Nasri Atallah (born 12 November 1982) is a British-Lebanese author,

television host A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces or hosts television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. It is common for people who garnered fam ...

, producer, and media entrepreneur. He is the former editor-in-chief of ''Esquire Middle East'', a co-founder of Last Floor Productions, and a former contributing writer at ''GQ Middle East''.

Biography

Nasri Atallah was born and raised in

London, United Kingdom London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and attended the

Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle The Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, usually referred to as the Lycée or the French Lycée, is a French co-educational primary and secondary independent day school, situated in South Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and ...

. His parents are Samir Atallah and May Francis. His father, Samir Atallah, is a Lebanese journalist and author. In 1997, Atallah relocated to

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

, where he completed his secondary education. He subsequently attended the

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB; ) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its main campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, autonomous board of trustees and offers programs le ...

, studying

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

. Atallah later earned a Master’s degree in Internationalq Politics from the

School of Oriental and African Studies The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...

(SOAS),

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. His master’s dissertation focused on the

deterritorialization In critical theory, deterritorialization is the process by which a social relation, called a ''territory'', has its current organization and context altered, mutated or destroyed. The components then constitute a new territory, which is the proces ...

of identity through transnational media.

Career

Atallah began his career at the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

. He later worked in energy research and wealth management before transitioning into advertising, content creation, and production in 2009. While at J. Walter Thompson as a conceptual copywriter, Atallah wrote a blog titled "Our Man in Beirut." The blog led to a publishing deal with Turning Point Books, and a print version was released in December 2011. From 2011 to 2017, Atallah served as Head of Media at a creative agency focusing on culture from the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

, including music, publishing, and film. In this role, he managed the Lebanese blues rock duo The Wanton Bishops, Egyptian electro-singer and producer

Bosaina Bosaina is an Egyptian singer-songwriter, producer, art curator, actress, and model. She is the lead vocalist for several bands in the Egyptian electronic music collective Kairo is Koming (KIK). Bosaina participated in the 2014 Red Bull Music ...

, Montreal indie band Wake Island, and

krautrock Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock that developed in Germany in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It originated among artists who blended elements of psychedelic rock, avant-garde composition, and electron ...

band

Lumi LUMI (Large Unified Modern Infrastructure) is a petascale supercomputer located at the CSC data center in Kajaani, Finland. In January 2023, the computer became the fastest supercomputer in Europe. The completed system consists of 362,496 core ...

. Since 2018, he has focused on creative projects in film and television as a producer and screenwriter, alongside writing creative non-fiction and fiction.

Last Floor Productions

In late 2019, he co-founded Last Floor Productions with Firas Abou Fakher, a band member and composer from Mashrou' Leila, and Daniel Habib, a writer and screenwriting professor at the

Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts The Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts (ALBA; ) was originally a stand-alone Lebanon, Lebanese institute, now one of the Faculty (university), faculties at the University of Balamand, teaching courses in fine art. It was founded in 1937, and it was the ...

. Last Floor Productions creates genre film and television focused on stories about Arabs worldwide. The company's first production, the 10-episode psychological thriller

Doubt Doubt is a mental state in which the mind remains suspended between two or more contradictory propositions, and is certainty, uncertain about them. Doubt on an emotional level is indecision between belief and wikt:disbelief, disbelief. It may i ...

, was written, shot, and released entirely during the early phase of the

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the comm ...

lockdown in 2020. It was produced as a Shahid Original for the streaming service launched by

MBC Group MBC Group (), formerly known as Middle East Broadcasting Center (), is a Saudi media conglomerate based in the Riyadh region. Launched in London in 1991, the company moved its headquarters to Dubai in 2002 and to Riyadh in 2022. It is majority ...

. Later in 2020, Last Floor Productions released a second TV series for Shahid, an 8-episode action comedy titled Fixer. The company has also created short documentaries for

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

and the

Victoria & Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

''GQ Middle East''

From 2018 to 2022, Atallah was a contributor to '' GQ Middle East''. He has also written essays, such as his account of the August 4th 2020 explosion titled "Inside Beirut's Broken Heart".

''Esquire Middle East''

In August 2022, Atallah was appointed

Editor-in-Chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

of ''Esquire Middle East'' by

ITP Media Group ITP Media Group is a global media company founded in 1987. Its headquarters are in Dubai, and branch offices in Abu Dhabi (Capital of the UAE), Saudi Arabia, India, the United Kingdom, Germany and the USA. ITP has over 60 media brands that attr ...

Other work

Atallah has written for various publications, including ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', ''GQ Magazine'', ''Time Out'', ''Brownbook'', ''Little White Lies'', ''Monocle'', ''The National'', and ''L'Orient-Le Jour''. He co-hosts the Bootleg Magic podcast with Alya Mooro and is a regular guest on the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...

's The Arts Hour with

Nikki Bedi Nikhila Bedi (; ''née'' Moolgaoker; 9 September 1966) is a British television and radio presenter, born to an Indian father of Maharashtrian origin and an English mother. She was married to food stylist Sunil Vijayakar before her second marri ...

Filmography

Books

* ''A Lost Summer: Postcards From Lebanon'' (Contributor)
Saqi Books
2008) * ''Our Man in Beirut''
Turning Point Books
2011) * ''Share This Book'' (Contributor) (SHARE Foundation, 2013) * ''Beyrouth, Chroniques et détours'' by Mashallah News and AMI Collective (Foreword) (Tamyras Éditions, 2014) * ''Haramacy: A collection of essays prescribed by voices from the Middle East, South Asia and the diaspora'' (Contributor) ( Unbound Books, 2022)

Personal life

Atallah is married to the Lebanese

fashion designer Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applied arts, applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has va ...

, Nour Hage. They have been together since 2013.Less is More , A Magazine (Aishti) by Pip Usher http://blog.aishti.com/24819-2/

References

External links

Nasri Atallah
{{DEFAULTSORT:Atallah, Nasri 1982 births Living people Alumni of SOAS University of London American University of Beirut alumni British magazine editors British television producers English people of Lebanese descent Lebanese magazine editors Lebanese filmmakers Lebanese writers People educated at Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle Television personalities from London Writers from London