Arab Marketing and Distribution Outfit MAD Solutions Launches MAD Rising Celebrity Unit (EXCLU

 Posted on July 10, 2024  |  4 minutes  |  733 words  |  Jenniffer Sheldon

Cairo-based film marketing and distribution outfit MAD Solutions is launching MAD Rising Celebrity, a new unit dedicated to launching up-and-coming film and TV acting talents from across the Arab world.

The new MAD Solutions subsidiary has recruited a rich roster of rising Arab actors comprising Saudi Arabia’s Fatima AlBanawi (pictured) – who starred in groundbreaking Saudi comedy “Barakah Meets Barakah,” and more recently landed a small role in new Netflix Arabic original “Paranormal” – and Tunisian thesp Farès Landoulsi, featured in Netflix drama “Messiah,” among other rising celebrities.

“Nobody has been working on new Arab talents,” noted MAD Solutions co-founder Alaa Karkouti, speaking to Variety. He added that besides filling the gap by representing actors the new unit also intends to start handling up-and-coming Arab directors, writers, producers and cinematographers.

Karkouti also noted that MAD Solutions – which has long been active as an Arab world film distributor and has been branching out into production – is now increasingly becoming involved in packaging projects with the stars it signs on.

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MAD Rising Celebrity, which is a spin-off of the company’s MAD Celebrity division, is headed by Kareem Samy who said they looked into plenty of data on acting talents from across the Arab world before settling on the initial roster of names they are representing.

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MAD Rising Celebrity’s roster, besides Fatima AlBanawi and Farès Landoulsi, currently also includes Jordan’s Mohammad Nizar, who starred in Netflix’s first Arabic original “Jinn” and more recently the film “Gaza Mon Amour” that went to Venice; Egypt’s Sarrah Abdelrahman, best known for her breakout role in Egyptian social drama series “Seventh Neighbour”; and Palestinian/Jordanian actor Tara Abboud, who stars in hot Egyptian helmer Mohamed Diab’s upcoming drama “Amira.”

MAD Celebrity has so far been representing dozens of the Arab world’s established top talents such as the iconic Youssra, Menna Shalaby, and Saba Mubarak, to name a few actors, and also among other types of talents director Marwan Hamed, producer/screenwriter and Cairo Film Festival chief Mohamed Hefzy, and film producer Rula Nasser.

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