Everything begins with an idea

Born to a Swedish mother and a Lebanese father, Patrick was raised between Algeria and Sweden in the 70's and 80's. A cross-cultural breed by both breed and environment, he has been involved in cross-cultural communication and international business development since the start of his career .

After graduating from university, Patrick co-founded a web design company already back in 1996. He later spent some 15 years with Business Sweden (the Swedish Trade and Invest Council) among others as head of the Swedish trade office in Riyadh, Key Account Managerand starting up and managing special business units for Creative and Cultural Industries, ICT and Entertainment Technologies. He was also Vice President for a Saudi-based multidisciplinary IT-company that was at the time ranked as one of the top 10 fastest growing companies in the country.

Equipped with extensive experience of what is needed to grow an international venture and a profound understanding of the Creative Industries, in combination with a life long passion for cinema, Patrick co-founded Fikra together with Linda Mutawi in 2015. Patrick is a business graduate from Stockholm University with specialization in international management.

Since she was a child obsessed with movies, Linda always knew she wanted to work in films. Born in London to Palestinian/ Jordanian parents, she spent most of her childhood between the Middle East & Europe. While studying for her BA in Communications and Audio Visual Production Studies at London Guildhall University, Linda started her career in TV and radio, before moving to Dubai in 2000. In her 8 years in Dubai her experience ranged from working on two major Hollywood films, to producing current affairs documentaries, as well as TV commercials.

In 2009 Linda moved back to Jordan and joined The Royal Film Commission, as head of their Production Services Department. There, she worked with international and regional producers wishing to film in Jordan, while also promoting the country as a Middle East filmmaking destination. In 2012 Linda left the film commission and was selected as the Jordanian participant in the Producers Guild of America "Diversity Workshop" in Los Angeles with her documentary project “Occupy Culture”.

A year later Linda found herself moving to Stockholm, however remained involved in various projects based in the Middle East. Since she's been in Sweden, Linda has already been involved in several Swedish feature films involving the Middle East, as well as working for various film and advertising companies. She has also served as a mentor for an EU funded cultural program examining minority rights in the Middle East.