DS: What’s does a typical day at the office involve for you?
HK: Aside from constantly chasing a coffee fix, the team and I are usually glued to our desks reading scripts or taking meetings for potential new projects. On a more exciting day, you’ll find the team and I on set with the directors and producers. Being on set is very exciting, you watch the creation of creativity and hard work come to life.
DS: What first inspired you to work in the film and TV industry?
HK: It turned from a hobby to an obsession pretty quickly after watching The Godfather at a college film class. It was also a little poetic having the director himself (Francis Ford Coppola) at my graduation ceremony.
DS: What involvement have you had in some of Image Nation Abu Dhabi’s successful projects?
HK: I’ve been part of four feature films with Image Nation, including Scales, which recently won the Verona award at the prestigious Venice Film Festival.
DS: List three of your most memorable Image Nation projects and tell us why they are special to you?
Shabab Sheyab — It was the very first feature I worked on and had a group of great actors and a terrific director.
Rashid & Rajab — We had an exciting time on set and I also had the pleasure of working with the creator of Freej, Mohammad Saeed Harib.
Zinzana — They filmed this before I joined, but as a horror fan it is one of my favorite Image Nation projects.
DS: Tell us a bit about the latest projects you are working on.
HK: We are currently working on an Egyptian vampire film with some big Arab stars, you’ll be hearing a lot more soon, but the production was fantastic.
DS: Where do you see the next few years take us in terms of UAE productions?
HK: It feels like, with the historic opening up of Saudi Arabia and under the Vision 2030 programme, the UAE and our regional industry is buzzing again with projects. Image Nation Abu Dhabi, Majid Al Futtaim and MBC Studios are launching a major production partnership for film and TV projects across the Middle East. Such partnerships will have substantial impact on UAE productions in the next few years.