Special agent

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Paradigm chairman Sam Gores

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Laurence Fishburne

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The Black Eyed Peas

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Coldplay

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Chart toppers: Sting and Cheb Mami duetted on the 1999 smash single ‘Desert Rose'.

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Screen presence: Fishburne was a huge hit at the recent Dubai International Film Festival.

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“I think when you come from this part of the world you have a lot of drive and a lot of ambition.”

Sam Gores, it appears, is lacking in neither. The chairman of Hollywood multi-talent agency Paradigm — born and raised in Nablus to a Palestinian father and a Lebanese mother — is back in the Middle East, and determined to bring the movie business with him.

“I just think they need to figure out ways to make it more feasible for big movies to come here and typically that’s something that has to happen through the bottom line,” he drawls, in a laid-back US accent that seems inconsistent with the stereotypical image of the high-pressure, fast-talkin’ Hollywood superagent.

With the cost of making movies spiralling dramatically, Gores believes destinations like Dubai and Abu Dhabi could have a great advantage over other, more established, filming locations. “If big movies see substantial savings by coming here — for example if you have a US$120m-budget movie and save US$20m — they’ll do it,” he insists. “Typically, however, these talented people don’t like to travel this far so it has to be a good enough reason for them to come all the way here.”

For Gores, the “good enough reason” is a personal one, after his family decided to migrate to the US after the 1967 war. In 1968, they sold whatever remained of their belongings and took off in search of a better life. Gores was just 14 years of age, and hardly spoke a word of English.

Gores’ first agency job lasted two years, and in order to get his foot in the door, he made a choice not to draw any salary during his entire tenure. Five years and two agencies later, Gores was ready to flex his muscles as an entrepreneur opened his first agency, SGA Representation. Within two years, SGA had distinguished itself as an aggressive, shrewdly-managed haven for rising stars.

In 1986 SGA acquired The Jack Fields Agency and changed its name to Gores/Fields. The agency expanded further the following year, bringing ATM & Associates into the fold. And by 1991 Gores/Fields had grown into a formidable talent-fostering organisation.

Between 1992 and 1993 he forged pacts with two other agencies to create the powerhouse now known as Paradigm, a full-service talent and literary entity Gores plans to build into “the Tiffany of agencies.”

Paradigm has offices in Los Angeles, New York City, Monterey (California) and Nashville (Tennessee), and provides across-the-board representation for clients in motion pictures, television, music, comedy and personal appearances, theatre, publishing, new media and commercial endorsements. His clients include such Hollywood heavyweights as Andy Garcia and Laurence Fishburne.

Now, after over 35 years in the US, Gores is trying to make a difference in the Middle East entertainment industry, and in particular alter the way it is perceived in the West. He is flexing his high-powered muscles in both Hollywood and the region and, he says, hoping to generate a more positive world view of Arabic people.

“Maybe if I can facilitate some of those movie deals we could eventually see Arabs playing interesting people like doctors or lawyers, and people of certain intellect, not necessarily just cab drivers and terrorists,” says Gores. “The film industry here can be very good for the economy, but there is a lot of work still yet to do.

“What they really need is some signature movies that they can say were made here, not necessarily just a week here or a week there like ‘Syriana’ or ‘The Kingdom’,” he says.

The uniqueness of locations such as the UAE, Gores insists, is that they have not yet been extensively used as backdrops for movies, which makes them intriguing for both moviemakers and audiences alike.
And while Dubai has already been used as a setting for a couple of recent Hollywood pictures, Gores is convinced it is essential to “facilitate meaningful agreements” between the big players in the region and the US film industry.

This includes improvements in how potential local filmmakers and crews are educated, as well as ensuring that the appropriate infrastructure is in place within the region. One of the reasons that has made Morocco a hotspot for making movies, Gore explains, is its ability and flexibility when it comes to supplying local crew. Such readiness makes a country infinitely more accessible — and therefore more attractive — as a filming destination.

“Ultimately, there are many local people needed for making a movie and I think they should be able to supply those people easily,” he says, suggesting that one way to meet demand might be to open a company in Dubai’s first upcoming mega-production facility, Dubai Studio City.

Following discussions with the project’s executive director Dr Amina Al Rustamani, and director general Jamal Al Sharif, Gores says he has also set his mind on bringing a specific signature movie to the area to help “legitimise the region". The movie, starring Laurence Fishburne and based on Brazilian author Paulo Coelho’s international bestseller The Alchemist, “could be shot in either the emirate of Abu Dhabi or Morocco,” says Gores.

Gores holds a similar ambition when it comes to the music industry, especially as his preferences are directed towards Arabic music.

Such personal predilection, however, has not prevented him from building a client list that includes superstars such as Coldplay, The Black Eyed Peas, Aerosmith, Tracy Chapman, Gorillaz, Wyclef Jean, Sarah McLachlan and many others. He particularly recalls the duet between Sting and Cheb Mami, which resulted in the hit single ‘Desert Rose’. He points out that the song’s final cut was largely dominated by the Western artist — and is hopeful that such weighting will change.

“I really believe that one day I’m going to be able to facilitate an actual even-handed combination of Arabic music and American music,” he insists. “What we are aiming for is more of a 50-50 split, where you have a very big American artist and a very popular Middle Eastern artist.”

For Gores, it appears, such ambition is just the beginning. “In the entertainment business when you have the right assets or the opportunity you can have an original thought or create new things that perhaps no one else has done before,” he smiles. “That’s the most challenging part for me now — and that’s why I’m here.”

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