Narrative & Documentary Editing in Saudi Arabia

Here is how this works in practice. We pair documentary directors with story-driven editors. The NLE choices match the project. Avid Media Composer is the industry standard for feature-length docs — its deep audio-track build style handles layered narration, archive audio, and music. Adobe Premiere Pro powers the Telfaz11 and independent slate. DaVinci Resolve runs at Pixomondo Riyadh and Big Time Studios Riyadh.

Here is the short of it. Workflows handle hundreds of hours of footage from Saudi documentary locations. Sites have AlUla heritage (Hegra, Sharaan, Dadan, Jabal Ikmah), Diriyah UNESCO World Heritage Site, Jeddah Old Town Al-Balad, the Edge of the World (Jebel Fihrayn), the Empty Quarter (Rub' al Khali), the Red Sea coastlines, Asir mountain villages, and the Najran cultural-heritage zone.

Here is the breakdown. Footage is built into multi-stringline timelines. Selects bins, scene-card story structure (using the Frank Daniel and Sundance Lab method), and paper-edit transcription are standard. Transcription runs through Sonix or Trint for English. Current Standard Arabic Fusha transcription comes from MBC's transcription pool.

Here is what that looks like on the ground. Saudi Arabia's documentary heritage spans many decades and institutions. Saudi Broadcasting Corporation's news and today's-affairs archive runs back to the 1960s. Ithra (King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture) handles documentary curation, including the Saudi Film Festival Dhahran since 2008.

Here is how the picture comes as one. More recent funding sources have grown the slate. Saudi Film Commission grants fund documentary features supporting the Vision 2030 cultural-narrative push. The Red Sea Global Film Festival has run a documentary stream since 2021 at the Ritz-Carlton Jeddah. The Al-Balad UNESCO heritage screens.

Here is what we have to work with. We edit for each distribution chain. Theatrical goes out as DCP via Doremi or Qube to AMC Saudi Arabia, VOX Cinemas, Muvi Cinemas, and Empire Cinemas. Broadcast goes out as AS-11 MXF to MBC, Al Arabiya, and Saudi Broadcasting Corporation. Streaming goes out as IMF JPEG 2000 wraps to Shahid VIP, StarzPlay Arabia, OSN+, Netflix MENA, Amazon Prime Video Arabia, Apple TV+ Arabic, and Disney+ MENA.

Festival deliveries go to RSIFF, Saudi Film Festival Dhahran, and the AlUla Film Awards. GCAM type governs theatrical and broadcast release. Cross-border festival deliveries to Cannes, Venice, TIFF, and IDFA follow standard SMPTE DCP. Billing is in SAR, with 15% VAT and a Sunday-Thursday workweek.