My conversation with film producer Mohamed Hefzy
I’m joined on the show this week by Mohammed Hefzy, the award-winning film producer behind mega hits such as Clash, Sheikh Jackson, Microphone, Paranormal, and Perfect Strangers, to name but a few of the films that make up his incredible catalogue of work.
Hefzy began his career as a screen writer but made the transition to producing quite quickly, realising he wanted more control of the film-making process as a whole. This led to the formation of his company, The Film Clinic, where he not only develops his own movies but produces new and emerging talent as well.
I wanted to have more control over how films are getting made because I could see a lot of good scripts turning into bad films. And I realized that the producer has so much to do with how a film turns out. There's so many people with good ideas, there's a lot of underground talent that don't have a voice or a way into this very closed loop.
–Mohamed Hefzy
EFG Holding, a trailblazing financial institution with a universal bank in Egypt and the leading investment bank franchise in frontier and emerging markets.
Hefzy and I go way back to his pre-film industry days when we were both London-based. Meeting in a formal interview setting gave me a license to ask all my nerdy questions about the film industry that you can't get away with at a party!
Hefzy was president of the Cairo film festival for four years and he is a regular of the international film festival circuit, and can be spotted at Cannes, Sundance and Venice, as both a jury member as well as in competition. Hefzy was cited among 30 future leaders in film production by Screen International, and was among Variety's 500 list of the most influential people in the media industry worldwide.
