Memphis-based Wafilms launches fund to develop streaming content
May was a big month for local filmmaker Waheed Alqawasmi announced plans for a fall production on his first feature, starring “The Sopranos” and “Goodfellas” star Lorraine Bracco. Later in the month, Alqawasmi, who heads Wafilms, announced the launch of his firm’s original content development fund, “which will finance the creation of original content to meet the demand from streaming platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, and Hulu.”
In recent years, Alqawasmi’s Memphis-based company, Wafilms, has created commercials for such clients as Cheerios and Zappos shoes. Alqawasmi also worked for a while as a national creative director at the Fox television network, promoting such programs as “New Girl.”
The Wafilms fund — which will be “focused on creative diversity and quality” — is set to produce a variety of scripted TV shows and feature films. A statement announcing the fund — which did not cite specific figures — noted it would be “dedicated to financing creative ventures to spark new opportunities, benefit workers in the region’s entertainment industry and help businesses get back to business amid the COVID crisis.”
“Our aim is to be a little economic engine,” said Alqawasmi, a 33-year-old Germantown High School graduate who came to Memphis from Jordan when he was a teenager. “We want to help create new jobs and new opportunities as we work through this national health emergency and foster brighter days ahead.”
Memphis and Shelby County Film Commissioner Linn Sitler added that the announcement of Wafilms’ expansion “is wonderful and well-timed news.”
Wafilms announced that Bracco, an Oscar and Emmy nominee, would star in “Jacir,” the feature directorial debut of Alqawasmi to be filmed in Memphis.
Slated to be shot over 21 days starting in September, “Jacir” will star Bracco as an opioid-addicted ex-blues singer turned fearful ultra-conservative shut-in who clashes with her new duplex neighbor, a shell-shocked Syrian refugee named Jacir (which means “benevolent”), played by Beirut-born actor and songwriter Malek Rahbani.
According to Wafilms, production on “Jacir” will proceed in conjunction with “Covid-related guidelines developed by the CDC, Film Unions, Health Departments, and Hollywood task forces to help ensure health and safety of crews, talent and clients on the job.”
“We have personal protective equipment, medics and producers who are trained in health and safety compliance to make sure everything we film is safe for crews, talent and clients,” added Alqawasmi.