Ben & Izzy Receives Hewlett Foundation Grant:
Grant to Help Cover Pre-Production Costs of Cross-cultural Animated Series

WASHINGTON, DC (October 2005)– Layalina Productions, Inc. announced today that it has received a grant from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation of California (www.hewlett.org). The grant will underwrite part of the development and pre-production expenses for Ben & Izzy, including character development, bible, and pilot production. This cross-cultural children’s animation series will be co-produced by Layalina Productions of Washington, DC, and Rubicon of Amman, Jordan. David Pritchard, as Executive Director, will lead the creative team.

Ben & Izzy will follow the exploits of two pre-teen boys, one Arab and one American. The boys meet in Amman, Jordan, where their respective grandfathers, who are archaeologists and life-long friends, are working on a massive excavation project. There, the mischievous boys become reluctant friends and discover, through their adventures with Yasmine, a long-locked-up genie, great historical moments in the Middle East and the United States.

The series will use the boys’ adventures back in time to illustrate values and cultural developments common to the Arab world and the West.

"All of us at Layalina would like to thank [The] Hewlett [Foundation] for funding in full our proposal for Ben & Izzy. We look forward to continue working with Rubicon [our co-producer] to ensure the success of this important show," said Ambassador Richard Fairbanks, Layalina’s Founder and Chairman of the Board, and a former Special Middle East Peace Negotiator.

"We are thankful to The Hewlett Foundation for their contribution to Layalina for the purposes of ‘Ben & Izzy’", added Randa Ayoubi, CEO of Rubicon in Amman, Jordan. "It clearly demonstrates the confidence in the concept, the partners and in the development that has taken place so far," said Ayoubi.

The 13-episode series will be distributed in the Middle East to Arab-owned satellite television networks in order to reach children in the 22 Arabic speaking countries of the region. The series will also be available in DVD and VHS format in both English and Arabic in the United States and the Arab Middle East. The DVD version will include interactive drop-down menus that will expose young viewers to historical facts surrounding the places and events covered in each episode.

Layalina Productions, Inc. is a Washington, D.C. based §501(c)(3) non-profit corporation founded in March 2002 by Richard Fairbanks to produce thoughtful Arabic-language television programming for broadcast in the Middle East. Layalina is governed by a Board of Directors and advised by a Board of Counselors, both composed of former diplomats and officials, broadcasters, and private sector executives from the United States. Layalina’s educational, debate, entertainment, and children’s shows aim to strengthen the existing bridges of mutual understanding between the U.S. and the Arab world, and create new ones. Layalina is funded through tax-deductible donations from Americans of all walks of life, grants by private foundations, and sponsorship of programs by corporations.