More than a production company
DH’BAB (ضبّاب) seeks to bridge the gap between the film industry in the Middle East and Hollywood. Uniquely positioned as a company that is both American and Saudi, DH’BAB brings knowledge and expertise from Hollywood to projects in the Middle East. Our collaborations and co-productions with American entities will empower Arab creators in telling entertaining stories, without compromising authenticity. We believe that Saudi Arabia is at the cusp of a renaissance and our goal is to provide a sustainable ecosystem for local filmmakers to thrive.
Out of a shared love of genre cinema, co-founders Hisham Fqih and Sultan Tamer created DH’BAB to usher in a new wave of Arab film and television, focusing on narratives with compelling and complex characters. DH’BAB was built on the belief that when it comes to art and entertainment you CAN have your cake and eat it too!
Co-Founders
Hisham Fqih
Hisham Fqih is a multi-hyphen creative straddling both Western and Arab audiences. He started his career in 2011 as a clandestine stand-up comedian in Saudi Arabia's underground scene. His material slowly seeped into the mainstream, granting him the Head of Content position at Telfaz11, a multi-channel network with 24 million subscribers and more than two billion views.
As a filmmaker, Fqih gained international acclaim for producing and starring in Saudi Arabia's submission for the 'Best Foreign Film' category at the 2017 Oscars, “Barakah Meets Barakah”. For his role, he was nominated for a Best Actor Award at the Arab Cinema Awards at Cannes and the film premiered at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. Netflix bought the distribution rights to the film, making it the first Saudi film to display on the streaming service.
Fqih served as the Director of the Middle East Media Initiative (MEMI) at USC's School of Cinematic Arts, a program launched in 2018 to support and mentor Arabic TV writers and producers. Fqih's leadership has helped boost the careers of many individuals in the industry. He has broadened his talents into working on television in the U.S. on the Golden Globe-winning show “Ramy” and Emmy-nominated animated comedy “Big Mouth”, while also starring and producing in some of Saudi's most successful film and TV projects.
Sultan Tamer
Sultan Tamer is a Saudi-based producer, writer, and director whose work includes award-winning short films and viral music videos. After graduating with a film degree from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Sultan has set his sights on contributing to the cinematic and media landscape of his home country Saudi Arabia.
Starting with music videos for artists like Mishaal Tamer, Sultan created an experimental body of work that amassed millions of views by blending Middle Eastern aesthetics with Western production values for the emerging genre of S-Pop. Meanwhile, he would produce award-winning international shorts, such as the Oscar short-listed animation Step into the River, and the New Yorker showcased documentary Dial Home.
With an eye to tell compelling stories from his own culture, Sultan set to develop a TV series set in his home country. The show would be called The Tribe and would be a supernatural survival thriller set in the Rub Al-Khali desert of Saudi Arabia. With this idea he was accepted into the prestigious MEMI program to further develop the show, culminating in a first-look deal with Netflix.
Since the founding of DH’BAB, Sultan’s goal has been to create and support compelling genre stories from the Middle East, that would help break cultural barriers and stereotypes.