OSN announces commission of Saudi film written and directed by Ahd Kamel

Written and directed by Kamel, My Driver and I is the story of a young, privileged Saudi girl, Salma, and the intimate friendship that forms between her and her driver Gamar.

Set in Jeddah in the 1980s and '90s, Salma, from an affluent Saudi family, meets Gamar, a young Sudanese man after he is employed as her driver. Their relationship lasts throughout her youth, leaving a profound effect on her in the years to come. My Driver and I is a story of independence, unlikely friendships and found family.

“I have been developing My Driver and I for several years and I wanted to base the film on my memories of Jeddah in the 1980s and '90s,” Kamel says.

“Witnessing Salma’s universal journey through adolescence, against the backdrop of societal expectations, is certainly a theme that tugs on the heartstrings of all audiences alike.”

As an OSN Original, the film is being positioned as OSN’s growing commitment to investing in local talent from writers, crew and a diverse Arab cast. My Driver and I stars Jordanian actress Saba Mubarak, Saudi rapper Qusai Kheder, Sudanese actor Mustafa Shehata and Saudi actor Baraa Alem.

“It’s time the region’s untold stories deserve a wider audience,” said Joe Kawkabani, chief executive at OSN.

“My Driver and I is the embodiment of stories that deserve an expansive medium in the very city that the film is set in and there is no better platform than the Red Sea Film Festival to make this announcement.”

OSN will be partnering with Red Sea Fund, MAD Solutions, the UK Global Screen Fund, and production companies Corniche Media and Caspian Films, to deliver the film, which will also be co-produced by Jeddah production companies Yellow Camel and Millimeter.

Filming has already begun on My Driver and I and the film is set to be shown on OSNtv and streamed on OSN+.

Celebrities attending the Red Sea International Film Festival - in pictures

How the UAE gratuity payment is calculated now

Employees leaving an organisation are entitled to an end-of-service gratuity after completing at least one year of service.

The tenure is calculated on the number of days worked and does not include lengthy leave periods, such as a sabbatical. If you have worked for a company between one and five years, you are paid 21 days of pay based on your final basic salary. After five years, however, you are entitled to 30 days of pay. The total lump sum you receive is based on the duration of your employment.

1. For those who have worked between one and five years, on a basic salary of Dh10,000 (calculation based on 30 days):

a. Dh10,000 ÷ 30 = Dh333.33. Your daily wage is Dh333.33

b. Dh333.33 x 21 = Dh7,000. So 21 days salary equates to Dh7,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service. Multiply this figure for every year of service up to five years.

2. For those who have worked more than five years

c. 333.33 x 30 = Dh10,000. So 30 days’ salary is Dh10,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service.

Note: The maximum figure cannot exceed two years total salary figure.

Habtoor interview

The UAE should temporarily scrap VAT, Khalaf Al Habtoor says

How Tesla’s price correction has hit fund managers

Investing in disruptive technology can be a bumpy ride, as investors in Tesla were reminded on Friday, when its stock dropped 7.5 per cent in early trading to $575.

It recovered slightly but still ended the week 15 per cent lower and is down a third from its all-time high of $883 on January 26. The electric car maker’s market cap fell from $834 billion to about $567bn in that time, a drop of an astonishing $267bn, and a blow for those who bought Tesla stock late.

The collapse also hit fund managers that have gone big on Tesla, notably the UK-based Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF.

Tesla is the top holding in both funds, making up a hefty 10 per cent of total assets under management. Both funds have fallen by a quarter in the past month.

Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital, recently warned that Tesla founder Elon Musk had “flown a bit too close to the sun”, after getting carried away by investing $1.5bn of the company’s money in Bitcoin.

He also predicted Tesla’s sales could struggle as traditional auto manufacturers ramp up electric car production, destroying its first mover advantage.

AJ Bell’s Russ Mould warns that many investors buy tech stocks when earnings forecasts are rising, almost regardless of valuation. “When it works, it really works. But when it goes wrong, elevated valuations leave little or no downside protection.”

A Tesla correction was probably baked in after last year’s astonishing share price surge, and many investors will see this as an opportunity to load up at a reduced price.

Dramatic swings are to be expected when investing in disruptive technology, as Ms Wood at ARK makes clear.

Every week, she sends subscribers a commentary listing “stocks in our strategies that have appreciated or dropped more than 15 per cent in a day” during the week.

Her latest commentary, issued on Friday, showed seven stocks displaying extreme volatility, led by ExOne, a leader in binder jetting 3D printing technology. It jumped 24 per cent, boosted by news that fellow 3D printing specialist Stratasys had beaten fourth-quarter revenues and earnings expectations, seen as good news for the sector.

By contrast, computational drug and material discovery company Schrödinger fell 27 per cent after quarterly and full-year results showed its core software sales and drug development pipeline slowing.

Despite that setback, Ms Wood remains positive, arguing that its “medicinal chemistry platform offers a powerful and unique view into chemical space”.

In her weekly video view, she remains bullish, stating that: “We are on the right side of change, and disruptive innovation is going to deliver exponential growth trajectories for many of our companies, in fact, most of them.”

Ms Wood remains committed to Tesla as she expects global electric car sales to compound at an average annual rate of 82 per cent for the next five years.

She said these are so “enormous that some people find them unbelievable”, and argues that this scepticism, especially among institutional investors, “festers” and creates a great opportunity for ARK.

Only you can decide whether you are a believer or a festering sceptic. If it’s the former, then buckle up.

OSN announces commission of Saudi film written and directed by Ahd Kamel

My Driver and I is the story of found family and will star a diverse Arab cast

Celebrities attending the Red Sea International Film Festival - in pictures

How the UAE gratuity payment is calculated now

Habtoor interview

How Tesla’s price correction has hit fund managers