Al-Ghanim Entertainment Launching with Wes Craven’s ‘Girl in the Photographs’
Kuwaiti industrialist Nawaf Alghanim has launched Al-Ghanim Entertainment as a financing-production company based in Los Angeles and Kuwait.
Alghanim is the CEO with partners Andrea Chung, Krystal Tiffany Vayda and Brandon M. Vayda, and is a member of the Al-Ghanim founding family of Kuwait.
Al-Ghanim Entertainment will back two to four films a year with budgets up to $15 million, mostly in the action and horror genres.
The company’s first project is “The Girl in the Photographs” with horror icon Wes Craven executive producing and Craven’s protege Nick Simon (writer of “The Pyramid”) directing. Chung will produce with Thomas Mahoney; Brandon M. Vayda and Krystal Tiffany Vayda will executive produce alongside Craven and Alghanim.
The film is inspired by the “Scream” franchise and set against the backdrop of the fashion world.
Alghanim told Variety that the venture marks the first time for private Kuwaiti investment in film production outside the Kuwaiti goverment. His family owns international conglomerates and has investments in the majority of theaters in Kuwait.
The venture was unveiled Friday, the second day of the Sundance Film Festival. Chung is a producer on Benson Lee’s “Seoul Searching,” a drama centered on Koreans raised outside Korea, which will make its world premiere Jan. 30 at Sundance.
“With the inception of this company, we wanted to build a bridge between East and West that not only nurtures talent and fosters the creative vision, but creates content that inspires as well as entertains global audiences,” Alghanim said. “We will remain grounded with our projects, yet will always be open to explore the dynamic new media landscape that is forming in the marketplace in various parts of the world.”
Alghanim most recently served as a civil engineer for Gulf Consult in Kuwait. He has a master’s degree in civil engineering from California State University at San Jose.
Chung also produces and advises for Bowery Hills Entertainment, where she’s produced IFC’s “The Damned,” starring Peter Facinelli and Sophia Myles, and “Passion Play,” starring Mickey Rourke and Bill Murray.
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