Dubai-based Front Row Productions and new Saudi production company Alamiya Filmed Entertainment have teamed on “My Treat” (“Mahmool Makfool”), a Saudi-Turkish road-trip comedy about the misadventures of three young Saudi women who are big fans of Turkish soaps.
“My Treat” will take its cue from the fact that Turkish content is extremely popular in the Arab world due to shared history and cultural similarities. The groundbreaking comedy will start shooting in September between Riyadh and Istanbul, “marking the first time a Saudi feature film shoots in Turkey,” according to a statement.
“My Treat” centers on three female superfans of Turkish soaps, named Abu-Laban, Mohsen and Wegdan, who travel from Riyadh to Istanbul in hopes of meeting their favorite Turkish heartthrob. Their trip takes an unexpected twist when “they find themselves falsely accused of kidnapping the very star they idolize” and become “entangled in their very own Turkish soap,” according to the provided synopsis.
Saudi stars Khairiyah Abu Laban (“Slave”), Nermin Mohsen (“The Blue Whale”) and Egyptian star Engy Wegdan (“Teleat Rohi”) will play the female trio. Negotiations are underway with an A-list Turkish actor to play the heartthrob at the comedy’s center.
“My Treat” will be directed by Egypt’s Karim Abu Zeid (“11.11”) from a screenplay by Saudi-Palestinian writer Noha Saadi, whose credits include the Arabic adaptation of “The Office,” based on an original story by Alamiya Filmed Entertainment chief Wesam Kattan.
“This film truly embodies AFE’s vision and strategy,” Kattan said in a statement. “Almost three years in the making, the project represents a collaborative effort where our commitment to process, data and talent has come to life.” Kattan went on to note that “the themes of celebrity fandom, friendship and loyalty are at the heart of this story, reflecting the essence of human connections in the world of fame.”
Front Row Productions CEOs Gianluca Chakra and Mario Haddad Jr. noted that Saudi Arabia‘s film industry has been experiencing significant growth thanks to homegrown comedies such as “SATTAR,” “Mandoob,” “Shabab El Bomb” and “Hammour,” which have “frequently outperformed Western studio blockbusters,” they said.
Alongside this trend, given the popularity of Turkish soaps in the Arab world, they said “a potential strategy for uniting Arab audiences and achieving even greater success could involve blending elements of Saudi and Arab cinema with the popular Turkish style, creating an intriguing formula that respects and incorporates the cultural nuances of all three regions.”
Front Row Productions is a joint venture between prominent MENA region distribution companies Front Row Filmed Entertainment, which is based in Dubai and headed by Chakra, and Beirut-based Empire Entertainment that is owned by the Haddad family.