Meet Mike Mosallam

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mike Mosallam.

Mike, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I was born and raised in Dearborn, MI, which at the time had the largest population of Arabs outside of the Middle East (I don’t know if that is still true, but it might be). Most of those Arabs, like me, were also Muslim. My childhood consisted of McDonald’s that served Halal Chicken McNuggets, the school calendar being planned around Muslim holidays, and Ramadan done right with huge family gatherings and enough food to feed entire nations.

The Arts/Entertainment wasn’t a career path that was ever presented to me. For me, it was the traditional (well-incomed) paths: doctor, lawyer, engineer. So, when I started to do more singing in my high school choir and acting in my high school theatre program, I could feel my parents’ worry.

With the mentorship of many amazing teachers, I was accepted to the prestigious Musical Theatre program at the University of Michigan. My Broadway dreams were underway. After graduation, I moved, like most, to New York and started working as an actor. When 9/11 struck, it called into question both my place in this world (existentially, why was I here? What was my purpose?) and as a Muslim (what was my story to tell – it certainly wasn’t what the news was showing). After some twists and turns to the plot – I found myself directing and producing more.

That was my way of owning the narrative and having more control of the stories being put out into the ethos. That led to a job as a film commissioner in the state of Michigan (where, at the time, the largest tax incentive was signed into legislation). That put me on a fast track to learning the ins and outs of physical production and really helped hone my skills as a producer.

That led to the pitching of a docu-series of 5 Lebanese-American families with varying degrees of their faith (Islam) to TLC. It ran for a season on the network and was called All-American Muslim. It was both hated (by both a population of Muslims and anti-Muslims) and adored (by critics and more-progressive watchers who understood the bigger picture of the show). That led to my relocation to Los Angeles (from Michigan via New York).

In LA, I spent the last nearly-8 years wearing both a creative cap (producing, writing, directing projects that highlight the intersectionality of marginalized groups) and my business acumen (running large-scale business transactions for film/tv studios in Hollywood). I could do this for the rest of my life. Then I’d like to retire, hopefully by a beach somewhere, with vegan food nearby.

Has it been a smooth road?
Relatively speaking, the struggles have been minimal. I say this with the utmost of gratitude and appreciation for all that God, my parents, and my hard work has given me.

I’ve met some incredible people along the way, who saw me in a way that helped solidify that my story was one to tell/share. It made me what to help tell/share other stories.

My parents, high school teachers, my co-producers, my bosses who took risks on me, all of them helped shape who I am today and why I do what I do. They are my guides, all of us led by Allah (SWT).

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Mike Mosallam Productions (such a clever name, no?) was formed really as an LLC through which to run my portion of All-American Muslim. As I started to develop more projects, I continued to use it, and the brand sort of built itself.

I have the best team in the world – really, they deserve all the credit. With them, I’ve been able to write/direct shorts that have gone to prestigious festivals (Cannes, etc.); partner with great allies in the industry to create fellowships for other emerging voices, and seek funding to produce full-length feature films mellifluously.

My favorite part of MMP is the friendships that it has allowed me to cultivate. The folks who work with me are so much more than colleagues – they are very much my family.

And being from Dearborn, MI and growing up inside a culture that holds the concept of family dear – it means a lot to me to be able to create a family here in LA. The beauty of the team is that we all share the same goal: to tell the best (and most authentic) stories.

All of us come from a very specific background that shapes our lens of the world. I love seeing how two seemingly unrelated people can share a common interest in a story where they can see their own journey represented. It’s the specificity that leads to the universality.

All the people who work with me on MMP projects are VERY accomplished in the Industry, so to have them choose MMP and choose me as a partner, means the world. I hope to have the privilege of continuing to work with these people on everything I do.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
It’s Hollywood. Everyone comes to Hollywood with a dream. What’s your dream? What’s your dream? (can you name that movie?) Yes, LA is THE place to for all thing’s entertainment.

There are endless opportunities to meet new and like-minded people, to create great synergy with other people/places/projects, to dive into something creative with strangers and create something totally new and fresh and amazing. This is the place to do it.

I’m going on nearly eight years here, and I couldn’t imagine doing it anywhere else. But, also, the industry is global. People are filming various projects literally all over the world.

The best part of traveling to other places is learning something new and coming back home with an expanded lens. It makes LA an all the more rich and vibrant place.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.watchmmp.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @watchmmp
• Facebook: @watchmmp
• Twitter: @mikemosallam

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