“Creative Consultants” play a pivotal role in Rawi Screenwriters Lab as they carefully go through all the submitted scripts making sure the ones selected are those showing promise and most likely to benefit from the lab.
Following is the list of
Rawi Creative Consultants for the past four rounds, in addition to a brief bio for each:
Rawi 2022 Creative Consultants
Andrew Meehan, Ireland
Andrew Meehan’s debut novel, “One Star Awake”, was longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize, the UK's most prestigious award for debut novelists. It has been described by the Irish Examiner as 'mesmerising, inventive, heart-wrenching, and brilliantly realised. The most interesting debut of 2017.' His second book, “The Mystery of Love”, a unique and moving reimagining of the relationship between Oscar and Constance Wilde, was published by Head of Zeus in 2020. Forthcoming is Meehan’s third novel, “Instant Fires”, which will be published by New Island in autumn 2022.
Prior to his focus on fiction, Meehan was for many years Head of Development at the Irish Film Board. There, he nurtured numerous Irish feature-films, including the Oscar-nominated animated feature “Song of the Sea”, Lenny Abrahamson’s “What Richard Did”, and the ground-breaking comedy “Good Vibrations”. Meehan also teaches Creative Writing at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow.
Antoine Waked, Lebanon
Antoine Waked has a long experience in the field of cinema mentorship and education. He is the development executive at Abbout Productions, the leading film production company in Lebanon, the director of the cinema section at Alba University one of the top filmmaking schools in the country and the co-founder and artistic director of Maskoon Fantastic Film Festival, the only fantastic film festival in the Arab world, and the Maskoon Fantastic Lab which helps develop and package Arab genre films.
Other activities include script consultations for many international films, mentorship in various screenwriting labs, and essays and lectures on Arab genre cinema. He also co-directed the award- winning documentary “A Certain Nasser” about the life of pioneer Lebanese filmmaker Georges Nasser.
Daniel Habib, Lebanon
Daniel Habib is a writer, producer, and film connoisseur from Beirut, Lebanon who started his career in 2011 as the lead writer on the second season of the critically acclaimed series "Beirut, I Love You". In 2013, he co-founded and managed Heyoka Media, a digital production house specializing in non-fiction alternative Arabic content across multiple platforms and formats.
Habib now dedicates his time to leading a team of writers developing original Arab Genre fiction as the head writer and co-founder of Last Floor Productions. He also teaches scriptwriting at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts (ALBA) and acts as a consultant for the MBC Shahid streaming platform.
Maia Malas, Jordan
As a Development Executive, Maia Malas focuses on working with Arab talents on ideas from script to screen. Her career started with the written word in Jordan as a young print journalist. She moved to London in 2003 to work in media training before focusing on development and production since 2008. Currently, Malas is heading development at Yalla Yalla for Front Row Filmed Entertainment.
Storytelling is a form of live anthropology, so seeking authentic narrative is key. Projects she works on often explore notions of culture, identity, family, society, economics, and education in the Arab context. She has worked with mainstream TV channels, independent production companies, and media development organizations. Malas spent several years with BBC Media Action where they created and produced two award- winning drama series. She has also worked on award-winning documentary shorts, feature length films, and unscripted TV programmes.
Miquel Escuredo, Spain
Journalist and cinema programmer, Miquel Escuredo’s articles have been published in magazines such SoFilm, Dirigido Por, and Caimán Cuadernos de Cine.
He is a programmer at La Semaine de la Critique at the Cannes Film Festival and at the Belfort Entrevues Festival.
He also works at Chinechilex (Chilean film directors association) with Pamela Varela, in addition to being the agent and curator of the avant-garde film directors collective Obscuritads.
Mohamed Sayed, Egypt
Mohamed Sayed is a film critic and journalist who is the artistic director of Port Said Film Festival and former artistic director of Sharm El-Sheikh Asian Film Festival. He is also a programmer for Red Sea International Film Festival, Ismailia International Festival for Documentaries and Short Films, and Alexandria Film Festival for Mediterranean Countries.
Sayed wrote “Khairy Beshara: The Rebel” which was published by Red Sea Film Festival. He also wrote various articles published in papers, magazines, and websites in Egypt and other Arab countries.
He is a member of the Egyptian Film Critics Association (EFCA), and the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI), and a jury member in several international and domestic film festivals.
Sarah El-Nawasrah, Saudi Arabia
Sarah El-Nawasrah is an Arab-American filmmaker from Saudi Arabia. She produced the short film “Dunya’s Day”, which premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and won the Short Film Jury Award for International Fiction. She also produced “Becoming”, an anthology feature film written and directed by Saudi women and funded by the Red Sea Film Festival.
Most recently, El-Nawasrah managed the Project Market at the inaugural Red Sea Film Festival, where the teams behind films in development sought financing by creating and presenting video pitches, meeting with international film industry professionals, and competing for awards.
While pursuing an MA in Human Rights Studies from Columbia University, El-Nawasrah stumbled upon a new purpose as a filmmaker translating and subtitling Saudi shorts. She holds a BA in Psychology and Global Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Rawi 2021 Creative Consultants
Georges Hachem graduated from Louis Lumière National School in Paris, and previously studied theater at the Lebanese University.
His portfolio features several short films created in the framework of acting workshops that he regularly coached, since 1992, in Paris and Beirut.
In 2010, he successively wrote and directed “Evening Mass”, a short narrative, and “Stray Bullet”, a feature narrative starring Nadine Labaki.
Awarded in many international festivals, “Stray Bullet” was named Best Arab Film at Dubai International Film Festival.
In 2016, he wrote, produced, and directed “Still Burning”, a feature narrative starring Wajdi Mouawad, Adila Bendimerad and Fadi Abi Samra.
Today, Hachem is finalizing “Were it not for Metro”, a feature documentary portraying the stage performers of a cabaret show playing in Beirut since 2013.
Margaret Glover’s career spans theatre, film and television as dramaturg, script editor, writer, and producer. She co-wrote and co-produced Ahmed Al Daradji’s debut feature “Hanging Gardens”, which began its journey as “Children of the Forbidden” with Rawi Screenwriters Lab in 2017 and won the Jury of La Biennale di Venezia Prize for the best film in post-production in September 2021. Other recent feature film credits include co-producer for Roz Mortimer’s “The Deathless Woman”, BFI London Film Festival premiere 2019, Special Jury Award from Ake Dikhea Festival of Romani Film 2020 and currently touring the UK and Europe and script editor on Evi Roman’s “Why Not You” (aka Hochwald), Focus Prize at Zurich International Film Festival 2020 and currently on release in Europe. Previous credits include co-editor with writer-director Ali Jaberansari on “Falling Leaves”, which premiered at Montreal International Film Festival 2013 and won Federico Fellini Award for best international newcomer at the Tiburon International Film Festival 2014, and co-writer on several international features, including “Shadows in the Sun”, best original screenplay at Houston Worldfest 2009. Glover is currently in development on a feature film with Italian-Swiss documentary director Francesca Scalisi.
Nadine Toukan is a producer, development executive, regional learning environment enabler, and a creative advisor to Arab and international film programs. Over the past fifteen years, she has created foundational initiatives and productions toward the evolution of Jordan’s contemporary cinematic movement within the emerging creative economy, with the private and public sectors. Toukan has produced commercially released, award-winning, Oscar-nominated films that include some of Jordan’s most celebrated fiction features: “Captain Abu Raed”, “When Monaliza Smiled” and “Theeb”. She is currently developing a portfolio of feature and series projects.
Rawi 2019 Creative Consultants
Aseel Mansour is a Jordanian Filmmaker, born in 1977 in Iraq. He moved to Jordan in 1991, and lived in the UAE between 2004 and 2011 where he worked as a worldwide media strategist for Microsoft. In 2011, Mansour founded ShaShat Multimedia Productions in Amman, where he works as a general manager, executive producer, and director of select shows. He received a Master’s degree in Media Psychology from Walden University (Minnesota, USA) and a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Jordan.
Ayman El Amir is an international script consultant and film producer. He worked as a script consultant for many programs, labs and institutes including TorinoFilmLab, Doha Film Institute, The Film Prize of the Robert Bosch Stiftung, International Marrakesh Film Festival Atlas Workshop and The Royal Film Commission - Jordan. El Amir consults privately on films and leads several international script development workshops and masterclasses. In 2016, he implemented MAHD Film Lab, a Cairo-based script development program open to filmmakers working on Arab film projects and Arab-European co-production. As a producer, his latest work includes the short fiction, (Fakh), selected for the official competition of Semaine de la Critique at Cannes Film Festival 2019 and the feature documentary “Happlie Ever After”, which premiered at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) 2016.
Nora Alsharif is a Jordanian film director best known for her work on the short films “Wednesday Afternoons” and “Ismail”. After a career as a graphic designer, she turned to her passion for filmmaking and moved to London in 2009 where she obtained a Master’s degree in Directing Film from the University of Westminster. Her graduation film “Wednesday Afternoons” won the Don Quixote Jury Award in Poland and was screened at many festivals worldwide. In 2012, she teamed up with her father who wrote the short film “Ismail”, which was selected to participate at the 11th Berlinale Talent Campus, (part of the Berlin International Film Festival) and went on to premiere at the Palm Springs Short Film Festival and won several awards including Best Short Film at the Alexandria Film Festival. Alsharif currently resides in the US where she is developing her first feature film project.
Rawi 2018 Creative Consultants
Aladdin Qaraqish is a writer who works with TV/Film producers, filmmakers and everyone in the creative industry to tell their stories in the most creative and suitable format possible.
Aladdin writes for inspiration and profession, he believes writing is a means of expression and entertainment. Aladdin focuses on a combination of creativity and promptness; in order to deliver the most innovative and creative content that meets the deadline. Adaptability is an essential skill that Aladdin has, through it, he manages to shape his thoughts and hone his imagination in ways that serve the required goal.
Qaraqish has worked with several production houses and animation studios, mostly in the MENA region, including Rubicon, with whom he developed several series bibles, and worked on various other projects. He also worked with Na3m on developing their Saudi Girl Revolution IP. Aladdin joined Emmy Award Winners Arab Telemedia Group in 2012, as a senior writer on the ambitious Sci-Fi Drama Medina, then he wrote and co-wrote several shows including a Historical Fantasy titled “The Mad Arab”, and a historical show about the renowned Andalusian philosopher “Averroes”. Aladdin recently joined a team of writers to develop Netflix’s first locally produced show in Jordan.
Qaraqish holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts from Egypt and a Masters’ Degree in Cinematic Arts from the Red Sea Institute for Cinematic Arts, concentrating in Screenwriting.
David Pope is a filmmaker, script consultant and training provider working internationally.
He has worked as script consultant on single projects and slates in US, Europe, Middle East, North Africa and Asia including work with Academy Award and BAFTA nominated producers and screenwriters and national film funds. In 2016-2018 four feature films and one television drama for which Pope provided script consultancy services have been greenlit into production.
He is the annual consultant / moderator for the Rotterdam Lab at CineMart and co-founder of Stowe Story Labs.
Pope is the director of advance films with whom he has slate of projects. Currently in development with feature film The Belonging and television drama Reconstruction.
Pope recently completed a commission writing the latest draft of the European co-production thriller Tempelhof and has recently been commissioned to write the international co-production psychological thriller Rulin. Directing credits include the award winning feature film Miles from Nowhere.
Previous script development and training clients include:
BFI, UK Film Council, BBC, BAFTA, National Theatre, British Council, Creative Europe, Cannes Cinefondation, Warp Films, Allfilm, Wajda School, Edinburgh International Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival, Polish Film Institute, Media Business School, Cannes Film Festival, Film London, Lionhead Studios, Xingu Films, Irish Film Board, FAS Screen Training Ireland, Filmbase, MEDIA, Jameson Dublin International Film Festival, New Horizons Studio, Estonian Film Institute, Arts Council Malta, London Film Academy and London University amongst many others.
Denise Carlson, USA
Denise Carlson is a producer and development executive with over 20 years of experience in the entertainment business, at companies including William Morris and Disney. At Disney Channel she was the Director of Original Movies, responsible for overseeing the development and production of 47 television movies, including the megahit High School Musical, as well as other highly successful films such as Wendy Wu, Halloweentown and The Cheetah Girls movies.
Under their Developing Pictures banner Carlson and her partner Dawn Wolfrom made the movie Bad Hair day for Disney Channel. They are also developing the features Crossing the Sagamore, Wake Up Little Susie and the series The Faerie Chronicles. In addition, Carlson is developing series projects including Unchained, Flirting with Danger and Big Leagues.
Carlson has done consulting work for several companies including ABC, The Hub children’s network and Basil Street Productions, and she is a producing instructor at New York Film Academy’s Los Angeles campus. She is proud to be on the board of the LA Femme film festival and to help celebrate films by and about women.
Pamela Biénzobas, Chile/France
Pamela Biénzobas is a Chilean-French film critic, journalist and consultant, graduated from University of Chile's Journalism School. Since 2002 she lives in Paris, where she followed postgraduate film studies at universities Paris X and Paris VIII.
As a freelance writer, she has contributed to a number of daily newspapers (Chile's La Tercera, El Mercurio...), magazines (L'Avant-Scène Cinéma, Filmkrant, Senses of Cinema, Revista IN, GQ Latin America...) and books (Larousse's Dictionnaire Mondial du Cinéma, El novísimo cine chileno…). She co-founded Revista de Cine Mabuse.cl (active until 2016) in 2002. She wrote the booklet "Errancias" for the Ibero-American film association Cinema23, and is an adviser for their Fénix Awards.
Vice-president of the Académie des Lumières, of foreign journalists supporting French cinema through the Prix Lumières. Jury member for the Arab Cinema Center’s Critics’ Awards for 2018. Former vice-president of FIPRESCI (2005-2010), still in charge of coordinating special awards such as the Grand Prix or the FIPRESCI prizes in Cannes.
She has a long experience as a consultant for film funds and special programs, evaluating applications, nominating candidates or coaching and accompanying projects for pitching (Rolex Mentor & Protégé, Doha Film Institute, Biennale College, Torino Film Lab, Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Residency, Abycine Lanza industry event…); as a moderator of Q&As, master-classes and press conferences for film festivals (Rotterdam Film Festival, Berlinale Forum, Gijón Film Festival, Transatlantyk Lodz…), and programming (film cycles, Chilereality documentary festival – now extinct).