Fighting for the advancement and visibility of Middle Eastern, North African and South West Asian writers, creatives, and performers on-screen in film, television, and streaming platforms.
DISRUPT & ADVANCE
Fighting for the advancement and visibility of Middle Eastern, North African and South West Asian, MENA-SWANA writers, creatives, and performers.
78%
of MENA characters on television are portrayed as trained terrorists/agents/soldiers or tyrants, exacerbating the stereotype of MENA persons as threats.
per “Terrorist & Tyrants” Study presented by MAAC.
0 0 0
ZERO MENA Leads in Film
ZERO MENA Female Film Writers
ZERO MENA Female Film Directors
92
out of the top 100 films in 2019 had no Middle Eastern North African (MENA) females in them. Complete erasure of women-of-color on screen can be seen across all racial/ethnic groups measured, whilst white females were only erased from 7 movies.
The Epidemic of Invisibility in Film, per USC Annenberg’s Impact Report
Our Impact
Our Impact is far and wide. Little did we know that 5 years ago when we successfully lobbied MENA to the SAG-AFTRA - AMPTP contracts, the term would become the industry standard in finally defining our communities as diverse and help us demand inclusion. With the success of adding the MENA hiring category, it lead to being able to show, in hard data, the way we’ve been portrayed on screen. Presenting the 1st study of its kind on MENA representation on Television was a call to action for all executives, showrunners, writers, and studios to do better. Our data has been used now globally in conversations around the harsh reality for on-screen portrayals for MENA performers. Our lobbying efforts have pushed major Universities and researchers to begin to measure MENA representation on screen, launched various MENA and MENASA clubs at Universities across the US. Inspired MENA Arts advocacy groups in the UK and Canada. Helped launch the WGA’s writer’s committee, and created MENA recognition in the Academy’s hiring standards and practices for the OSCARS!
What is MENA & MENASA?
MENA is an acronym for the Middle Eastern, North African region of countries ranging from Morocco to Egypt, Jordan to Iran into Central Asia to include Afghanistan and the entire region in between.
MENASA includes the regions above and adds Bangladesh, Sir Lanka, Pakistan, and India.
Our Story
In 2014, at a major television network pilot table read, our founder, Azita Ghanizada, was informed she was considered white. A conflict for the show she was just cast in, as they needed to report their diversity hires and she was one of the few. Azita informed them she was from South/Central Asia, and could luckily be counted as Asian. But her Middle Eastern appearance did not look Asian at first glance, and Azita knew that there was a major blindspot in the hiring and inclusion of people from her part of the world. She immediately went home to research who could assist her with this, and quickly learned there were no organizations in Hollywood that specifically protected, serviced and advanced the interests of Middle Eastern North African (MENA) performers, and so MAAC was born.
MENA Arts Advocacy in the News
A GLOBAL DATABASE FOR MIDDLE EASTERN, NORTH AFRICAN AND SOUTH ASIANS IN ENTERTAINMENT
The MAAC database is your place to discover both established and emerging MENA and South Asian Talent, and to be discovered and seen for more opportunities in Film, TV, Streaming Platforms, and Digital Projects.