The first day of Joy Forum 2025 sessions kicked off today (Thursday) at SEF Arena in Boulevard City as part of Riyadh Season, gathering global leaders in entertainment, sports, and media alongside top stars, influencers, and decision-makers. The day featured executive sessions and in-depth discussions exploring the future of global entertainment and the Kingdom’s role in shaping it.
The sessions adopted a dynamic and intensive format blending practical experience, strategic vision, and real operational models, with participation from CEOs of global companies, world-class athletes, renowned directors, and innovators in content, AI, and digital distribution.
UFC President Dana White opened the forum’s discussions, attended by His Excellency Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority (GEA), with a session titled “Unconventional Pioneer”, delivered in a unique format of five rapid rounds. White shared his journey in transforming combat sports from niche competitions into a global entertainment industry, highlighting decision-making mechanisms, product design, and building emotional connections with audiences beyond commercial rights. He also spoke about creating new formats and markets and developing integrated experiences that became global benchmarks.
White addressed the Kingdom’s pivotal role in advancing combat sports, emphasizing that what Saudi Arabia—under the leadership of H.E. Turki Alalshikh—has done in boxing represents a historic transformation. He noted that the partnerships and support provided by the Kingdom opened unprecedented opportunities, predicting that the next five years will witness a major shift in all combat sports. He added: “Since Turki Alalshikh entered the world of boxing, the impact has been clear and everyone felt the difference.”
The second session, “GOAT Narrative,” brought together Shaquille O’Neal, Dana White, and Novak Djokovic in a discussion on how sports legends evolve from being stars into platforms that own intellectual property and build long-term legacy. The session explored the concept of “the star as a platform,” the content journey from short clips to live shows and commercial communities, and the importance of data in building partnerships and sustaining talent.
The session saw strong engagement from attendees, with participants highlighting the Kingdom’s leadership in reshaping the global sports landscape.
Shaquille O’Neal said that what H.E. Turki Alalshikh is doing in boxing and other sports is “an exceptional achievement that changed the game.”
Dana White added that Saudi support revived the world of boxing and combat sports, stating that today’s progress in the sector would not have happened without this momentum and that now is the perfect moment to expand this promising industry.
Novak Djokovic expressed his happiness to join the forum alongside influential global figures, thanking the Kingdom for organizing such a remarkable event.
The third session, “The Power of Entertainment Without Borders”, featured WWE President Nick Khan and GEA CEO Eng. Faisal Bafarat in a dialogue about how entertainment has become a borderless force and how to build international partnerships based on trust and agility. The session focused on merging sports and entertainment into a single product and the Kingdom’s role in enabling new models that unite global audiences within a seamless experience.
Speakers affirmed that the transformative shift in Saudi Arabia’s entertainment sector in a short period has placed it at the forefront globally, sending a clear message: “We compete on a global level.”
Eng. Faisal Bafarat explained that a decade ago there was no comprehensive concept of entertainment, but with Saudi Vision 2030, a new era began, and the first and strongest partnership was with WWE.
He added that H.E. Turki Alalshikh insisted from the beginning: “We will bring WrestleMania to the Kingdom,” which has now been achieved with the official agreement to host the historic event in Riyadh Season 2027.
Nick Khan described the partnership with Saudi Arabia as one of the most powerful and successful in WWE history, noting that rapid development, integrated infrastructure, and unprecedented leadership support made the Kingdom an unrivaled strategic partner in global sports entertainment.
The fourth session, “The K-Wave Rising,” featured Korean stars Lee Byung-hun, Lee Jung-jae, and Yoon Je-kyoon, who discussed how South Korea evolved from individual talent into a scalable, professional production system. The session focused on the Korean “studio operating system,” organized writers’ rooms, action scene design, post-production development, and turning local works into intellectual properties exportable to any market.
The fifth session, “Blockbuster Balance,” brought together global writers and producers such as Derek Kolstad, Terence Winter, Alik Sakharov, and Mohamed Islam to examine how power in the film industry is shifting from monopolies to open, diverse ecosystems. The session discussed using data to understand audiences without losing narrative identity, the role of partnerships between platforms and creators, and opening pathways for both independent and commercial productions—highlighting the Kingdom as a neutral, enabling environment that supports the global industry.
The sixth session, “The New Age Studios,” featured Adnan Kayal, Marwan Hamed, Ibrahim Al-Khairallah, Ben Amadasun, Samar Akrouq, and Taim Hassan, who explored the “new-age studio” concept that integrates shooting spaces, virtual studios, and post-production stages under one roof. The session discussed how Saudi infrastructure enables global production, streamlines permits, provides incentives, develops national talent pipelines, and ensures fast execution and transparent governance to earn the trust of international producers.
Director Marwan Hamed spoke about the pivotal role of global platforms such as Netflix and Shahid in accelerating the reach of Arab content worldwide, noting that the Arab world is rich in compelling stories that deserve to become series and films, with audiences eager for content that reflects their identity and cultural environment.
Netflix VP Ben Amadasun stated the company is on an “amazing journey” to showcase Arab content, expressing his happiness in sourcing local stories from across the Arab world—especially Saudi Arabia, which is rich in incredible stories and talented creators. He added that some Saudi films have left a lasting impression on global viewers, and Arab productions like “AlRawabi School for Girls” have achieved high global viewership, reflecting the growing international appetite for Arab content.
Adnan Kayal, CEO of Entertainment & Content at Sela, said everyone has been anticipating this extraordinary moment Saudi Arabia is experiencing today. He stressed that this would not have happened without the inspiration and vision of His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, may God protect him, who opened new horizons for creators.
He explained that the Kingdom is entering new fields daily, proving its growing creative position. He emphasized that the story of Saudi Arabia in cinema is still at the beginning and not yet complete. Some believe the Kingdom was late to enter this field, but in reality, it was observing, studying, and preparing for the right moment—and today, the time has come to show the world the creativity and competitive power of the Saudi people. “We welcome the world and support creators,” he said, noting the significant government support, including that provided by GEA.
The first day concluded with the seventh session, “Stream to Mainstream,” featuring creators MrBeast and Speed, moderated by American actor Terry Crews, who appeared wearing a Saudi thobe. The session discussed how content creators transition from streaming to global stardom without losing authenticity. It addressed building multilingual communities, the fame journey from Shorts to long-form content, livestreaming, and product lines, as well as the importance of credibility, safety safeguards, and smart brand partnerships—ending with inspiring messages for navigating modern stardom.
Speed hinted at possibly inventing a new sport, saying: “I might create a new sport, and I’ll call it ‘Football Boxing’ and launch it in Saudi Arabia,” expressing his joy at being in Riyadh and sharing his story at the forum.
MrBeast said about his journey: “I spent my teenage years thinking about what people want to watch and how to get millions of views. I focused on big ideas—sometimes crazy and unique—and set challenges that entertained people around the world”.
The forum will continue tomorrow with a second day of sessions building on today’s discussions, featuring global leaders in entrepreneurship, artificial intelligence, theme parks, Bollywood, and intellectual property—positioning the forum as a strategic platform for shaping the next generation of the global entertainment industry.