MARBLEMEDIA AND FAE PICTURES PARTNER TO DEVELOP AN ORIGINAL POLITICAL DRAMA, ‘SALT’
COMING OFF OF THE TIFF SERIES ACCELERATOR AND ON PLAYBACK MAGAZINE’S
10 TO WATCH CREATOR ABDUL MALIK (NBC’S TRANSPLANT)
EXPOSES THE UNKNOWN WORLD BEHIND UNIONIZATION IN AMERICA
LOS ANGELES/LONDON/TORONTO – November 23, 2022 – marblemedia and Fae Pictures, are excited to announce they are in development on an original, primetime political family drama series Salt, from creator Abdul Malik (NBC’s Transplant, Peace by Chocolate). marblemedia acquired the project earlier this year at the Toronto International Film Festival’s Series Accelerator program.
Salt follows a young man, Mohammad “Mo” Akram, raised by a wealthy Muslim family reeling from a scandal that’s decimated America’s working class. Seeking to make amends for his father’s sins, Mo takes a job as a ‘salt’ and must infiltrate and covertly unionize an opulent international hotel chain in Chicago from the inside, making vulnerable the workers he is seeking to protect and threatening his politically-influential family.
A “salt” is defined as a labour union tactic involving the act of getting a job at a specific workplace with the intent of organizing a union. The person employed to do so is called a “salt.” This series will both entertain and expose the resurgent labour movement currently sweeping America. Today’s modern-day labour awakening will be on full display with this underlying IP as this original series will offer authenticity in a fictional world shaped by Malik’s personal insights working within the labour movement for a decade, within the worlds of salting, organizing, and storytelling.
Recently selected for Playback Magazine’s 10 to Watch, 29-year-old prolific screenwriter Abdul Malik spent a decade on the front lines of labour and environmental movements as a documentarian while he studied film. That led to co-writing the feature film, Peace By Chocolate, which premiered at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival. He is now garnering attention as a screenwriter recently having written on NBC’s Transplant; as well as two feature films, Streams Flow from a River and Queen Tut.
“A series like this is really close to my heart. It aims to do nothing less than articulate the thrilling world of labour unions, a world I know intimately, while speaking to the urgent issues and incredible uplift we’ve seen working class people achieve over the last few years by fighting for their rights. The series explores power in all its forms and knows the moral complexities of its world in a way that makes for rapt television,” shared Abdul Malik, series creator.
“We are thrilled to add Salt to marblemedia’s ever expanding content slate. After meeting Abdul, hearing his story and reading his voice, we knew this was a project we needed to be a part of. The series is aligned with our mandate to share stories that are rooted in authentic voices that are bold, inspiring and have a positive impact. We are proud to develop IP about topics that provoke conversation and galvanize change, while captivating audiences who covet smart, propulsive entertainment”, says Carrie Paupst Shaughnessy, VP Scripted at marblemedia. adding, “We are looking to attract top producing partners, international talent, and a showrunner who will align with Abdul’s creative vision.”
“On our mission to decolonize Hollywood, Salt comes in as a series that shatters our expectations of a political drama featuring an affluent and influential Muslim family against the backdrop of the struggles of America’s working class,” says Shant Joshi, president of Fae Pictures.
Salt is co-produced by marblemedia and Fae Pictures. Malik is repped by META Talent Agency.
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About marblemedia
marblemedia is a global multi award-winning production company anchored in original storytelling. For over 20 years, marblemedia has been trailblazing the future of entertainment across its premium content divisions Primetime Scripted, Unscripted, and Kids & Family. The company has built up a library of over 2100 hours of television.
Recent scripted series include the hit family comedy Overlord and the Underwoods (Hulu, Nickelodeon, CBC, BYUtv, ITV), interconnected family comedies The Parker Andersons/Amelia Parker (Super Channel), and teen series Open Heart (Teen Nick). Currently, the company is developing the drama series Persuasion based on Arlene Dickinson’s bestselling book and Holding Still for as Long as Possible by Zoe Whittall.
Recent unscripted series include the global phenomena Netflix Original Blown Away, Netflix Original Drink Masters, Discovery Original A Cut Above, CBC original Best in Miniature and five seasons of the high-octane competition series All-Round Champion.
Powered by the reach of its own international distribution company, Distribution360, which has sold programming to over 200 territories. The company continues to rack up accolades such as, being named one of Variety’s Reality Impact Report 2022’s “Titans of Unscripted TV” as well as a “Next Gen Content Producer” by the Hollywood Reporter.
marblemedia was founded in 2001 by co-CEOs Mark Bishop and Matt Hornburg with a vision of creativity, partnership, and innovation, the company is headquartered in Toronto, with offices in Los Angeles and London, plus a 50-acre production facility north of Toronto.
About Fae Pictures
Based in Los Angeles and Toronto, FAE PICTURES is an award-winning media production company on a mission to decolonize Hollywood by creating cinematic content for, by, and about queer, trans, and BIPOC people.
Our latest film, FRAMING AGNES, premiered at Sundance garnering the NEXT Audience Award and NEXT Innovator Award, and we were recently awarded the illustrious TEDDY Award (informally known as the queer Oscar) at the Berlinale for INTERNATIONAL DAWN CHORUS DAY. Our team’s work in film and TV has won awards at Sundance, Berlin, Inside Out, XPOSED, and BendFilm, and premiered at such festivals as Toronto, Tribeca, Hot Docs, Busan, BFI London, Ashland, Cleveland, Outfest, Black Star, and Bentonville, has earned multiple nominations for Canadian Screen Awards, and has seen theatrical and digital distribution across Canada, the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.
For more information, contact:
Kelsey Aikman
Director of Marketing & Communications
kaikman@marblemedia.com