Saudi triple threat Summer Shesha receives grant from Netflix and MEMI

Saudi actress, writer, and director Summer Shesha – along with three other Arab

writers – was chosen on Monday to receive a $30,000 grant from Netflix Middle

East and the Middle East Media Initiative (MEMI).

Saudi actress, writer, and director Summer Shesha

The grant was given in recognition of her exceptional talent and dedication to the

MEMI summer program – a five-week workshop held in Los Angeles.

The joint initiative between Netflix and MEMI aims to promote Arab writers and

their exceptional works. After receiving the grant, the writers will spend six

months developing their series with the guidance of MEMI instructors or a Netflix-

Summer Shesha

approved consultant, after which, they will pitch their finished scripts to Netflix.

The initiative and grant come after Shesha took home the Golden Palm Award for

her role in the film KAYAN at the eighth edition of the Saudi Film Festival.

Shesha's latest works include Maskoon, which landed its world premiere at the

first edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival in 2021. The short film was

directed by Saudi Lina Malaika and the American actor and Oscar-nominee David

Darg, starred American actress Paris Verra alongside Shesha, and was produced

by Carla DiBello and Arabia Plus.

Prior to that, Shesha starred in several films and TV series, including Khaled Nader

Shah’s EXIT 5, which screened at several international festivals. Moreover, she

appeared in JEDDAH AFTER MIDNIGHT, BOOK OF SUN, OTHER PLANET, and

BASHAR 1.

In addition to her film and television projects, Shesha landed leading roles in

several one-act plays, including I AM FORGOTTEN AND IT’S UNFAIR and the

musical monologue BOREDOM PARTY. She also collaborated with Saudi actress

and director Fatima AlBanawi in the two plays STRAIGHT CIRCLE and I AM YOU.

Summer Shesha