HALALrious Animated Series
About the show
Momo's AmeriKa is about Momo, an Egyptian immigrant who's been living in Orange County California, since he moved to America ten years ago. While some immigrants quickly assimilate and blend in, others create their own little home away from home.
Momo belongs to the latter kind, as he started his own little Arabia within the OC. His immediate family of four and his adopted family of goofy friends are searching for their version of the elusive "American Dream." Inevitably, they find themselves in all kinds of hilarious situations and wild adventures. What saves them is their big hearts and loyalty to each other in this unlikely friendship in a foreign country that became their new home.
DOWNLOAD Treatmentabout the characters
Character Breakdown
MOHAMED MOUFTAH....AKA MOMO. Early 40s, jovial, easily distracted. He embraces his dad-bod. Average education. Not so street smart but thinks he is the smartest person in the room. That, along with the challenges of assimilation, mixed with an overconfident, aloof immigrant, is why he is ultimately, adorably, dumb.
An Egyptian American immigrant, who lives in Orange County, California with his wife, Mona and two children, Sara and Omar.
Momo never intentionally planned to immigrate to America. One day, while smoking hookah with some friends in a Cairo cafe, he made a bet with a friend to apply for a US Visa lottery and he won. He then sold his belongings and informed his then pregnant wife and little daughter that they’re heading to good old US of A.
His most popular catchphrases are:
“My favorite machine at the gym is TV.”
“Let’s hookah”
“Okay, Habibro” -- Habibi (Dear) + Bro
He dreams of inventing the world’s biggest hookah to put his name in the Guinness World Records. He hates going to the Gym and reading confusing parking signs makes him very angry. His big business plan is to open a fast-food chain called “Fast Foul” -- a Fava Beans company.
Momo has a hard time keeping jobs and has worked many including: Waiter, Hookah guy, Arabic teacher, Uber Driver, and Arabic Music DJ.
Character Breakdown
SARA, 16, athletic, feminist and conflicted between her two cultures. A teenager at the crossroads between girl and woman.
She was born and raised in Egypt. By the age of five, she moved with her family to the U.S. She doesn't remember a lot about her Egyptian roots.
Growing up as Momo and Mona’s first kid was no easy task.
If she wants to hang out with her girlfriends, her dad usually says “take your brother with you”.
Her Mom objects to her playing soccer because it’s too manly not knowing that soccer is actually a women’s sport in the US.
Sara desperately wants to be like everyone else and blend in with her American friends. Anything to NOT stand out.
Sara speaks Arabic when she’s angry. She prefers to speak English.
When she started school in Orange County, she didn’t speak any English and it was a frustrating experience.
Some teachers thought she was slow. She uses her knowledge of the two languages to her advantage: i.e. to communicate something to her parents in public without people understanding, or to eavesdrop on other Arabs’ conversations.
She loves to sing in both Arabic and English on the Tik Tok app.
Belly dances in her room. She’s a feminist and loves animals, but she’s not allowed to have a dog in the house due to the Muslim belief that they are not “clean” animals. Her mom usually says ”Puppies in, Angels out.”
Her role model is Liverpool soccer player, Mo Salah and she dreams of joining the U.S. National Soccer Team.
She doesn’t like helping her mom with preparing food, dishwashing, or doing laundry because it’s too traditional and boring.
Character Breakdown
HAKIM, Mona’s dad, 70s. Joyful, mercurial and set in his way. He can be moody and sometimes anxious due to quitting smoking.
He sits next to Momo when smoking hookah to get some second hand nicotine.
Giddo in Arabic means “Grandpa” and Hakeem means “wise man”. However, he is far from wise. After retirement, he visits Mona every
six month so he wouldn’t lose re-entry to the U.S. through permanent residence.
He is very impressed by modern technology and always compares it to how things were in his day. He used to work in the field of
perfume and herbal medicine.
After many visits to the U.S he discovers the benefits of disability.
As a senior, he pretends to have a permanent disability using his wheelchair to get special treatment at the airport, malls, and his favorite place, Walmart, since they provide him with an electric mobility scooter, which he uses to race Omar inside the store.
He speaks English with a very thick accent similar to Yaya the celebrity stalker on Jimmy Kimmel Live. He says "biktshur" for picture,
"Robert Williams" for Robin Williams, "Little Women" for Lethal Weapon, and so on.
Giddo, loves playing with his grandchildren “Rock Paper Scissors”. He doesn’t understand the game but it reminder him with a similar Egyptian game called “Kilo bamya” (كيلو باميه)
He enjoys playing sudoku but he asks his daughter Mona every step of the way and she generally doesn’t know the answer.
Character Breakdown
JAMAL DABOUSSI AKA JIMMY DAB. 40s, paranoid and a conspiracy theorist. He’s generally very
unlucky, but he is also patient, tolerant and optimistic.
A Syrian American, moved to Orange County California in 2001.
He inherited his barber profession from his father since he was a young adult. He is a wizard with
the scissors and a very creative barber albeit a chatterbox, who talks about his clients’ ears off.
Before moving to the States and while he was doing his mandatory military service in the Syrian army, he became famous among the soldiers and officers as an excellent barber.
He volunteers to give funky hairstyles for the homeless.
And hates talking about what happened that fateful day with the Syrian General.
One day he got a call from the General’s office to groom the general’s enormous manicured mustache. Jimmy was super nervous and his hand was trembling, but he managed to do an excellent job.
The general, very happy with his big mustache so he decided to smoke a Cuban cigar with Jimmy and
insisted that Jimmy would light it. We never see what happened, but we cut to Jimmy boarding a plane to the US in a hurry. He arrived in NYC on 9/11/2001 and was suspected and interrogated by the FBI.
He initially thought it was related to the incident with the Syrian general. He was eventually released,
but that experience keeps haunting him in the form of a ghost.
Character Breakdown
Bandar Bin Talal Bin Jameel Bin Fahim Bin....oh!! too long name Just call him Bandar
Bandar Bin Talal, 40’s, smart, hedonist, and nouveaux riche.
A super wealthy Saudi who came to America to study and met Momo through mutual friends and became great friends.
He supports most of Momo’s crazy ideas and invests in them not to profit but to be a good friend.
He lives in a mansion over the ocean in the OC. He’s so rich, his butler has a butler.
Character Breakdown
Tony, 30s, good-natured and well-meaning. A handsome guy with big upper body muscles and super skinny legs as he skips leg day
at the gym. His Friend called him Hormonizar (womanizer) حرمونيزر
Born in Beirut, Lebanon. He comes from a Lebanese-American family of eight children, of which he is the only male.
Tony's father decided to send him back to the United States to study plastic surgery but Tony had other plans.
He wanted to be a famous actor in Hollywood. So while he “acts” as a doctor to his family, he’s hustling his way up the ranks of Hollywood as he attempts to break out from stereotypical roles.
Tony played Stanley in Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire in the Hollywood Fringe theater festival.
The play was a finalist but didn’t win. However, he tells a different story and always brings it up in conversation whenever he’s asked, “So where can we see you?” when he mentions that he's an actor.
He loves dating women, especially Latinas and Persians and he has a thing for thick women.
His famous catchphrase is, “I’m a Doctor and I play one on TV.”
He loves watching soccer with Momo and giving him love advice.
Hates doing laundry, grocery shopping, and playing terrorist roles. He is jealous of Ramy Malek’s success and thinks he can do better.
Character Breakdown
Fatima, 30s, loving, funny and a people pleaser.
Before converting to Islam, her name was Christina Gilmore.
She’s an Arab trapped in an American body. You could say, she “identifies” as an Arab.
Caucasian, born and bred in Texas till she graduated high school. Moved to Los Angeles and started as a pre-med student at UCLA and quickly decided to do nursing at UC Irvine.
Dedicated to volunteer work for the homeless on weekends.
That’s where she met Jimmy and they fell madly in love.
Fatima’s family are hardcore Texans and were shocked
when their daughter married an Arab guy.
Creative Team
Abdallah Ibrahim
Abdallah was born and raised in Cairo, Egypt. In 2002, Abdallah graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts Helwan University, with a bachelor's degree in animation. Upon graduating, Abdallah took up an art directing position at a major post production studio in Egypt within the Advertising and Entertainment industry. In 2013, he decided to move to California and pursue a career in animation and motion-graphics. Abdallah quickly found himself in the Los Angeles entertainment industry, working with the NFL Network, Amazon Game Studios and Pixelogic Media. Abdallah has since become an award-winning artist, having achieved many notable accolades for his work in design and animation, including Promaxbda Arabia, Telly Award, Webby Awards and Clio Entertainment Awards.
Abdallah Ibrahim
Creator / Executive Producer
Ayman Samman
Ayman was born in Cairo, Egypt. After earning a degree in Egyptology and fronting one of the very first Heavy Metal bands in Egypt, he moved to Chicago where he fell in love with acting and studied and performed with Chicago's best. He now lives in Los Angeles as a full time actor, writer and director. As a voice talent in Arabic and English, Ayman also lends his voice to many Video Games (Medal of Honor, Call Of Duty), Animations and dubbing projects for (WB, Netflix, Amazon.) Ayman is an Award winning filmmaker.
Ayman Samman
Executive Producer / Actor
Yusef Zeidan
Yusef Zeidan is a comedy writer from Kenosha, Wisconsin. Before moving to Los Angeles, he earned a degree in television and screenwriting from Columbia College Chicago and also studied at the Second City in Chicago. Yusef has written a variety of original scripts ranging from shorts to television serials and has been performing stand up comedy for several years. Additionally, Yusef spent 2 years as a writing assistant to actor/comedian Pauly Shore.
Yusef Zeidan
Writer/Actor
SandraSaad
Sandra Saad is an Egyptian-American actress, singer, and voice over artist known for her work in video games such as Marvel's Avengers, Epic Seven, Call of Duty, and Fallout 76. Sandra studied at The Groundlings and Upright Citizens Brigade theaters, and is a touring performer with the arts education company Story Pirates. Along with series regular roles in various upcoming animated shows, Saad has frequently lent her voice to bands both in the studio and on stage. Most recently, she has been spending her days with her band, Eye of the Sun, as they record their debut album, set for release in 2021.
SandraSaad
Writer/Actor
Pita Pan Productions is a new film and TV studio founded by Abdallah Ibrahim and Ayman Samman, who created the company’s first animated series, Momo's Amerika. Beyond just creating impactful content with a message, Abdallah and Ayman want to create content that reflects the diverse world we live in and create a bridge between cultures. They also want to open up opportunities for diverse creatives that may have been overlooked by traditional Hollywood projects.
