Saud Boksmati
Creative Director & IP Developer
Arab Stories. Built to Travel.
Kids’ Arabic content isn’t competing globally yet.
I develop original IP to change that.
The Arab world is one of the youngest and most connected audiences in the world.
Yet most content made for Arab kids either chases global trends and loses its identity, or stays too local to travel.
Rarely both.
Meanwhile, creators from Korea, Scandinavia, and Latin America are reaching global audiences by building from their own culture.
Arab culture isn’t a niche. It’s an advantage.
But that advantage doesn’t travel on its own.
It needs IP with a clear identity that a broadcaster in Seoul or a parent in London can immediately understand, without losing what makes it Arab.
The gap isn’t creative. It’s a development one.
The Gap
Why This Is My Focus
Most projects don’t fail because the idea was bad.
They fail because no one protected what made it interesting.
Under pressure, decisions get avoided. Edges get softened. What started specific becomes familiar.
That’s where projects break. Not at the idea stage. In development.
For Arab content, that pressure is even sharper.
Teams play it safe. Creators second-guess what will travel.
The result doesn’t fully represent the culture, and doesn’t travel either. It ends up belonging nowhere.
That's why I focus on building Arab stories that hold onto what makes them distinct.
What I Build
I develop stories shaped with the clarity and structure needed to hold attention and grow into long-term IP.
Original concepts built around clear characters and worlds, designed for long-term franchise growth across formats.
Defining a visual and narrative language that gives a project clarity, consistency, and a distinct point of view.
Building the story in a way that aligns creative intent with production reality, so ideas translate clearly and stay within scope.
Applying narrative structure to learning experiences, designing content that holds attention and supports engagement over time.
If you’re developing a project and want it to feel clear, focused, and ready to scale, I’d be happy to hear about it.
How I Approach Development
Finding the Direction
Every project starts by getting clear on what it is and what it isn’t. We define the idea, the tone, and why it matters, so decisions are grounded from the start.
When that direction is clear, the scope follows.
Building it out
With a clear direction in place, we build. Characters, world, and story take shape around a focused idea, aligned creatively and in production. The goal is not just to create, but to understand what holds attention and what scales.
Getting it Right
This is where refinement happens. We bring everything together until the work feels cohesive, intentional, and strong enough to hold up creatively and commercially.
Selected Projects
A selection of work across IP development, animation, and storytelling, spanning projects I’ve created and led.
Click on the images to explore each project.
Captain Sinbad’s Bed & Breakfast
Created and Developed
An original IP inspired by Arabian mythology, reimagined as a story world designed to expand across publishing and animation.
Built with a clear narrative structure and visual identity to support long-term development and franchise growth.
Sinbad (Book Series)
Publishing extension of Captain Sinbad’s Bed & Breakfast.
A children’s book series extending the Captain Sinbad world into publishing.
Part of a broader story world, designed to grow across formats while staying clear and consistent.
Coming to Abu Dhabi Book Fair 2026
Mansour Age of A.I
Head of Story, Co-Director
(52 × 11 minutes)
An action-adventure series developed for a wide audience across multiple platforms.
Led story development across the series, shaping narrative structure, character arcs, and episodic direction to support scale and consistency.
Featured on BBC iPlayer and regional broadcasters.
Mansour & Sara
Created and Developed
(30 × 3 minutes)
A preschool series designed for digital-first platforms, developed across publishing and animation.
Built as an original IP with a focus on simplicity, clarity, and repeatable structure to support engagement at scale.
Original IP (In Development)
A sci-fi action series set in NEOM, developed as an original concept.
Set in NEOM in 2130, a young girl is thrust into the cockpit of a colossal mech as an alien machine army invades Earth, uncovering a deeper threat behind the invasion.
Tell Me About Your Project
If you’re developing something and want to shape it clearly from the start, I’d be happy to hear about it.
