3SIX9 Studios Launches At The Cannes Film Festival And Touts “A New Era In Hollywood-Saudi Entertainment Collaboration”

Saudi backed 3SIX9 Studios launched here in Cannes today with the promise of “bringing Hollywood to the Kingdom.” The new film and TV outfit has four co-founders and had four projects to talk about in Cannes.

The co-founders are actor and producer Daya Fernández, who is CEO; Inga Vainshein Smith, a former VP of Production at Paramount and who serves as President; actor and producer Amaury Nolasco, best known for Prison Break, and Saudi businessman Sheikh Mohammed Youssef El Khereiji.

The first movie projects off the block include Bunny Run, an action comedy written by Jayson Rothwell, which will shoot in Saudi Arabia this Fall. Scotland Yank is billed as contemporary comedy reimagining of Sherlock Holmes from Mitch Klebanoff. It will be filmed in Saudi and the U.S. Patrol, meanwhile, is an action-horror pic said to be in the vein of Predator.

A TV project was also announced, although no plot details were revealed. No Night So Long comes from director Ilya Naishuller and Will Stewart.

3SIX9 said its creative focus is high-concept IP that hits mainstream audiences. It will be collaborating with Saudi Arabian prodco Yellow Camel Productions to get its projects up and running.

In terms of funding the abovementioned and other projects, 3SIX9 said it will forge strategic partnerships with Saudi partners across finance, production, and business to support its slate of films and series.