It wasn’t so long ago that Hollywood was painting Caucasian actors’ faces to play Native Americans. It wasn’t so long ago that Latino actors were cast to play Arabs and/or Mid-eastern nationalities. Things are definitely changing. Check out this release. At the bottom is the email address to contact them:
Muslim American Casting announces its official launch as the first agency to cast Muslim talent in the TV/film and commercial industries.
Washington DC – With an historic weekend ahead of us in which three Muslim actors are nominated for Golden Globe awards, Serena Rasoul, Founder of a new casting agency, MUSLIM AMERICAN CASTING (MAC), says that the work to increase Muslim representation on screen is only just beginning.
“For too long creatives in minority communities have felt left out of Hollywood–either it did not represent them or the barriers to entry were too high. However, we are not new or novel, we are American too and have been for hundreds of years, but are only now being seen–our agency wants to change that,” says Rasoul, a Muslim Actress herself.
Muslim American Casting, is the first agency that will cast and advocate for Muslim and Middle Eastern (or MENASA) talent in the TV/film and commercial industries. With the tagline “Creating spaces, adding new faces,” the agency seeks to work with Producers, Filmmakers and Network Executives who want to include this talent, but aren’t sure where to go. MAC hopes to highlight how racially diverse and multicultural the American Muslim population is by casting men and women from its vast demographic of Black, Arab and South Asian Muslims.
The Agency has been building an extensive database of Muslim and MENASA talent since their official launch on January 20th, 2021–the day the Muslim and African Ban was repealed by President Biden. The agency’s Twitter account read, “On this historic day, we launch our platform. If you are a Muslim American Creative, join us 🙂.”
Rasoul says, “Including Muslims for the sake of including them is not enough. Muslim consumers in America have tremendous spending power, but 90% percent of Muslims say their faith impacts their buying habits. Ignoring them or underserving them is a costly mistake, but blindly marketing to them by just putting a hijabi in an ad or show is insufficient. They need to be on screen and behind the scenes being focus grouped, or consulted in writers rooms for shows being written about them. Or better yet, be the writers themselves.”
The agency also offers Consulting services to productions seeking to include Muslim talent, as well as those filming in MENASA countries, by providing pre-production and on-set consultations and customized toolkits.
“We can’t be everything to everyone, nor do we claim to be the voice of the entire US Muslim population, but we can be a starting point, or a resource, for Producers and Brands seeking to be more representative of America in 2021,” says Serena.
MAC continues to build their talent database and is asking talent and their representatives to submit through their website. Producers or Filmmakers seeking to use their talent or consulting services can email them directly at info@MuslimAmericanCasting.com or visit: https://www.muslimamericancasting.com/
