Netflix producer searches for disabled talent to develop drama to be shot in Abu Dhabi
The producer behind a hit Netflix TV series is looking for an experienced film director and executive producers who are disabled.
Netflix Arabic series The Platform is produced by FilmGate Productions in collaboration with Al Kalema Productions and was shot in locations around Abu Dhabi.
Emirati producer Mansoor Al Dhaheri, chief executive and founder of FilmGate, is now helping to produce a drama that will be made by people with disabilities, referred to as people of determination in the UAE.
The project, which will be funded and produced by FilmGate, aims to involve disabled people in writing, acting, filming and production roles.
Mr Al Dhaheri is collaborating with Zayed Higher Organisation for People of Determination, the official body in Abu Dhabi that provides education and job opportunities for disabled people.
Lama Zalat, executive producer at FilmGate, said: “When he [Mr Al Dhaheri] was working on a lot of productions, he realised that there are no people of determination in this field, not as editors, not as writers … because there were no opportunities.”
Ms Zalat said the goal of the production was “to show the world that people of determination are capable of doing such work on an international level”.
Maitha Al Mansouri, director of marketing and communication at ZHO, said: “We want to target cinema on an international level from new perspectives. Why should people of determination only play the role of someone with a disability? They could play other roles, too.”
FilmGate has already recruited four disabled script writers.
Jourey Al Azmi from Kuwait, Ahmed Al Hajji from Oman, Mouhannad Al Akous from Syria, and Shady Todary from Egypt were selected from about 300 applicants.
Al Azmi, 20, is a Kuwait University student and a volunteer writer for Al Amal digital newspaper who has a special interest in writing about people of determination.
“I am used to writing articles and novels, but I had never written a script for drama production before, so it was like an adventure for me to apply,” said Al Azmi, who is visually impaired.
Nonetheless, she felt intrigued to take part in “the very beautiful initiative”.
“It felt nice to put my stamp on it,” she said.
Al Hajji, 50, has been writing since he was a child, but losing the ability to walk in a car crash in 1998 pushed him towards writing his first novel.
“On November 30 of that year, I moved from the world of the physically healthy to a very different world,” he said.
After seeking treatment abroad in vain, the teacher wrote a novel about his experience, For Pain There is Another Side. It was published in 2015.
“In 2005, my computer crashed and I lost everything that I had written,” he said.
A few years later, he decided to start again and it proved to be a success at the Muscat Book Fair.
Last weekend, FilmGate began receiving applications for a director and an executive producer from all over the world.
The search to fill those roles is expected to continue for a few months and will be followed by the casting of actors.
Filming for the series is set to take place mainly in Abu Dhabi, with a plan to start shooting towards the end of the year.
Applications can be made on the Zayed Higher Organisation for People of Determination website.
FilmGate wants to show off creative talents of Arab world’s people of determination