Heavy losses for the drama producers in Kuwait after the filming of their series stopped due to SK

Mahmoud Al-Kafrawi - Kuwait

The Corona pandemic has cast a shadow over the Ramadan drama season in Kuwait, as precautionary measures imposed by state agencies to limit the spread of the Corona virus (Covid-19) prevented a number of drama makers from completing the filming of their series. 

And with the season actually starting in light of the fierce competition witnessed by different Gulf screens, about 8 series failed to catch the race, despite a number of Kuwaiti series being able to finish filming early or those whose owners were allowed to shoot during the ban period and finish the remainder.

A number of the producers said to Al-Jazeera Net that they were exposed to huge financial losses due to the circumstances and procedures that took place after the start of filming their works, which prevented the completion of filming them in the end and benefiting from selling them during the Ramadan season, during which the selling prices increase significantly.

A number of the series filmed inside Kuwait succeeded in escaping the trap of Corona after the Ministry of Information granted its producers permission to film after the start of the partial ban, until April 30, including the series "Al December" and "Mohammed Ali Roud" and "Woroud". Colorful ", and the latter is delaying the filming of some of his scenes until the beginning of Ramadan, while a number of series are still not finished by the producers of filming their episodes despite the start of their performance.

The Kuwait TV map currently includes 7 series: "Paradise of Helli" by Souad Abdullah, "Muhammad Ali Roud" by Saad Al Faraj, "Memory of the Shadow" by Dawud Hussain, and "Kisra Zuhr" by Saudi Abdullah Al Sadhan, and "Al December" by Tariq Al Ali And Jamal Al-Radhan, "Free Spaces" by Ibrahim Al-Harbi, and "Haya and Her Daughters," by the artist Basma Hamada.

No permission
and other producers failed to obtain a permit to film, and producer Abdullah Al-Saif said that he stopped filming two of his production, “Sama Alia” and “I Love You After” by a personal decision from him on March 14, before the Cabinet’s decision was issued on On the 22nd of the same month, the partial ban was imposed, but he subsequently failed to obtain a permit to resume photography from the Ministry of Information.

The cost of the series "Sama Alia" is 740 thousand Kuwaiti dinars (2.4 million dollars), and 80% of its scenes were filmed, and part of the remaining scenes were supposed to be completed in the British capital London after booking hotels and paying 70% of the filming costs, except that The staff could not travel.

The series stars a group of stars, including Jassem Al-Nabhan, Zahra Al-Kharji, Suleiman Al-Yassin, Intisar Al-Sharah and Abdullah Al-Turkmani. They are joined by a group of Egyptian artists, including Noha Raafat, Ahmed Kishek, and Nada Adel.

The cost of the series "I Love You After" was estimated at 500 thousand dinars (1.6 million dollars), and the team finished filming 40% of its private scenes.

Producer Abdullah Al-Seef assured Al-Jazeera Net that he would resume filming after the crisis, and would study with the channels with which he had previously contracted the show, and whether it was after the current Ramadan or waiting for the next Ramadan.

Producers whose works have ceased to bear the costs of setting up and feeding some of the imaging teams and technicians who were brought in from Egypt, Italy, Turkey and Spain due to the interruption of air traffic at the present time.

Flight stopped and flight
movement stopped, as well as the producer of the series "Bayt Bait" from bringing in action hero Abdul Mohsen Al-Nimr from the Emirates to Kuwait to film his scenes.

According to the producer of the series, Mohsen Al Mulla, he was subjected to significant financial losses due to not taking advantage of the filming sites despite their rents, as well as breaking the contract with the channels that were to be displayed on its screen, namely Rotana, Sharjah and the Emirates, with which new contracts are scheduled to be concluded after a race Ramadan season.

And "Bayt Bayt" is a social work by the writer Abdel Mohsen Al-Roudhan and directed by Sultan Khosrow. It revolves around an old game known by the same name that the children of Al-Fareej (neighborhood) played together, and through it the series discusses social issues such as divorce in the past and some problems such as children with autism and how to deal With them.

The cost of production of the series is estimated at about 500 thousand Kuwaiti dinars, and a non-Ramadan job offer means a loss of 50% of the value of its sale during the season, and its producer refuses to wait for the coming Ramadan because of a plan for the new year that can be affected if the show is postponed.

TV series outside the race.
The artist and producer Bassem Abdel Amir, owner of the "Artistic Group" company, is better off than others, as he succeeded in completing the filming of "The Universe in the Cuff" series, which is shown on a number of channels within the Ramadan race, as he finished filming another series that is " Adani Al-Aib, "It is scheduled to be shown after Ramadan. As for his third series," Bayt Al-Dhal ", 50% of his scenes were filmed before filming stopped.

In an interview with Al-Jazeera Net, Abdel-Amir explained that the circumstances of Corona's pandemic are behind the stopping of filming, but the presence of the series outside the race gave its workers an opportunity to complete filming later, and reduced the losses resulting from stopping.

After filming about 25% of the scenes of the series "Absher Al-Saad", produced and directed by Nayef Al-Rashed, the team was forced to stop filming, and it is scheduled to resume work after the end of the crisis, to show it as soon as it is ready.

Technical critic Abdul Sattar Naji asserts that the postponement of works has a major impact on the drama industry not only in Kuwait but throughout the Arab world, because most producers depend on the proceeds of the sale to produce other works.

Nagy believes that the absence of the mechanisms of this industry in our Arab world is behind its impact on any tremor, as the existence of these mechanisms, especially the huge budgets, ensures that the drama makers and the film industry are not affected by the emergency economic conditions.

The great spread of the Corona epidemic coincided with the beginning of the preparations for the season of Ramadan to multiply the negative impact of the crisis on the drama season, which in the future imposes a change in the thought of the drama makers to finish their production early with scheduling of distribution and marketing in anticipation of circumstances.