Celebrating 15 Years of MAD Solutions with Vogue Arabia

In a rare honor, fashion magazine Vogue Arabia has selected 11 stars from across MAD Solutions’ glittering client list to adorn alternative front covers of its April edition as part of a special editorial tribute to MAD’s 15th anniversary and the “power of regional cinema and TV.”

The celebration doesn’t end here, however; fans of MAD’s prolific talent agency, MAD Celebrity, can look forward to even more collaborations, drops, and reveals throughout the coming few weeks as the 15 Years of MAD Season goes into full swing.

Founded in 2009, MAD Solutions is the Cairo-headquartered independent film studio that has grown to become both the world’s largest distributor of Arabic film content as well as the world’s largest promotional agency and management company for Arab creative talent.

Trailblazing Egyptian superstar Youssra is just one of the MAD Celebrity clients who is lighting up Arab magazine stands right now. Also starring on Vogue Arabia’s covers are leading Arab talents Menna Shalaby, Nour, Ahmed Hatem, Tara Emad, Razane Jammal, and Huda El Mufti.

Featured alongside them are not only upcoming stars such as Nour El Nabawy and Summer Shesha, but also behind-the-camera stars such as the blockbusting director Marwan Hamed and award-winning costume designer Reem El Adl.

“We decided to include them as we don’t usually celebrate or value who is on the backstage, but without writers, directors, assistants, wardrobe and set designers we would not have an industry,” explained Vogue Arabia Editor-in-Chief Manuel Arnaut.

As part of the tribute, Vogue sat down with these regional legends and superstars-in-the-making to discuss what they’ve been up to recently, the nuances of their crafts, their personal lives, and how Ramadan dramas impacted their growth as artists in their youth.

It also sat down to talk with the man in the driving seat, Co-Founder and CEO of MAD Solutions Alaa Karkouti, along with MAD Celebrity Executive Director and partner Kareem Samy on what the pan-Arab film industry looked like more than 15 years ago and how that prompted the establishment of the agency. They discuss how the company evolved since then, the many firsts it has celebrated in terms of bolstering the exposure of Arab celebrities in the global entertainment industry, and where MAD Celebrity is heading next.

“The biggest change we have created is that there was never a regular international presence of any Arab organization before us,” Karkouti told Vogue.

Among those immediate future plans, revealed Karkouti, will be a high profile Arab talent showcase at next month’s Cannes Film Festival. “In celebration of our 15th anniversary, we are showcasing talents through a series of sessions in collaboration with Marché du film de Cannes,” adding that “there will [also] be panel discussions with regional and international artists to enable networking across industries and borders. We want to help Arab talents land significant international roles.”

One of MAD’s six core operating divisions, MAD Celebrity promotes a blue-chip roster of more than 60 top-tier on- and off-camera talents from 12 different Arab-speaking countries.

The subsidiary also nurtures the budding careers of next-generation talents through MAD Rising Celebrity and has created a label, MAD Crew Celebrity, to promote and represent behind-the-camera talent including filmmakers, screenwriters, producers, cinematographers, costume designers, composers, editors, and many more.

For Samy though, it’s not just about the brand deals, being the first to spotlight an Arab celebrity on the global stage, or hitting new milestones. It’s about playing the long game across the Arab storytelling industry and building sustainable careers. At the end of the day “we pride ourselves on our long-term relationships with all our talents.”

MAD is also prolific in the financing, production, packaging, marketing, and releasing of Arab entertainment content that spans the gamut from festival prize-winners to commercial blockbusters. Other subsidiaries include:

• MAD Marketing, which specializes in sponsorship, marketing campaigns and all things PR, for both companies and films;
• MAD Distribution, which handles the release of film titles that MAD acquires, positions, and supports across the world’s film festival circuits, multiplexes, and streaming platforms;
• MAD Content, its editorial and marketing machine, that creates high-quality multilingual press releases, social media posts, video features, print campaigns, and whatever else it takes to elevate the power of Arab storytelling and creativity;
• Arab Cinema Center, a Berlin-registered non-profit organization that promotes Arab cinema internationally, publishes a magazine for and about the industry and hosts the pioneering Critics’ Awards for Arab Films.