Loading ...Meet the Guys Trying to Bring a Muslim Show to Netflix
Ahmad Hussam, 24, and his partner Nick Armero, 25, have made it their mission to bring Islamic history into the spotlight. They are the co-founders of Peace House, a production studio based in Tampa, FL that has been churning out powerful documentaries and viral social media video content highlighting important stories in an entertaining way for the masses. Now, they’ve re-released a new trailer for their flagship series “Salahadin,” which tells the story of the prolific Muslim leader during the time of the Crusades. And they’re taking it all the way to Netflix.
Since Hollywood’s rise at the turn of the century, religious and cultural histories have been immortalized in the entertainment business. We’ve glorified stories such as “The Crusades,” “Passion of the Christ,” and “Cleopatra.” We’ve even taken a closer look at individual stories within mass past tragedies such as “Schindler’s List” to search for the universal lessons that transcend time. Recently, even television has incorporated more religious context within their shows, like NBC’s 12-episode series “A.D. The Bible Continues.”
However, one thing remains consistent within the entertainment industry in regards to “acceptable” money-making productions: they can be exclusionary of the histories of other peoples, become melded into an oriental vision, showcase a revised history, or perpetuate a limited understanding of the people they claim to portray. Despite Muslim viewers of our globalized movie industry both in the United States and abroad, it’s safe to say that Hollywood has given Islam that very treatment.
Ahmad and Nick have made it their goal to change that – by taking their Netflix pitch for the “Salahadin” series straight to the public through social media, using the hashtag #NetflixListen.
TELL US ABOUT PEACE HOUSE AND SOME OF THE WORK YOU’VE BEEN DOING.
Peace House is the name of our production studio. After we created the “Salahadin” project, Nick and I decided we wanted to open a studio dedicated to telling stories with the intention of creating positive change. We’ve produced a number of short documentaries about various topics. For example, we traveled to Kurdistan with Al Jazeera journalist Ali Al-Arian and filmed a short documentary for the Al Jazeera English website. We also hosted an art gallery fundraiser where we featured our short documentary about Syrian refugees going to school in Southern Turkey.
One of our most popular videos was about a daycare that burnt down at our local mosque when an air conditioning unit overheated. When the news posted aerial footage of the fire, bigots took to Facebook to praise the tragedy and express support for the burning of Muslim American children. We thought it would be clever to have Muslim Americans read the hate comments and react to them. The video, “Muslims Read Hate Comments,” went viral online and garnered local and international media coverage.
We’re very proud of the work that we do to try and dispel stereotypes about minorities and raise awareness about different issues. “Salahadin” is our flagship project that we hope will promote dialogue and understanding through entertainment. While we work towards completing “Salahadin,” we also work on short videos and documentaries about various topics.
Source: muslimgirl.net