Egyptian-Canadian filmmaker Reem Morsi and Adani Pictures president Rua Wani won the 2025 NATPE Global Pitch Showcase in Miami for their 30-minute comedy series Sweet and Sore.

Created and written by Morsi (pictured left) with Wani (pictured right) as producer, the series follows an Egyptian waxing lady and community marriage broker in Toronto who tries to keep her new affluent friends from learning her true social status, which is complicated when she falls in love with a man above her station.

The series has received development financing from the Canada Media Fund. The project was also selected to the Top 25 Pitch Program as part of the 2024 Netflix-BANFF Diversity of Voices.

Sweet and Sore has a written pilot and series bible, Wani told Playback Daily. Wani and the project have been selected to the spring 2025 cohort of the Canadian Creative Accelerator for TV Comedy in L.A. She is currently exploring different models and partnerships to get the series into production.

Morsi and Wani were picked as the winners against four other finalists in the live pitch session at NATPE Global, which took place at the InterContinental Miami hotel from Feb. 3 to 7, concurrent with Realscreen Summit.

The top showcase prize is library music from music licensing platform Slipstream valued at US$10,000 (about C$14,325). Each finalist also received one pass to return to NATPE Global in 2026. Mid-level and established creatives and producers with a scripted series in development are eligible for the program.

The jury consisted of Adam Steinman, Blink49 Studios’ EVP, global formats and acquisitions; Luke Kelly-Clyne, Hartbeat’s head of studio; Erika Kennair, Mediapro Studio’s head of scripted, U.S. and Canada; and Angel Zambrano, an agent at Atlanta-based Condeco.

Image courtesy of Rua Wani