Partnership Deal

EXCLUSIVE: Studiocanal, Entertainment 360 and The Picture Company have made deals to turn the 2021 documentary film The Lost Leonardo into a limited series. Gillian Weeks will write the script.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Saudi-owned MBC Group, which is the top broadcaster in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, has forged a five-year partnership with Turkish TV production powerhouses Medyapim and Ay Yapim, officially ending a ban on Turkish soaps that had been put in place in 2018. MBC, which is the top satellite free-to-air player in the Middle East and North Africa, and also a major MENA region premium streamer, in 2018 had pulled highly popular Turkish dramas from its channels, allegedly for political reasons stemming from tensions at that time between Turkey and Saudi Arabia. The move was also believed to have been made to give greater impetus to local production. Since then, several Turkish shows had gradually seeped back into MBC programming. But this deal signals a complete policy reversal.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Sony Music Entertainment Middle East and Kuwait-based music studio and video production company Ghmza have forged a partnership to produce music and promote emerging pop artists from the Gulf Cooperation Council and across the Middle East. Under the deal, popular actor and Arabic pop singer Bader Al Shuaibi, and Kuwaiti singer, songwriter and television personality Bashar al-Shatti will be the first two artists to work with Sony Music in the Gulf region. A pioneer in the genre known as Khaleeji pop reinvention – the term Khaleeji refers to nationals of six states: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the U.A.E. and Oman – Bader Al Shuaibi has over one billion audio and video streams and three million social media followers, according to a Sony Music statement.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Cinemed, the Mediterranean Cinema Film Festival, is partnering up with Lebanese film org Aflamuna / Beirut DC to launch a new co-production and co-financing initiative aimed at high-profile projects from the Arab world. The new program, which is also backed by France’s National Film Board and is part of the festival’s industry showcase Cinemed Meetings, will present seven projects involving 22 Arab countries, including Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Liban, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Syria, among others. All selected projects are currently in development and are being brought by filmmakers who have previously directed at least one short film.

President Biden has not left any doubt as to whether politics played a role in his unsuccessful pressuring of Saudi Arabia to delay an OPEC+ announcement of a decrease in oil production until after the American midterm elections, Sen. Marco Rubio told Fox News.

Democratic lawmakers Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., are pushing for the U.S.

UPDATED with sentencing: Eric Kay, the Los Angeles Angels communication director who earlier this year was convicted of distributing a controlled substance that caused the death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs in 2019, was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison Tuesday.

The White House said Tuesday that President Biden believes Saudi Arabia has effectively sided with Russia’s war aims in Ukraine following the Riyadh-led OPEC+ alliance’s announcement last week that it would cut oil production. "We believe by the decision that OPEC+ made last week, (Saudi Arabia is) certainly aligning themselves with Russia," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a Tuesday briefing.

The disgraced former Los Angeles city council president said that cutting police funding is a "step" toward ending racism. In the wake of the murder of George Floyd, former Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez backed a proposal to slash police funding for the City of Angels.

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said Sunday that President Biden should not have been surprised that ministers from Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) decided to cut oil production – in fact, she implied it could have been done just to spite him.

The Washington Post editorial board did not mince words about President Joe Biden’s attempts to persuade the Saudi Arabian government into helping with U.S. energy policy, saying the administration "failed" "badly." The board claimed that OPEC – heavily influenced by the Saudis – recently slashing "crude oil production by 2 million barrels per day," is a "setback" for Biden agenda, the United States and its allies.  The Saturday editorial stated that OPEC’s decision "is not quite as big of a shock as the embargo OPEC imposed on the United States between October 1973 and March 1974.

Three House Democrats are introducing a bill to remove U.S. defense systems from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in response to the OPEC+ decision to cut oil production by 2 million barrels per day – a move that is expected to drive up gas prices in the U.S.

Netflix has previewed a selection of upcoming films and shows aimed at the Arab world and hailing from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Egypt, and Jordan.

NewJeans have marked their first overseas performance with a set at KCON Saudi Arabia.The K-pop convention’s inaugural event in the country, which took place at The Boulevard Riyadh City on September 30 and October 1, saw the rookie girl group take the stage alongside acts ATEEZ, Hyolyn, STAYC, ONEUS and TO1 on the second day of the event. The quintet’s set included performances of hit singles ‘Hype Boy’, ‘Attention’ and ‘Cookie’.NewJeans are also set to perform at ​​KCON Japan, which will be hosted at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan from October 14 to 16.NewJeans—comprised of members Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin and Hyein—made their debut with a four-track self-titled EP comprised of three singles, as well as a B-side titled ‘Hurt’.