Front Row & Rocket Science’s Yalla Yalla Hires Head Of Development & Production

Yalla Yalla, the production JV between Middle East distributor Front Row and London-based sales firm Rocket Science, has hired Maia Malas as Head of Development & Production, based in Dubai.

Since 2016, Malas has been working in Dubai where she consulted for OSN before moving to indie production company Genomedia Studios, helping to establish a development arm and building a TV slate and scripting team.

Her first development role was at BBC Media Action where she worked on TV series including Dawaran Shoubra (by Amro El Daly) and Zaat (by Mariam Naoum).

Since 2012, Malas has run her own development consultancy, Metis Media, overseeing a number of films, documentaries and series with clients in the UK and across the Arab region. She created and managed Hakawati Project, a documentary shorts program with Reuters, that enabled first-time Syrian filmmakers to produce short docs. She also worked for feature script initiatives such as Dahshour Film Focus in Egypt (Youssef Chahine and Co).

Front Row CEO Gianluca Chakra said of the hire: “We are convinced that Maia will add another layer of success to our future and to our contribution to the local film and TV industry.”

Yalla Yalla’s slate includes the Arabic-language update of Intouchables and Terry George series The Alexandria Killings. The Arabic-language update of Perfect Strangers, starring Nadine Labaki, is in post-production.