Yussef Benelbar in JAADUGAR 🧙🏜️

In June of 2025, I saw a curious animatics teaser for a @sciencesaru project called Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia. There was this feel of paper shadow puppets, tons of vibrancy to its colors, a story that felt bold with a hint of melodrama, and it ended with an advert for #TomatoSoup’s manga…which I went and purchased. I was immediately hooked. The exploration of the Mongolian Empire, the historical timelines, the strong femme leads given the full stage, and the centering of Muslim culture at the forefront—I was blown away. All of this led to a near year-long mission of hounding the powers-that-be to acquire the property, dropping all the not-so-subtle hints that I wanted to direct it, and prepping for it as if it were already mine (knowing full well there were no guarantees that it would even end up with me—I’ve let myself be hurt before L O L). Luckily, my persistence paid off and it landed in my studio. Cheers to my producer, Susie Nixon, for having my back and dealing with my obsession. Step one was complete and now the real work had to begin. Along the way was casting, translations, research research research, and falling further in love with Sitara and her path. Big ups to our writer @Casonworld and mixer Neal Malley for their literary and sonic storytelling. And I don’t think it’s overstepping to say our team all love @Jaadugar_global and the care was evident at all stages. As for our wonderful voice artists, I want to start with thanking @CristinaVee for her talent, her willingness to play, and for trusting me throughout this entire season. It had been years of me trying to find a way to collaborate with her and I’m so grateful it was through this story. It’s always lovely (and rare) to find one of your people in this world; and Cristina and I get each other. She’s a force throughout and our dub is lifted by her mere presence. Shoutout to @GeoffBisente and #DerricBenavides for engineering and hanging out with us for 12ish weeks; you, both, real ones. I mentioned the strong femme leads, yes? Well, @TunaEmpress, #AnastasiaMuñoz, @littleramyun, @KitsuneSqueak, @reshelmae_wav, @CelezPerez_, @EzraV, #CameronWisener, @zareen917, and @DonnaXia_ crush their respective roles. They’re beautiful, heartbreaking, ethereal, manic, and powerful. I’m a Pisces so I already cry constantly, but these folks had me in puddles all season. And a special thank you to Marwa Elda not only for her talent, but for all the knowledge, pronunciations, chats, and passionate sharing of her culture that kept me honest and genuine as we pieced together this mosaic. I will be eternally grateful. Partnered along the way were our equally wonderful masc performers. @WhyBenelbar, @TheKumarabi, @NasimBenelkour, @EthanCVO, @MaiManAlex, @JonathonHaVO (another talent I’ve been angling to work with), @BrandonSolisVO, @CharlesNguyenVA, @MauOrtizSegura, @SlySparrow_, @William_Ofoegbu, @iterrible103, @ZLoeraVO, @AckitsAlex, @ElCidRecords, @TheNicolasRoye, @RayHurdVoice_VO, @WilderCorey, @ciden_aall, @ChrisGuerreroVA, @SambobVA, and so many others were just exceptional. I’m especially happy to have given a platform to Yussef and Nasim to bring a piece of themselves to this tapestry. A big BIG shout out to our brave souls that dove into the Mongolian language with me for a few episodes. Thank you all! And truly, just a massive show of gratitude to Tomato Soup and Science Saru’s team for bringing this whole epic to life. They are incredible artists and weavers of tales. And I know we cannot wait for a second season, not only as professionals but as genuine fans of great art. Thank you and thank you and thank you a million times over.