The Gulf is emerging as a crucial source of capital for the global film industry, and regional investors are increasingly looking at film financing as a profitable money-spinning business, a top official of a regional media firm said.

Raja Sharif, Vice-President and Director of International Affairs, Alnoor Holdings, a Qatar-based media and entertainment company, told Emirates Business: "Traditionally, investors in this region have always invested in real estate and banking sectors. However, the recent credit crisis made many of them question these investments tools, as the return fell far short of their expectations. So they're branching out and looking at other areas of investment such as film financing. Alongside, Hollywood is also much more receptive now to investors from this part of the world than they would have been two or three years back."

The return on investment depends on the success of the film, but film finance can provide return of between eight and 25 per cent, he said.

Sharif said if investment in films is well planned one can expect to minimise risks and maximise returns.

However, he said the Gulf needed to go beyond just being a source of capital for the global film industry to being a production hub for films.

Alnoor Holdings is currently financing a $150 million (Dh550m)-budget English-language feature film about the life of the Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him) and is currently finalising a scriptwriter to write its script.

Apart from Alnoor Holdings, there are other investors, mostly region-based, who are investing in the film, he said.

"We are in negotiation and will be going to finalise scriptwriter in the next few weeks. Then we will start searching for actors and directors in the beginning of next year and the production is expected to begin by mid-next year," he said.

Asked whether the firm is having to face any difficulties in getting the investors for financing this film, he said: "Not at all and it's in fact quite the opposite. There is a large number of investors who want to be involved in this film. The response we received from the East and West was overwhelming."

"We have collected almost 70 per cent of the total budget of $150m. We don't believe we'll have any problems in terms of getting the rest," he said.

Alnoor Holdings is probably going to announce another film in the next month and two more by the end of the year.

The firm has set aside $200m to finance films and hopes to make about 15 to 20 films in the next five years, he said.

Show business sweepstakes

- $75 million: The estimated production value of three to four films a year to be funded by Imagenation Abu Dhabi, Ashok Amritraj's Hyde Park Entertainment Group and Singapore's MDA over the next five years, announced in October last year.

This is apart from the $250m financing deal between Imagenation Abu Dhabi and Hyde Park to develop, produce and distribute up to 20 feature films over seven years.

- $200m: The amount of Alnoor film fund set up by Qatar-based Alnoor Holdings.

- $10 million: The amount of an initial revolving fund set up by Imagenation Abu Dhabi along with Parkes/MacDonald Productions, announced in October 2009.

- $1.2 billion: The investment planned by India's Reliance Entertainment to make Hollywood movies