Saudi-based MBC Studios appoints Samar Akrouk as managing director

Riyadh-based MBC Studios has appointed Samar Akrouk as managing director, taking over from Christina Wayne.

Arouk has been with MBC Group for nearly three decades and will retain her current role as group director of production.

As managing director, Akrouk will lead MBC Studios’ ongoing work in expanding the reach of its content to audiences around the world. She will be managing the entity’s mission to leverage the ongoing trend for non-English-language television content to reach more global markets.

In her current role as group director of production she leads a team of producers, directors, technicians, and creators, directly overseeing all of MBC Group's non-scripted productions including chat shows, social programming, game shows and competitions, comedy, as well as local adaptations of international franchises: Arab Idol, Arab’s Got Talent, Project Runway, Top Chef, The Voice: Arabia, and X Factor Arabia.

Samar Akrouk also headed the production team of the Arabic musical film Sukkar, inspired by the novel Daddy-Long-Legs by American writer Jean Webster.

MBC Studios is the in-house premium content production arm of MBC Group, a media conglomerate that operates multiple TV channels, three radio stations, and Arabic streaming platform Shahid. 

MBC Group is looking to expand into high-profile original productions, having nabbed the opening film slot at 2023's Red Sea Film Festival with HWJN. It was also one of the companies behind Desert Warrior starring Anthony Mackie, which filmed in Neom.