Uri Singer's TaleFlick platform connects Saudi storytellers with Hollywood
By Muhammad Ahmad
TaleFlick, the online story discovery platform launched by White Noise producer Uri Singer and former Netflix executive George Berry, is opening its doors to poets in a move it says is driven by a desire to welcome submissions that “embody essence, history, history” and the vibrant traditions of Saudi Arabia’s culture.”
Storytelling in the Arab world is traditionally associated with oral history and poetry. The stated goal of creating TaleFlick – which provides writers with an opportunity to pitch their work to producers and studios – is to build a bridge between Saudi songs and Hollywood.
Singer, CEO of Teleflick, said in a statement to CNN: “Poetry is the beating heart of Saudi culture, and has a deep resonance with its people and heritage.” He added: “By embracing poems, we aim to honor and elevate this beautiful art form, and provide a platform for transforming these stories into powerful visual novels.”
TaleFlick's expansion from fiction and non-fiction novels and screenplays to poetry from around the world will allow poets from Saudi Arabia and beyond “to share their unique voices and stories with a global audience,” according to a statement.
She added that the poems submitted to TaleFlick will be curated and submitted to a network of studios and producers, “providing a unique opportunity to adapt these works of poetry into films, television series, and other forms of visual storytelling.” Submitted songs will be available to studios and producers around the world.
Singer pointed out that it is possible to present Saudi poems in Arabic, “since our coordination team also includes translators and poets from the region.” The application process is free.
One year ago, TaleFlick – which launched in 2018 – expanded its reach beyond the English-speaking world, accepting submissions in Arabic, Spanish, Hindi, Japanese and South Korean as well.
The statement said that TaleFlick's next planned step in this initiative is to select participants from songs submitted to the site, to give them an opportunity to participate in a reality show called “House of Poems.”
This would not be new, as in the Middle East there is already a “Million’s Poet”, a kind of “American idol” for poets of the Arab region, men and women, which has been broadcasting since 2007 on Abu Dhabi TV to a million viewers throughout the Arab world.
Of course, links already exist between poetry and cinema in the region.
A recent example of the intersection of poetry and cinema in Saudi Arabia is Mohammed Al-Salman’s absurdist drama “The Crow Song,” which Saudi Arabia submitted to the Academy Awards last year. It tells the story of a young man named Nasser, who, after being diagnosed with a brain tumor, is persuaded by his best friend to meet... A mysterious woman falls in love with her by singing a love song.
Singer, who participated in the Red Sea Film Festival in Saudi Arabia last year — and plans to return — is a prolific producer best known for “Marjory Prime,” “White Noise” and “Tesla.” According to reports, his upcoming projects include two films rooted in the region, the feminist revenge thriller “Berta” by Palestinian director Messalon Hamoud, and the Saudi oil story by British director John Amell “The Lucky Sands.”
..........................................
You can submit a poem by clicking here.