Levantine Films Holds TV Rights to Killadelphia – Sins of the Father

The chairman of Houston, Texas-based Crest Investment Company, Jamal Daniel has over three decades of investment management experience in high technology, oil and gas, real estate, and manufacturing. Jamal Daniel is also the founder of the independent film production company Levantine Films, which produces and finances commercially viable and socially significant movies.

Levantine is behind productions such as the critically acclaimed film Hidden Figures. The firm has several projects underway. In June 2020, Levantine announced it had acquired the TV rights to the best-selling graphic novel series Killadelphia: Sins of the Father. Created by Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander, the Image Comic series debuted in November 2019.

In Killadelphia, the death of respected detective James Sangster Sr. necessitates his estranged son, James, Jr., to return home to Philadelphia to lay him to rest. A Baltimore street cop, James Jr. finds his father’s journal containing information on his last case. The case involves a string of baffling murders pointing to supernatural causes. Following the clues, Jr. travels a ghastly path draped in secrecy and terror.

Safety of Journalists in the Middle East

Jamal Daniel is the president and chairman of Crest Investment Company in Houston, Texas. In 2012, Jamal Daniel founded Al-Monitor, a press outlet that focuses on reporting and news from the Middle East.

Some parts of the Middle East are war-torn. Hence, many journalists and reporters who cover the Middle East are in constant danger of injury and losing their lives. A CPJ report about journalists’ deaths shows that about half of all recorded deaths of journalists in 2017 happened in the Middle East. The 2021 World Press Freedom Index posits that Journalists in the Middle East are also subject to arrest, work ban, and other forms of judicial harassment by governments.

As part of the efforts to improve the safety of journalists in the Middle East, the International Federation of Journalists provides safety training in the Middle East with local safety coordinators in Yemen, Palestine, and Iraq. International conventions and laws also serve as instruments for the protection of journalists around the world. The 1949 Geneva Convention Protocol I and the UN Commission on Human Rights Resolution are examples of such conventions and laws.

The Significance of the Nativity Church to Christians and Muslims

Jamal Daniel is a businessman who has lived in Syria, Lebanon, and Switzerland. In 2002, Jamal Daniel founded the Levant Foundation, an organization that announced financial support towards restoring the Church of the Nativity in 2018.

Emperor Constantine originally commissioned the Church of the Nativity. The original basilica was most likely built between 330 and 333, and it was dedicated on the 31st of May, 339. The church is located on the spot believed to be the original birthplace of Jesus. For this reason, the church has a lot of significance in Christianity and other monotheistic religions in the Middle East, such as Islam.

Christians and Muslims lived together peacefully under Caliph Omar during the Arab-Muslim occupation of 638. After occupying Jerusalem the Caliph entered the church to pray, making it a place of significance for both Islam and Christianity. Under subsequent caliphates, there was disharmony between Christians and Muslims, and several Christian landmarks were destroyed. Still, the Church of the Nativity was left standing. Apart from its significance as the birthplace of Jesus, an important Islamic prophet, Muslims also respect the Church of the Nativity because there is a mosque located within the church.

New Levant Initiative Commissions Levantine Symphony

An accomplished real estate investment professional, Jamal Daniel is the president and chairman of Crest Investment Company and the founder of independent production company Levantine Films. Jamal Daniel also serves as president and chairman of the New Levant Initiative, a movement that highlights the artistic, architectural, musical, and cultural contributions of the Levant.

The Levant, the area of the Middle East along the eastern Mediterranean, comprises a unique and rich mix of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. In 2018, the Levant Initiative commissioned the Levantine Symphony N°1 to celebrate the vibrant Levant identity through music. The original composition was written by Ibrahim Maalouf, a native of Lebanon who is trained in both western classical music and traditional Arab music.

Performed by the Free Spirit Symphony Orchestra, the performance featured the National Children’s Chorus of the United States. To highlight the unique musical identity of Levantine culture, as well as to encourage a unified future in the region, the symphony incorporated diverse musical elements.