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How Rania Hattar Drew Portraits of Basketball Stars Across the Clouds for Jordan One
Creating big activations that live and breathe
Born and raised in Dubai, Rania built her production career across the Middle East, North Africa, Asia and Europe. That work spanned feature films, television, commercials, fashion and live events. Moving to Los Angeles, she worked with MJZ and Acne Studios before joining UNIT9, where she built out its experiential arm. Later, at Thinkingbox, she expanded the company’s U.S. presence.
Now, she leads The Mad Hattar, a creative studio she founded, bringing spatial storytelling to life through a global network of artists and production specialists.
We spent a few minutes with Rania to learn more about her background, her creative inspirations and recent work she’s admired.
How did your continent-hopping come about, as well as working across differing media sectors?
Dubai is the business hub. It’s literally in the middle, and it is also a melting pot of nationalities and companies. Being a local and speaking English, French (barely now, thanks America lol) and Arabic (21 dialects) gave me the upper hand in working with foreign production companies and locals. Now, the U.S. sees the advantage of having a multimedia producer vs. a one-trick pony. But in the ’90s in Europe and the Middle East, you would produce from start to finish, from inception to airtime. Everything was married together: we all did TVCs, features, runways and museum set-ups. If you had the imagination and the skill, the production world was your oyster. It was all about what you know vs. who you know. So, it was a bit of a shock when I came here, and none of that mattered, and I had to go from EP to PA all over again.
Anyone else would’ve been mortified going from being the boss and working on multimillion-dollar movie sets (mostly war movies, they always get shot in the Middle East and North Africa) to knowing one person, on the whole continent, and picking up trash at Mark Romanek’s set. I will never forget how kind he was to me and how confused the agency was when they saw him speaking to the PA who picked up their cigarette butts and trash.
What’s a book, movie, TV show or podcast you recently found inspiring.
I have been re-listening to the Harry Potter book series. These are the books I keep reading again and again, and everyone makes fun of me. But only my brother, who’s also my ECD, understands it. Apparently, how some neurodivergent people heal from past trauma is by rereading or rewatching shows where they know the endings. This is calming rather than exciting or enticing. But it’s been nonstop for five years now. Every night, all seven books keep circulating in my ear.
Everyone’s says Harry Potter’s for kids, but it’s not. I love it because it’s magic. It’s showing how a normal world can be made magical.
The story depends on all its components, which I love because they remind me of the love I have for experiential work and the work I do, and of the magic in the world. If I’m working a depressing job, I go back and watch the movies again (the director’s cut) because they’re much longer and they remind me that this is why I’m doing what I’m doing.
Talk about a recent project you’re proud of.
Jordan One “The One Global Final.” We drew portraits of the basketball players in the sky, and we shut down NYC for 2 minutes twice in under 2 weeks vs. the 8-month approval system. It was so hard to pull off. While we were building it, it nearly killed me (not being hyperbolic here), and no one understood the magnitude of what James Outlaw and I were trying to pull off with the LunaLite drones. We were pulling 90-hour workweeks. And the minute we went live, of course, everyone took pride in it and started talking about it like they had no doubt in the world. It was the first of its kind in the U.S. The other two countries were the UAE and China.
What’s tour main strength as a creative person.
Being human. By that, I mean coming at every problem, every person, every situation with love and kindness, and by problem-solving, pitching in and rolling up my sleeves. I just got off a giant project where the production lead literally told my team and me, “IDGAF, figure it out,” while the other lead on another project we were working on simultaneously asked us what the issue was, and how we could all figure it out together.
Of course, I went above and beyond for the kind guy, and my tribe gave more than he asked or bid for, as you get more bees with honey. The other guy? Nobody on his team would lend a hand, and he stood there baffled. Turns out you can’t bully people into going to bat for you. Lead with kindness and integrity. Don’t be a bully.
Tell us about a challenge and a reward in creating your own shop.
We don’t do the whole “book the job, we need it for our books and the partner meeting” thing, then stall and apologize right up until it’s supposed to go live, because what was promised was never actually deliverable. If we say it can be done at The Mad Hattar, within that budget, we can do it. If we can’t, we’ll tell you. And if you award it to someone who swears they can? Ninety-nine percent of those jobs die before they launch, because the shop that booked it never could pull it off. They just needed it on the books and the cancellation fee.
What you would be doing if you weren’t working in the creative sphere?
Feeding people. I enjoy cooking as there are so many layers to it (not baking, fuck that rigid shit). Cooking is very sense-oriented; you smell it, taste it, and see it. So when I throw my intimate global dinners and ask my friends which cuisine we should try this month, I love making it, putting my own twist on it, and watching them enjoy the culinary journey of the senses.
2 Minutes With is our regular interview series where we chat with creatives about their backgrounds, creative inspirations, work they admire and more. For more about 2 Minutes With, or to be considered for the series, please get in touch.
