Dubai-based distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment has promoted Nicolas Torloting, Carine Chaiban and Elie Touma to partners as the company increases activity in the region.
The trio joined in early 2019 as part of a revamp of the company, which is one of the leading distributors of independent and genre films in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Torloting is Front Row’s COO, with Chaiban heading post-theatrical sales and Touma leading acquisitions and theatrical distribution.
The company, founded by Gianluca Chakra in 2003, handles the release of more than 200 films per year, with a large number of those titles released theatrically through Front Row’s distribution network, which includes joint ventures with leading exhibition chains Muvi Cinemas in KSA and the Kuwait National Cinema Company (Cinescape) in Kuwait.
These include wrestling comedy Sattar, which proved a success at the Saudi box office, released by Front Row through its joint venture with Muvi.
Front Row has also moved into licensing to streamers, becoming the first to premiere films day and date in MENA during the Covid pandemic as well as curating several Arabic cinema collections on Netflix and other platforms. The company also has a multi-year output deal with local pay-TV and SVOD firm beIN Media Group.
Front Row has also moved into the development and production of Arabic films and TV series, releasing its first production – the Arabic adaptation of Italian hit Perfect Strangers – on Netflix in 2022. It marked the streamer’s first Arabic original feature, topping the platform’s most-viewed charts in 2022 in many countries in the region including Morocco, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
The next film from Front Row’s production arm is Matty Brown’s thriller The Sand Castle, which filmed in Beirut and reunites Nadine Labaki with Zain Al Rafeea, the Syrian refugee who appeared alongside her in 2018 Cannes jury prize winner Capernaum. It is set for release early next year.
Torloting, Chaiban and Touma “have been vital to the company’s expansion in both the distribution and production arena,” said Chakra.
The announcement was made during Red Sea International Film Festival, where Front Row has several titles playing, among them Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy And The Heron, Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla and Ali Kalthami’s satirical Saudi drama Mandoob, which world premiered at Toronto.
Last week, it was revealed that Front Row Productions has backed Untamed Talent, a new management and production company led by former Mister Smith Entertainment executive Antone Saliba. Its initial client roster of award-winning writers and directors includes Abu Bakr Shawky, whose feature Hajjan premiered at Toronto and plays Red Sea this week; Bassel Ghandour, the Oscar-nominated writer and producer of Theeb,; and Amjad Al Rasheed, whose debut Inshallah A Boy became the first feature from Jordan to premiere at Cannes and plays in competition at this year’s Red Sea.
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