Azaan Malawy & Talal’s Attitude Towards The UK Art Dept

So apparently there was a meeting last night about the Art Department … to which the Art Department was not invited. But I heard through someone who was there that it was ugly. Apparently, Talal informed those present that none of us UK people know what we are doing (!). We just waste money (Let me add that this is the same person who has paid me to be here for eight weeks but allowed me to do nothing! And let’s not get on to the Production Designer, being here since last November!!!). Anyway, curiously, the one art department person who was there was Azaan Malawy – a local and ATG’s go-to designer. I have been told Azaan is not only the new designer on “Malik”, he is now the Construction Manager on “Medinah”!

First, ATG knows that they are not allowed to have “Medinah” crew work on other productions. But hey, we’ve been here before, so there’s nothing new about their allegedly using “Medinah” funds to finance their other productions. But there’s another problem: I was told that during the meeting, he flatly denied agreeing to do a test piece for us about 4 or 5 weeks ago, that he had stopped responding to my phone calls and emails, only to then eventually email me saying he would, well — let him explain in his own words….

Now, after this, I asked him about another test he was supposed to be supervising for us. We wanted to know if local artisans could convincingly reproduce stone walls. We gave Azaan a sample to show to someone. Azaan proceeded to argue about how it should be done (which seemed to defeat the point of doing a test). Anyway, we never saw the sample. Instead, the following email exchange happened. Notice that although I call it an exchange, none of them are from him. Azaan had disappeared.

Anyway, Azaan suddenly reappeared at yesterday’s meeting. Today, I see him hovering around the office, but Azaan does not talk to me. At one point, I was in the kitchen. He came in behind me, saw me, and promptly left. I know because I saw him looking at me reflected in the window.

So the Production Designer and I then had a chat in which we agreed we would politely try to work with Azaan but that we should pick up where we had left off. So I looked for Azaan, but he had vanished again (on past occasions, he has walked into the office because he had been told to, checked I’m here, then left without saying “Hello” on the pretext that I looked busy!).

So, I texted Azaan and sent him an email. Here’s how it looked.

He didn’t answer my text or email, so at 11:49 a.m., I called him. No answer. I called again. This time, he answered—maybe because he knew I was not going to stop until he did. He told me he was in a meeting with Ibrahim. I said, “Okay,” and we agreed he would call me later to arrange a meeting later that afternoon.

Let’s see if that happens.

But one last thing. Not long after I sent this message, Azaan returned and confronted Issam – who had no idea what was happening. Azaan slammed Issam’s brand-new MacBook on the desk – damaging the body. I missed this as I was at the other end of the building being told that Azaan was arranging interviews with carpenters without discussing this with me first. I’m not sure this is true, but the fact that I believe it could have happened speaks more about the lack of diplomacy and professional etiquette at ATG than it does about Azaan.

Meantime, here’s the email I sent him after the call.

Here’s a little backstory on Azaan. When we first met, I was impressed. He talked about his passion and drive to do something worthwhile. The problem is, since then, all I have seen him do is talk.

Finally, on an aside, ‘Bob’ just told me he called Ibrahim again to ask about his wages. Ibrahim promised they’d be paid tomorrow. He then said, “Bob, come on. You’re supposed to be on our side, not theirs.”

Apparently, it went right over Ibrahim’s head that there was something very wrong with this statement and that there should be no sides (see what I mean about a cult?). It seems to me that ATG is so used to screwing people over they are no longer capable of seeing themselves as part of a team. It’s usually the case that the thing a person or ‘company’ hates most is the very thing they are most guilty of. Why would you trust anyone else when you know you cannot be trusted? So it’s “us and them”. Great.

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ADDED MAY 29th, 2016

Since writing this entry, I have become very fond of Azaan. It took me a while to understand his position – that he is a respected designer in his country who was basically being told by Talal to be a runner for an Art Department from another country. No wonder he was acting up.

‘Bob’ is a pseudonym that I shall apply to a group of people to protect their identity in instances where ATG might seek to punish them.