EXCLUSIVE: Industry vet Ziad Kebbi is taking charge at MForMedia with a remit to take the Dubai-based production biz in a new direction built on the ownership of IP. “The best stories from this region have not been told yet,” the exec said as he stepped into his new role.
Kebbi becomes Managing Director at MForMedia, which Khalil Homeissy and Ralph Matar launched a decade ago. The founding duo will stay and oversee group strategy.
The company has a track record of producing big international formats regionally. Its credits include the local version of Carpool Karaoke, The X Factor and Takeshi’s Castle.
With Kebbi as MD, the plan is to re-engineer MForMedia into a studio built on creating and owning IP across scripted and unscripted. The other pillars of the new-look biz will be digital content and AI production.
Kebbi is a seasoned player. The Lebanese-born exec’s previous roles include stints as Managing Director of Endemol Middle East, President of Sony Pictures Television Arabia, and CEO of Talpa Middle East. His credits include nine seasons of the huge regional hit The Voice Arabia.
“What drew me to MForMedia is what Khalil and Ralph have built: a real production company, with real delivery muscle and relationships earned over a decade,” Kebbi said. “The region is living its most exciting chapter, and the next great wave of Arabic content will belong to those who can move across genres and platforms without compromising on craft.”
He added: “My focus is exactly that: building on this foundation to create, source and produce content across non-scripted, scripted, and digital, shaped by the tools and thinking of what is coming, not what has been.”
Matar said: “Khalil and I have built this company on a simple promise: deliver, every time, at the highest standard. You protect what you have built by preparing it for what comes next, and there is no one better prepared for what comes next than Ziad.”
Homeissy added: “This industry is moving faster than it ever has, and the companies that will lead it are the ones that combine deep production craft with real creative networks across the region and beyond. Ziad brings both.”
