A Young Saudi's Online Gambit – washingtonpost.com
A Young Saudi’s Online Gambit – washingtonpost.com
Comedy Writer Launches Site for 20-Something Arabs Starved for Entertainment
By Faiza Saleh Ambah
Washington Post Foreign Service
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia A desire to bring to life his favorite heroes in Islamic history initially spurred Thamer al-Sikhan toward storytelling, and he wrote for hours every day: first historic series, then drama and comedy shows, and finally, when he was in college, a screenplay.
But in a country without much of an entertainment culture, with no movie industry, no performing arts schools, where cinemas are banned and television production is in its infancy, Sikhan knocked on many doors but could not find a way to bring his stories to the screen.
Then one evening, while watching an American Internet-based series, the animated “Happy Tree Friends,” it was as if “a light bulb switched on” in his head, he said. “I thought: This is what I’m going to do. I don’t need anyone else. I’ll produce the shows myself, on the Web.”