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1 | NAME | BACKGROUND (ex. Iranian/Persian, Syrian, Egyptian, etc.) | GENRE | MOST RECENT STAFFING LEVEL (TV) | TOP THREE CREDITS -- those that best represent you. Feel free to include features or TV, including projects in development. For TV writers on staff, please include your level, ex. GREY'S ANATOMY (Staff Writer) | CONTACT -- this can be your reps, your personal info, and/or a link to your WGA "Find a Writer" page which allows people to contact you without sharing your info | MINI BIO -- a short paragraph about who you are, your voice, and anything specific you want to share (limit to 225 words) | ||||||
2 | Paiman Kalayeh | Iranian | Comedy, Drama, Animation, Action-Adventure, Ensembles | Producer | TBA NETFLIX ANIMATED SERIES (Producer), DC'S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW (Co-Producer), SUNNYSIDE (ESE), THE CLEVELAND SHOW (SW) | Brad Petrigala / Brillstein Entertainment Partners / b.petrigala@bep-la.com Spencer Reiss / UTA / Spencer.Reiss@unitedtalent.com | Paiman Kalayeh is a two-time Emmy nominated Iranian-American TV writer and the Co-Chair and Co-Founder of the WGAW Middle Eastern Writers Committee. He recently sold an animated half-hour to Disney+ starring and produced by Brad Pitt and A24 and another animated half-hour to Max starring and EP'd by Hari Kondabolu, Aparna Nancherla and Bento Box. He was also recently a Co-Producer on DC's Legends of Tomorrow. | ||||||
3 | Cameron Ali Fay | Iranian | Comedy, Drama, Action-Comedy | EP/Feature Writer with Credits | BROTHER NATURE - Feature comedy produced by Lorne Michaels and Paramount, released in 2016 TROLL - EP/Creator TV Pilot at ABC Studios THIS IS GOING TO HURT - Feature dramedy on the 2019 Black List | Josh Goldenberg and Aaron Kaplan / Kaplan Perrone / goldenberg@kaplanperrone.com, Kaplan@kaplanperrone.com Mark Ross, Ethan Neale and Zac Simmons / Paradigm / mross@paradigmagency.com, eneale@paradigmagency.com, zsimmons@paradigmagency.com Personal Email: camfay@me.com | I grew up in Alexandria, VA just outside Washington D.C. to a mother who came to the U.S. from Iran when she was 24 years old to get her PhD in biochemistry and a father from Ohio whose own father was a member of the Kennedy administration. Despite coming from a family of doctors and scientists on my mom's side and lawyers on my dad's, I chose art. Specifically, film and TV writing. Clearly, I'm the black sheep of my family. But I take what they've given me, where I've come from, and incorporate the comedy and, at times, tragedy of it all, into my writing. I write personal stories that take place in larger than life settings. My focus is in comedy, action/comedy, drama/comedy... basically, no matter what I write, it’ll have a mix of humor and heart to it. My feature THIS IS GOING TO HURT was on the 2019 Black List and is a great representation of my voice as it's a personal story (including a character based on my Iranian mother) with a mix of comedy/drama. My pilot TROLL, which is in development at ABC and is being produced by Ruben Fleisher and David Bernad, starring Ben McKenzie, shows the action/comedy side of my voice. I’m a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and the co-founder/co-chair of the WGA’s Middle Eastern Writers Committee with my friend Paiman Kalayeh. | ||||||
4 | Sahar Jahani | Iranian | Drama and Comedy | Executive Story Editor | RAMY (writers asst/wrote Ep 105), 13 REASONS WHY (S4, staff writer), THE BOLD TYPE (S5, Executive Story Editor) | Danny Alexander @ APA / Lucy Stutz @ Rain Management | Sahar Jahani is a first generation Iranian-American writer/director raised in Los Angeles. She earned a BA in Film & Media Studies and Literary Journalism from UC Irvine and received an MFA in Film and Television Screenwriting at Stephens College. Sahar worked in scripted development at YouTube Originals before transitioning to the writers room on the Golden Globe winning Hulu/A24 series RAMY, where she wrote her first episode of television. Her original pilot, UNCOVERED, was awarded the 2019 MACRO Episodic Lab Grant and is in development with Executive Producer Eva Longoria. This past year, Sahar was a writer on 13 REASONS WHY (S4, NETFLIX), adapted the novel, AYESHA AT LAST, for Pascal Pictures and was listed as one of Hollywood’s top new writers on the Tracking Board’s Young and Hungry list. | ||||||
5 | Rom Lotan | Israeli, BSC in Middle Eastern Studies, MA in international relations | Esipopnage, Political, Sci-Fi, Musicals, Drama, LGBTQ | Executive Producer | FORINT (EP), INTELLIUM (EP), Tehran Disco | Anonymous Content, Trent Anderson -- trent@anonymouscontent.com | Rom Lotan is a screenwriter-producer from Tel-Aviv, Israel. Before pursuing his vocation of storytelling, Rom served for over a decade in the Israeli Defense Forces, ultimately receiving his Major rank. He specialized in military intelligence and diplomacy, served in different unique positions, and worked with Israel's ally nations on intricate operations. He is an alum of "Our Generation Speaks," an accelerator that brings Israeli and Palestinian entrepreneurs to create a better Middle East through business. Rom earned an MFA from USC's prestigious Peter Stark Producing Program. He graduated with excellence from Israel's prominent IDC with an MA in Government. Rom holds a BSC in Middle Eastern studies and Computer Science from Haifa University. Rom is represented by Anonymous Content, with two TV dramas set up at Touchstone Television and Anonymous Content Studios. He was recently selected to the Sundance Episodic Labs with his historical-musical. Languages: Hebrew, Arabic, Spanish, Japanese. | ||||||
6 | Julian Kiani | Persian/Palestinian/Peruvian | Comedy (single/multi), Variety/Late Night, Dramedy | Producer | BROKE (Co-Producer), I FEEL BAD (ESE), MARLON (SE) | Manager: Michael Pelmont - mpelmont@nacellecompany.com/818.295.8063 | Julian Kiani is a comedian and writer of Peruvian and Iranian heritage with a degree in Political Science and Theology. He wants you to know he has a degree in Political Science and Theology because nobody will ever ask him about it. Julian recently served as the Head Writer/Co-EP of TWO JOYSTICKS AND A COUCH, a weekly live-streamed sketch and gaming show hosted by T-Pain for the Amazon-owned platform Twitch. He was a Co-Producer on CBS' multi-cam comedy BROKE, and has written on NBC comedies I FEEL BAD and MARLON, as well as ABC’s voting special VOTE OR MISS OUT and the NBC variety/competition series BRING THE FUNNY. He contributed to SNL's Weekend Update and has written for Comedy Central, YouTube and the NBA, among others. He is an alumnus of NBC's Writers on the Verge and Late Night Writers Workshop programs. Julian has appeared on Comedy Dynamics’ Coming to the Stage and co-founded the Brooklyn Comedy Festival. He is fluent in Spanish, a musician/songwriter, an avid basketball player, and thinks about nachos constantly. | ||||||
7 | Emily Eslami | Iranian | Sci-Fi, fantasy, superhero, YA | Staff Writer | Resident Alien - Staff Writer | Matt Ochacher / Nacelle Company / 818-295-8028 | The Iranian member of a married writing team. Picked tomatoes on a vegetable farm, curated the poetry section of an indie bookstore, scrubbed toilets in a Buddhist monastery, but definitely most at home eating Veggie Straws in a writer’s room. Husband and I write grounded, character driven genre. | ||||||
8 | Cherien Dabis | Palestinian / Jordanian | Drama | Supervising Producer | Amreeka (Feature Film), Empire (Supervising Producer), Sullivan High (TV pilot, Creator / EP) | UTA -- Lily Safran | Cherien Dabis is a critically acclaimed Palestinian American narrative film and television writer-director. Her feature films AMREEKA (2009) and MAY IN THE SUMMER (2013) both had their world premieres in competition at the Sundance Film Festival. AMREEKA went on to win the coveted FIPRESCI International Critics Prize at Cannes as well as a dozen more international awards. It was nominated for a Best Picture Gotham Award, 3 Independent Spirit Awards, including Best Picture, and was named one of the Top Ten Independent Films of the Year by the National Board of Review. She’s currently in development on her third feature. Her television staffing credits include Showtime’s original, groundbreaking series THE L WORD, ABC’s QUANTICO and Fox’s hit EMPIRE. She has several TV projects of her own in development, including a pilot called SULLIVAN HIGH for State Street Pictures and Wiip. Her television directing credits include USA Network’s THE SINNER, Fox’s EMPIRE and Netflix’s multiple Emmy award-winning OZARK. She’s also a co-executive producer and director on two seasons of Hulu’s critically acclaimed, Golden Globe-winning RAMY. | ||||||
9 | Nadia Abass-Madden | Lebanese | one-hour tv drama | Staff Writer | 9-1-1 season 3 “Pinned” 9-1-1 season 3 “The Taking of Dispatch 9-1-1” 9-1-1 season 4 Staff Writer | Madden.Nadia@gmail.com | Staff Writer on FOX’s 9-1-1...Former 911 DISPATCHER-turned-TV Writer. Spouse: HOMICIDE CAPTAIN. Lebanese-American. Write gritty 1-hrs w/cops & baddies + doses of gallows humor. Pilot script “TONGS OF CHINATOWN” won FINAL DRAFT Diversity! | ||||||
10 | Lulu Younes | Syrian | Mid-level videogame writer with 3+ years experience in TV as a writers assistant | THE DRAGON PRINCE (Writers Assistant), Writer on videogames like LEAGUE OF LEGENDS, THE ARCANA, and BTS games (the KPOP group) | lulu.r.younes@gmail.com | I'm a Syrian-American Muslim writer. As a young, gay woman who grew up in a strict Muslim household, I’ve always wanted to tell stories about my culture and faith through compelling, character-driven narratives. I grew up half of my childhood in rural Damascus, so all those complex themes of religion, alienation and belonging, and familial duty are all incredibly close to my heart. I specialize in character-driven work, and I have an affinity for animation with a deep love of anime and fantasy. | |||||||
11 | Denise Harkavy | Iranian | serialized cable dramas and features | Producer | Manhunt: Deadly Games (CBS), The Expanse (Amazon), The Brave (NBC), The Legend of Billie Jean (feature for SONY) | WME Chelsea Dern Daniela Federman Erica Ling (310) 285-9000 9601 Wilshire Beverly Hills office Beverly Hills 90210 Mikhail Nayfeld | Heroes and Villains Entertainment 323.850.2990 | F. 323.850.2991 | www.heroesandvillains-ent.com 1041 North Formosa Avenue, Formosa Building, Suite 202, Los Angeles, CA 90046 | Denise was born in Tehran to political activist parents who fled to Berlin, Germany, after the Islamic revolution. Raised by a single mom in a housing project, she soon discovered that writing helped her get through tough times and dedicated herself to the craft. Against her family’s wishes, she dropped out of pre-med and moved to Los Angeles, where she enrolled in the UCLA TV Writers’ Program. There, she placed first in their annual competition and gained representation. She was most recently a Producer on Batwoman (CW) and Co-Producer on the true crime series MANHUNT (CBS). Other writing credits include military action series THE BRAVE (NBC), sci-fi series THE EXPANSE (Amazon) and the video game SHADOW OF MORDOR. Inspired by her own journey, Denise gravitates towards stories about underdogs who take on the system and, subsequently, find their true purpose in life. She’s fluent in English, German and Farsi. | ||||||
12 | Natalie Bounassar McKearin | Lebanese | Family/comedy | Staff Writer | GENIUS: Aretha (Staff Writer), Astro (Staff Writer), Arabian Plights (script optioned by 20th Century FOX) | Kate Sharp, Bellevue Productions; kate@bellevueprods.com // Michael Kolodny @ Kaplan Stahler mkolodny@kaplanstahler.com | Natalie Bounassar McKearin is a Lebanese comedy writer from the suburbs of Illinois who is proficient in deep dish pizza, Broadway soundtracks, and laser hair removal. Before finding her way as a writer, Natalie was one of 22 applicants admitted to the University of Cincinnati’s prestigious Musical Theater program. She auditioned and was called back for the out of town tryouts of Broadway’s Aladdin. After three days of rigorous auditioning, she was… not cast. Being passed over for one of the very few roles for Middle Eastern women unleashed in her a newfound purpose (accompanied by an understandable amount of stress baking). She decided to write into existence more well-rounded, compelling Middle Eastern characters in hopes of carving out a bigger place for them in mainstream media. Because…what’s not to love about arm hair and falafel?! But more importantly, because she believes in the power of art as a catalyst for change. Her original script, ARABIAN PLIGHTS, was optioned for development by 20th Century FOX. Natalie was staffed on the Emmy Award winning limited series, GENIUS: Aretha. She is currently a staff writer on the new family-friendly show, Astro. | ||||||
13 | Annie Wood | Israeli-American | family/comedy/dramedy/coming-of-age | N/A - Haven't staffed yet | Karma's a Beyotch, Instant Karma, Numbers (new media- first two on Amazon Prime) | Literary Agent Jackson Agency Tiauna Jackson 1901 Avenue of the Stars, Second Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90067 (818) 538-5305 jacksonagency818@gmail.com anniewood.com | I’m a Hollywood, California native and a lifelong creative compulsive who is easily inspired. My beautiful Israeli mom was a feisty, funny one-of-a-kind woman & my dad is a kind, soft spoken American playwright. The two were complete opposites but stayed married for 46 years anyway. I didn’t know my Israeli half brothers were “half” until I was ten. I told my mom, “but they feel full to me.” My older brother, whom I adored, died too young due to addiction. Addition is a real so of a bitch. I’ve been married three times and believe that life is to be lived fully, to quote Henry Miller, to live…aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware. I like writing characters who are real, fractured and funny. A common theme of mine is embracing your youness by not following the fold. After my mom passed away I kept a one year blog, Dear Eema (https://deareema.blogspot.com/) which helped me work through that first year without her. I reached out to Ariana Huffington with a pitch for essays about grief for the Huffington Post. Ariana responded immediately bringing me on to become a guest blogger for the Huffington Post, writing essays on grief and mindfulness. Essays I will include in my upcoming illustrated memoir, Hello, Nice to Meet Me. | ||||||
14 | Lena Kouyoumdjian | Armenian | Comedy | Staff Writer | MOST RECENT: THE FLATS (Amazon, Story Editor); TOONED OUT (HBO Max, Staff Writer) | Katt Riley, A3 Artists Agency: katt.riley@a3artistsagency.com / Brandy Rivers, Industry Entertainment: Brandyr@industryentertainment.com | Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Lena Kouyoumdjian is the only child of two eccentric parents—one, an Armenian immigrant via Iraq; the other, a California hippie. Since conversations about cultural identity weren't really a thing being had with children in the 90's, Lena struggled to figure out where she fit in between her two cultures, before eventually deciding it was easier to just use comedy as a defense. After a childhood that is much more Wes Anderson-y in retrospect than it felt at the time (reading Agatha Christie novels, writing plays, maintaining first chair status in the local youth orchestra until it was usurped by an 11 year-old, and putting hats on the dogs) Lena moved to Los Angeles to attend USC, where she earned dual degrees in theater and public relations. After graduation, Lena was a member of an experimental theater group before shifting her focus solely to writing. Lena has written for various online publications, and as the Kardashian family for their personal blogs—which was exactly what you’re probably imagining. She was most recently a staff writer on Tooned Out for HBO Max. 2019 TV Writer Access Project Honoree. | ||||||
15 | Nader Navidi | Iranian/Persian | Staff Writer | Hemlock Grove (Staff Writer) | NNavidi@hotmail.com | ||||||||
16 | Hadi Nicholas Deeb | Arab (Lebanese), Armenian | Drama (all kinds) | Co-EP | THE RECRUIT (Co-EP), AMERICAN SPORTS STORY (SP), HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER (ESE) | Lindsay Aubin, Daniela Federman, WME 310-285-9000; Tony Gil, Max Goldfarb, Redefine 424-389-8712 | Hadi has a JD (he practiced international/finance law) and a PhD in linguistic anthropology. As the son of immigrants, his writing often centers characters caught between worlds and identities, and he loves family dramas set against big social issues - plus twists! He knows French, Arabic, Spanish, and Armenian (in varying degrees). | ||||||
17 | Eric Nazarian | Armenian | Drama, Thriller, Literary Adaptations, Action | Feature Writer with Credits | THREE CHRISTS (Co-writer) released by IFC Films, GENGHIS KHAN (TV series in active development), THE BLUE HOUR (Silver Blue Pictures, Fresco Films) | ericnazarian@gmail.com , Mobile #818-389-1729 | Screenwriter Eric Nazarian holds a Bachelor of Arts in Film Production from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. Formerly a photojournalist covering immigration, urban crime, sports and post-Soviet wars aftereffects on civilian populations in the Caucasus, he was awarded the prestigious Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for his original screenplay, GIANTS. An alumnus of Film Independent’s Project: Involve and Fox Writing Intensive’s (FWI) inaugural class, he has completed several literary adaptations and writing assignments for Roland Emmerich’s Centropolis, Mayhem Pictures, QED and Portobello Pictures in the U.K, among others. THE BLUE HOUR, his critically acclaimed award-winning first feature film as writer-director, world premiered In-Competition at the San Sebastian International Film Festival and Torino Film Festival. Nazarian adapted THREE CHRISTS for director-producer Jon Avnet, starring Richard Gere and Peter Dinklage, based on the book by Milton Rokeach. The film’s World Premiere was at the Toronto International Film Festival. IFC Films released the film theatrically and on-demand in 2020. He has lectured on the origins of visual storytelling in silent films and world cinema in campuses across the U.S., Middle East and Europe. His journalism has been published in MovieMaker, Written By, AIM and The Armenian Weekly. | ||||||
18 | Christine Roum | Lebanese, Armenian, Syrian | Drama/Comedy, Suspense/Thriller | Consulting Producer | HOME BEFORE DARK (Consulting Producer), CASTLE (Consulting Producer), THE INVISIBLE (feature) | David Stone, The Framework Collective--David@theframeworkcollective.com | Christine has worked in multiple genres in both television and feature films-- comedy/drama, action/adventure, supernatural/horror, suspense/thriller, sci-fi, comic book. Her entry into network television was freelance episodes of LAW & ORDER. In features, her original screenplay, political thriller DEAD RECKONING, sparked a 7-year creative partnership with Warner Brothers where she developed the Michael Douglas thriller DON’T SAY A WORD, Arnold Schwarzenegger's action-adventure ERASER, the sequel to Kevin Costner’s THE BODYGUARD for Lawrence Kasdan, and the remake of A STAR IS BORN. She also collaborated with novelist Tom Clancy on the film adaptation of his Vietnam-era military thriller WITHOUT REMORSE. Her collaboration with director David S. Goyer resulted in the 2007 release of the film THE INVISIBLE. Her late husband was artist/filmmaker Bently Tittle. She is inspired every day by her son Theo Tittle. | ||||||
19 | Derek Asaff | Lebanese | Action/Comedy for features 1/2hr Comedy and 1 hour genre for TV | Feature Writer actively developing under studio contract | Currently developing four features with Universal. | Manager - Derrick Eppich - Empirical Evidence - O: 323.515.2730 - C: 480.570.0972 | Derek, an action/comedy and genre feature and TV writer, went to Cornell out of high school to study business despite only being interested in writing. Accounting and microeconomics classes quickly went so far over his head he was unceremoniously expelled. Twice. He found himself back in his hometown of Boston working every odd job imaginable over the next ten years. He was a waiter. He was a hotel bellman. He had a short yet glamourous stint sorting pig ears at a dog food factory. In 2007, while working in home loans, the housing bubble burst and Derek was happily laid off. He took it as a sign to finally bet on himself and decided to go back to school, studying the one thing he was always meant to. Derek put himself through Harvard, receiving his degree in creative writing and literature with a focus on screenwriting. He then relocated to Hollywood and earned his master’s degree in screenwriting from the American Film Institute Conservatory. Currently, Derek is in his second year of the Universal Writer’s Program after having his contract extended by the studio in order to continue developing his projects with them. Derek’s background is the extremely common mix of Lebanese and Sioux, though he’d best be described as a dog person who doesn’t mind people. | ||||||
20 | Micky Levy | Israeli-Tunisian | Drama, Bio-pic, Sci-Fi, Thriller. | Feature Writer with Credits | RAILS & TIES, AMISH GRACE, UNION | Michael Pio, Innovative Artists | Born in Israel, Micky immigrated to the United States at the age of 17. Arriving in Los Angeles with only $700 to her name, she immersed herself in her passion for filmmaking and television. That dedication paid off. Micky caught the eye of Alison Eastwood and Warner Bros. with a script she wrote entitled RAILS & TIES. Directed by Eastwood, the film starred Kevin Bacon and Marcia Gay Harden. It premiered in the Telluride Film Festival and overseas at the TIFF. Since then, Micky has completed several book adaptations, including Lifetime’s AMISH GRACE for which she received a Humanitas Prize nomination. Other adaptations include: NOBODY from the award-winning book by Caryl Phillips, Dancing in the Dark, THE COINCIDENCE MAKERS from a best-selling novel by Israeli author Yuav Blum, and STOLEN WATERS from the Romanian short story collection by Ada Shauluv. Currently, Micky is developing TANGLELANDS, a one-hour fantasy drama for television based on the acclaimed novel, Frostflower and Thorn. The driving force behind Micky’s writing is telling compelling stories that follow rebellious, non-conformist, principled characters. “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage.” – Anais Nin | ||||||
21 | Kor Adana | Turkish | sci-fi, fantasy, drama, action | Producer | MR. ROBOT (Co-Producer), HACKERS (MGM), SWORD ART ONLINE (Skydance) | https://directories.wga.org/member/12130141-c1bb-4f99-938a-6fd9e6cf551c | For three seasons, Kor wrote and produced USA's Golden Globe Award-winning drama, MR. ROBOT. He has spoken on panels at the CES conference, DEF CON, Money 2020, and the TriBeCa film festival. In 2016, he sold his original TV spec HIBERNET to Universal Content Productions and got it set up at Syfy network-- with Anonymous Content producing. In 2018, another original pilot, WISH YOU WERE HERE, was optioned by Lionsgate Television. He is currently developing projects with MGM, Skydance Media, and Exile. | ||||||
22 | Matt Ackels | Lebanese | Drama | Co-Executive Producer | EVAPORATED PEOPLE - Amazon Studios (Creator, Co-EP, currently writing Season 1) CAPSULE - Skydance Media (Creator, Co-EP, in development) TROLLS - Netflix (Staff Writer) | Personal - mattackels@gmail.com Agent - Shan Ray, Gersh Manager - Markus Goerg, Heroes and Villains Lawyer - Sean Marks, MARKS Law Group WGA Find a Writer - https://directories.wga.org/member/0be226ea-1725-426e-873d-87be103350ca/ | Matt Ackels is a Los Angeles-based television writer and playwright. He is currently writing Season 1 of EVAPORATED PEOPLE, a drama he created for Amazon Studios. Other projects in development include his one-hour drama CAPSULE (Skydance Media) and his biopic feature THE CHEAT (National Lampoon). His stage credits include seven produced plays – four at Tony Award-winning theatres – which have been touring continuously since 2012. Matt’s work has been recognized for its character-driven realism, receiving awards from the Planet Earth Arts Foundation, the Austin Film Festival, PlayGround LA and elsewhere. His short fiction has appeared in The Athenaeum, The Southern California Review and Nix Hydra among other publications. He is of Lebanese heritage with an MFA in screenwriting from USC. | ||||||
23 | Zach Koepp | Lebanese | Comedy/Drama | Feature Writer with Credits | (Feature Sale) JOHNNY MAC, (Co-Ep) SUPERSTITION: FINAL CHANCE, (Baby Writer) No TV credits | https://directories.wga.org/faw-pro/member/32e1b013-2cf6-4ca2-ac2b-03a9b81e36f0/ | After my mother escaped an arranged marriage overseas, she fled to America where she and I toured the carnival circuit to earn an income. Her courage inspired me from a young age to follow my soul -- I did that and became a writer. I've been around an eclectic group of characters my entire life and feel it is strongly reflected in my voice. I'm a human that strives to be the greatest expression of myself. I'm honest, hardworking, passionate and a team player. I proved this at a high-level being a student-athlete who received two of my proudest accolades from coaches and contemporaries: "Funniest Person on the Team," and "The Flat Tire Award," the award given to the person you would call if you ever needed help. I take pride in evolving each day and I look forward to applying these tools to a cause much greater than myself. | ||||||
24 | Stephanie K. Smith | Turkish American (half) | Drama, fantasy, sci-fi, dramedy, YA | EP (Pilot currently in production), Co-Producer when last staffed | Carnival Row (s2 ESE, s1, SW), Genius (S2, SE), The Continental (Co-Producer, John Wick series). | Melissa Darman, Verve or Jen Ray, Heroes and Villains | Turkish/Italian American who has a little in common with a lot of very different people. I've both qualified for welfare and been engaged to a billionaire. Have a tween who can discuss The Theory of Relativity but can’t tell time. Was raised Protestant by Muslim Grandma who sent me to Catholic School and now, my husband is Jewish. 2 on the Kinsey scale, give or take. Five planets in Scorpio -- which I know only because I once wrote astrological sex advice for a job. Coming up on 20 years in Hollywood (USC class of 2002) and can't tell if that's good, bad or just crazy. Interested in big worlds, grounded characters, any genre. | ||||||
25 | Anya Meksin | Uzbeki | Action, Thriller, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror, Drama | Staff Writer | IN FROM THE COLD (Staff Writer), TAMINEX (Feature in Development), TAROT (Series in Development) | Lawrence Mattis & Casey Minella at Circle of Confusion, 310-691-7004 Adam Van Dusen & Lauren Craniotes at Gersh, 310-887-5905 | Anya Meksin is an Uzbeki writer who uses genre as a vehicle for social criticism, exploring stories of female outsiders and survivors. Born in the former Soviet Union, Anya immigrated to the U.S. as an asylum-seeking refugee—an experience that continues to inform her creative perspective. In addition to writing for the upcoming “spy-fi” Netflix series IN FROM THE COLD, Anya is developing several original film and TV projects in the sci-fi, horror, crime, and fantasy genres. Her feature script TAMINEX was selected for Film Independent’s Screenwriting Lab, the Black List / Women in Film Fellowship, the ScreenCraft Fellowship, and IFP’s Project Week. Her feature script THE ALGORITHM was commissioned by Gidden Media. Anya’s Columbia thesis film TEMMA won Faculty Selects and an Alfred P. Sloan grant before screening at the Museum of the Moving Image, the National Academy of Sciences, and festivals worldwide. Her short BERATED WOMAN was nationally broadcast on Out TV and the Logo Network, and her film THE PROFESSOR won Best Action/Adventure Short at Comic-Con. She was commissioned by the Open Society Institute to create BALKA, a documentary that has over 4 million views online. Anya earned her B.A. in Literature from Yale University and an M.F.A. in Film from Columbia, where she also taught documentary filmmaking. Anya is fluent in Russian. | ||||||
26 | Dylan Tanous | Lebanese | Comedy, Dramedy | Freelance episode(s) | KIDDING (co-wrote episode #209), LAST MAN STANDING (wrote episodes #515 and #619) | https://directories.wga.org/member/dcb53bfb-e032-4a55-a71c-13403f9b389c/ // dylantanous@gmail.com | Dylan Tanous recently wrapped on Showtime’s KIDDING where he co-wrote the episode, “The Nightingale Pledge.” Prior to that, Tanous gained hour-long experience in the mini-room for I’M DYING UP HERE, and before that he was on FOX’s LAST MAN STANDING where he wrote two episodes. In 2015, Tanous was accepted into the CBS Diversity Showcase as a writer. He spent his childhood working at his parents’ floundering roller skating rink until he was shipped off to a boarding school in Gates Mills, Ohio. Before the pandemic, Tanous spent Thursday nights playing ice hockey for the Cold War Defectors. | ||||||
27 | Iden Baghdadchi | Iranian / Persian - American | YA, Genre | Staff Writer | MARVEL'S AGENTS OF SHIELD (Staff Writer), PARTY GIRL (YA project in development) | bagiden@gmail.com | Iden Baghdadchi is an Iranian-American TV writer specializing in YA and genre. Originally from Detroit and a graduate of the University of Michigan, Iden worked as a paralegal for the Department of Justice and later as a substitute public school teacher before pursuing a career in television. Iden has written three episodes of MARVEL'S AGENTS OF SHIELD, where he served as Staff Writer. Iden's other credits include webisodes of the digital series MARVEL'S AGENTS OF SHIELD: SLINGSHOT. His suspense thriller DRIVEN TO KILL appears on the young adult reading app HOOKED. In 2019, Iden enrolled in the inaugural class of the Rideback TV Writing Incubator. When not writing, he's a fan of farmers markets, volunteering, and writing about himself in the third person. | ||||||
28 | Brittany Sarkisian | Armenian | Comedy, Musicals, YA, War Drama | Feature Writer with Credits | In Real Life, For the love of George, The First Time (Screenplay by) | 310-808-3027 Brittany@sarkfilms.com Sarkfilms.com | A Los Angeles based screenwriter/director. Originally from Miami, Florida she moved out west to pursue an acting career, where she spent years studying script analysis from the actors perspective, scene study, and sketch comedy. Britt began auditioning and soon became frustrated at the lack of female roles with substance that she could play. The opportunities were slim, and the roles undesirable, so she took it upon herself to begin writing herself a role in a screenplay. That one screenplay led her to getting Literary representation, which led to her writing countless other projects, and selling them, which led her getting into the prestigious WGA (Writers Guild of America). Currently, Britt is in Pre-Production for teen comedy musical she wrote called “Allie Mitchell Must Win”, that she is set to direct. Not to mention, she has three optioned features, out to market with award winning producers attached. Besides her own personal projects and specs, Britt has been hired as a Ghost writer on several well known films, and has worked as a freelance writer for the DIGITOUR, a live concert tour starring Youtube influencers, co-owned by VIACOM. | ||||||
29 | Laura Shamas | Mixed, Lebanese-American | Drama | N/A - Haven't staffed yet | Pilot writer, “Little Syria Series,” Middle East Film Initiative, 2018-2019 | Laurashamas.com/contact.html | Born in Oklahoma. UCLA grad. Myth and folklore fan. Minimalist. | ||||||
30 | Kamon Naddaf | Iranian | comedy and drama | Staff Writer | ALEXA & KATIE (Staff Writer); PENN ZERO: PART-TIME HERO (Freelance) | Andrea Kavoosi, Rothman Brecher Ehrich Livingston, (310) 247-9898 | Kamon Naddaf is an Iranian-American TV writer most recently on staff at Netflix's multi-cam ALEXA & KATIE. Previously a practicing attorney, Kamon broke into entertainment with her hilarious twitter feed: https://twitter.com/kdn13. Born and raised in the Bay Area, Kamon went to undergrad and law school at UC Berkeley and practiced law in San Francisco. Needing an outlet for her boredom as a lawyer, she started an anonymous twitter account that helped hone her comedic voice. She ultimately stopped practicing law and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in TV writing. Kamon has an affinity for comedies with heart that are driven by diverse voices. | ||||||
31 | Patrick Moss | Moroccan Sephardic | One-Hour Crime, Historical, Family Drama | Co-Producer | BLACK MAFIA FAMILY (STARZ) - ESE BAD BLOOD (Netflix) - SE WISDOM OF THE CROWD (CBS) - SW | https://directories.wga.org/member/cf827ab9-b732-47dc-aabd-125c23aa1760 Managers: Mikhail Nayfeld & Henry Huang | Heroes and Villains Entertainment P. 323.850.2990 / mikhail@heroesandvillains-ent.com / henry@heroesandvillains-ent.com | Son of Sephardic refugees from Morocco and Romania, product of a mixed-marriage, raised in a divided city. I'm Canadian and American, an immigrant and a citizen, Sephardic and Ashkenaz, English and French. And just like me, my characters are at war with themselves, straddling two competing parts of their identity. I cut my teeth working on documentaries about honor killings and schizophrenia. I sold a modern-day version of “Great Expectations” to ABC and Debra Martin Chase and developed KING DAVID for eOne and Mark Canton. I staffed on BET's urban crime & family drama REBEL from John Singleton, WISDOM OF THE CROWD for CBS, Netflix’s award-winning mafia drama BAD BLOOD, and most recenty, I worked on BLACK MAFIA FAMILY for STARZ and 50 Cent, and on eOne's PUMP, about the fledgling bodybuilding subculture of 1970s Venice, California. | ||||||
32 | Shea Mirzai | Iranian-American | Action/Drama/Sci-Fi | Staff Writer | 1) RUTH (Zero Gravity) 2) WORLD OF MARVELS (HBO Max) 3) ORIGINS (NatGeo) | Joe Riley // Zero Gravity Management & Halle Mariner // APA Scripted Literary https://directories.wga.org/member/650a5923-bac3-42e4-bca4-2393cec3d99d/ | First generation Persian-American, Person Who Stutters, and LGBTQ+ writer/producer, Shea Mirzai is a four-time honoree of Franklin Leonard's annual Black List. Mr. Mirzai has written features for Will Smith and Overbrook Productions and Tucker Tooley of Tooley Entertainment. He is also Executive Producer of Nat Geo's ORIGINS: THE JOURNEY OF HUMANKIND. In 2019, after selling action-drama feature spec RUTH to AGC Studios and being hired to reboot the AMERICAN PIE franchise at Universal, Shea has launched Space Coyote Productions, a full service production company in which he is the founder & CEO. A graduate of the University of California, Irvine with a joint B.A. in Film & Media Studies and African-American Studies, Shea combined the two into a unique program emphasizing Race & Representation. He cut his teeth in the film industry in glorious Hollywood, USA working for mini-major studio Relativity Media first as a Story Analyst and, later, as Head of the Story Department from 2008-2015. Mirzai is repped by Zero Gravity Management, APA Scripted Literary and GGSSC. | ||||||
33 | Kinan Copen | Palestinian | Drama/ Procedural / Sci-fi | Co-Producer | SEAL TEAM/ CBS (co-prod); Unt. Kingkiller Chronicles/ Showtime (exec. story editor); Chicago PD/ NBC (story editor) | Kyle Loftus/ APA | Kinan Copen is a Palestinian- American writer with a background in journalism. She began her tv writing career in local news before moving into the scripted space. She’s developed for ABC, MTV and Fuse as well as written/produced on staff for for several series in the network, cable and streaming platforms. | ||||||
34 | Christiana Miller | Mediterranean (Greek, Turkish, Egyptian, Arabic, Italian, Spanish) and Celtic (Irish, British). | Paranormal | Freelance Scriptwriter (TV) also a novelist | General Hospital (scriptwriter), General Hospital: Night Shift (scriptwriter), and Somebody Tell Aunt Tillie She's Dead (novelist) | (818) 926-2154 or christiana.miller@gmail.com | Christiana Miller is a writer of Greek, Turkish, British and Irish descent. She has written for General Hospital, General Hospital: Night Shift, and is currently a bestselling author of quirky paranormal mysteries. Her series, Somebody Tell Aunt Tillie She's Dead, has sold over half-a-million copies, worldwide. | ||||||
35 | Shirin Najafi | Iranian | Comedy | Staff Writer | CONNECTING (NBC) - Staff Writer Sundance Episodic Lab 2020 - Fellow BAD COUNSELORS - In Development | Manager: Sam Masaru Sekoff Range Media Partners ssekoff@rangemp.com | Shirin Najafi grew up in Northern California and graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. in Economics. She worked in investment banking before turning to comedy writing, as so many do – that or DJ’ing. She is currently writing for “Connecting” (NBC) and has been invited to be a member of Sundance’s 2020 Episodic Lab. Prior to that, she was a fellow of NBC’s Writers on the Verge 2019-2020 and part of the 2019 CBS Diversity Showcase where she was hired as one of 11 writers in the showcase’s inaugural writers’ room. She is fascinated by satirizing wealth and status. This may or may not be because her own family went bankrupt — an event that could best be described as “Persian Arrested Development.” | ||||||
36 | Spencer Porter | Armenian | Comedy, Dramedy, Sports | Staff Writer | Family Guy (staff writer), We Bare Bears (story editor/head writer), The Gebeshian (Original Feature, EP, writer) | https://directories.wga.org/member/1c57f0a5-0cc2-40f6-a362-1c4bd398f228 | Spencer Porter's actual first name is Aram, which is something he's very proud of and rarely gets to celebrate, which is why this group is so fantastic for him. Spencer is currently writing and developing an animated pilot with 20th Century Fox Television, Freeform and celebrity DJ Dillon Francis titled “GERALD'S WORLD.” His original feature script about the true life story of Armenian-American Olympic gymnast Houry Gebeshian, THE GEBESHIAN, was recently optioned by Andrew Lauren Productions, and he is writing an Untitled Boy Band Feature Film for Gunpowder and Sky. He has written for animation and live action, with credits on Family Guy (Fox), Saint George (FX), and We Bare Bears (Cartoon Network) where he served as head writer for the first two seasons. He has developed pilots at ABC, Cartoon Network, YouTube Originals, and ABC Family. Spencer has also participated in round table rewrites for feature films and ghostwritten many speeches for celebrity, corporate, and personal clients, including Seth MacFarlane’s Class Day speech at Harvard University. He has also published prose essays on Salon.com, McSweeney’s and The Daily Beast. Spencer is represented by Sydney Blanke at Fourth Wall Management, Jeff Greenberg and Sean Barclay at Gersh, and Lev Ginsburg, Esq. | ||||||
37 | Mitra | Iranian | Comedy | Producer | Three Busy Debras (EP/Star/Writer), Human Resources (Producer), Big Mouth (ESE) | manager - Olivia Gerke - ogerke@3arts.com | I am an Iranian comedian who has written on Three Busy Debras, Human Resources, Big Mouth, High Maintenance, Miracle Workers, The President Show, and more. I've appeared on Three Busy Debras, Search Party, The Big Sick, Broad City, and more. | ||||||
38 | Mona Mansour | Lebanese American | Drama-Comedy (hourlong mostly) | Story Editor | Plays: The Vagrant Trilogy, Public Theater; LIFE UNDERCOVER (Apple TV) story editor; AMC Int'l Blind Script Deal | Paradigm Jonathan Mills 8942 Wilshire Blvd Beverly Hills, CA, 90211-1908 (310) 288-8000 Kelly Miller, Literate Management kellymiller@literateinc.com | Mona Mansour is a Lebanese-American playwright and TV writers. Her play BEGINNING DAYS OF TRUE JUBILATION, directed by Scott Illingworth and conceived with her company SOCIETY, was recently part of the New Ohio’s Ice Factory Digital Festival. THE VAGRANT TRILOGY was set to make its NYC debut in March 2020 at the Public Theater, directed by Mark Wing-Davey; the production was postponed due to covid-19, and will resume at a future date. WE SWIM, WE TALK, WE GO TO WAR premiered at SF’s Golden Thread in 2018 (dir. Evren Odcikin). Mona was a member of the Public Theater’s Emerging Writers Group. With Tala Manassah she has written FALLING DOWN THE STAIRS, an EST/Sloan commission. Their play DRESSING is part OF FACING OUR TRUTHS: SHORT PLAYS ABOUT TRAYVON, RACE AND PRIVILEGE, commissioned by the New Black Festival. Commissions include Playwrights Horizons, La Jolla Playhouse and Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s “American Revolutions.” 2020 Helen Merrill Award, 2012 Whiting Award. 2014 Middle East America Playwright Award, MacDowell Colony 2018, New Dramatists Class of 2020. Mona has written for an upcoming Apple TV show, and is working on a script for AMC International. In 2019, she formed a theater company, SOCIETY, with Scott Illingworth, Tim Nicolai and Erin Anderson. In September 2020, Mona received the prestigious Kesselring Prize, awarded by the National Arts Club to one playwright a year. She was nominated by Seattle Rep for her play THE HOUR OF FEELING. | ||||||
39 | Max Botkin | Moroccan/Israeli | All Genres | Feature Writer with Credits | What Happened to Monday, Show Dogs, Ponce | max@majorchord.com | Max has been hired by and sold original scripts to Sony, Marvel, Lionsgate, Open Road, Fox, Universal and more. Max had two family films- Opposite Day and Cody the Robosapien- produced and released by Anchor Bay and Netflix. Max’s original sci-fi script What Happened to Monday landed him on the 2010 Blacklist. He co-produced the film, which became a foreign theatrical B.O. hit and one of Netflix’s top 3 original films. Max Executive Produced another of his original scripts, Show Dogs, which was released in theaters internationally by Global Road. Max is a co-founder of production company and financier Major Chord Media. majorchord.com | ||||||
40 | Bisanne Masoud | Palestinian | Drama and Comedy (Dramedy!) | Producer | Teen Wolf (Staff Writer), iZombie (Story Editor, Executive Story Editor), Hawaii Five-0 (Co-Producer, Producer) | Reps: Danny Sherman and Jeff Ciabattari at Thruline Entertainment (310) 595-1500, Greg Iserson at UTA (310) 273-6700. My cell is (646) 621-6770. | Bisanne was born in Beirut, Lebanon, to an Arab father and an Irish/Italian/Welsh mother, and they moved to the US (Dearborn, Michigan) when she was a baby. After graduating from NYU with an acting degree, Bisanne had an array of random jobs: nanny, waitress, cat-sitter, secret shopper, and cake icer at Magnolia, New York’s Surliest Bakery, where she once iced a birthday cake for David Bowie. Bisanne met her former writing partner, Talia Gonzalez, at NYU, and they wrote a play, FaceSpace, and produced it themselves as part of the Midtown Theatre Festival. Then they turned their attention to TV, and moved to Los Angeles. Bisanne and Talia are still good friends, but have now branched out to write solo. Bisanne’s credits include Teen Wolf, iZombie, and Hawaii Five-0. | ||||||
41 | Vicky Castro | Syrian, Lebanese | Comedy | Staff Writer | The Goldbergs (Staff Writer), Disney Program Writer (2020) | Vision-LA / Andres Budnik and Liam Scholey - (424) 230-3270 https://directories.wga.org/member/5555c2b0-97f6-4d4d-bc48-ffcc1e4f7190 | Born in Brazil, Vicky Castro moved to Miami in the early-aughts and graduated from Northwestern University with a BS in Journalism and International Studies in 2015. She was a translator and international news PA for CNN Chile and worked in advertising at DigitasLBi, a global marketing and technology agency, after college. While working in Chicago, Vicky became involved in The Second City and was the winner of the 2016 Outside the Box sketch competition. She also won a spot in Second City's Conservatory Program. In 2017, Vicky moved to LA ostensibly to pursue an opportunity in advertising, but found herself drawn to the world of TV development and writing. Vicky became a Development Assistant at Montgomery Studios before being chosen as one of the 2020 Disney/ABC Program Writers. She is currently a staff writer on ABC's The Goldbergs, and hopes to continue to write stories that inspire, unite, and amuse people. | ||||||
42 | Anayat Fakhraie | Persian / Mormon (on mother's side) | Drama / Drama-Comedy / Comedy | Producer | Wonder Man / Disney+ (Producer) Orphan Black: Echoes / AMC (Co-Producer) Gaslit / Starz (Writer) | Sam Warren + Harry Lengsfield // GRANDVIEW Matthew Doyle + Michael Chung // VERVE | ANAYAT FAKHRAIE, a Muslim/Mormon writer, most recently staffed on WONDER MAN for Disney+ / Marvel as a Producer. Previously he wrote on the ORPHAN BLACK spinoff for AMC, GASLIT for Starz and HBO's REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER. He has developed original material with Amazon, Touchstone Television, Charlize Theron and Hulu. The latter being an original pitch with Temple Hill producing, Joni Lefkowitz EP'ing and Susanna Fogel attached to direct. Currently, Anayat is developing a limited series about the death of a Muslim Marine based of a New York Times article with 101 Studios set to produce. | ||||||
43 | Evan Mirzai | Iranian American | Sci Fi, Action, Comedy | Feature Writer with Credits | BAD ASS AND BLIND EYE with Todd McFarlane ORIGINS THE JOURNEY OF HUMANKIND, Disney + and Nat Geo AMERICAN PIE: GIRLS RULES Netflix and Universal | Kaplan Stahler // Varun Monga GGSSC // Chad Christopher | Evan Mirzai is an LGBTQ+ Iranian American WGA Feature and TV writer and executive producer. After starting his career as the Feature Literary Coordinator at Gersh, Evan was voted to the annual Black List four consecutive years and left the agency to pursue writing full time. He has several projects in development across features, TV and unscripted with names such as Todd McFarlane, yolk.tv, and 44 Blue. He Executive Produced the $20M Nat Geo event series ORIGINS for Disney+, sold his debut feature pitch to Sony and Will Smith, co wrote ACCIDENTES for EOne and co wrote the female driven reboot of AMERICAN PIE: GIRLS RULES for Netflix. | ||||||
44 | Moujan Zolfaghari | Iranian | COMEDY, SITCOM, VARIETY, SCI-FI, ANIMATION | Story Editor | THE DETOUR (Staff Writer), HUMAN KIND OF (WRITER, ANNIE AWARD NOM), NOT TOO LATE SHOW WITH ELMO (WRITER) | https://findawriter.wgaeast.org/member/1f2a595f-c260-4c93-9413-5034381348ce | Moujan Zolfaghari is a writer, actor and VO artist based in New York and Los Angeles. She was born in Iran, raised in the SF Bay Area, and after graduating from UC Berkeley, went on to horrify her Iranian parents and all her ancestors by pursuing a career in comedy. Since then, she's been on TV (At Home with Amy Sedaris, Last Week Tonight, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Seeso's ThingStarter etc), written for TV (The Detour, MTV's Middle of the Night Show, The Helpsters, Not Too Late Show with Elmo, Annie nominated Human Kind Of) and is the co-creator and performer on Mission to Zyxx, a sci-fi audiocomedy series on Maximum Fun. Moujan also regularly performs live (storytelling, characters, variety) in whichever venue will have her. She was trained at the UCB Theatre and was a house member of Harold Night, Maude Night & a head writer for several Digital Teams. She was also a cast member of The Female Gaze, the popular live-show parody of The View. In her free time, Moujan likes taking long walks in the woods where she tries to reconnect with her ancestors to tell them to stop haunting her. | ||||||
45 | Abdi Nazemian | Iranian | Drama | Story Editor | The Artist's Wife (writer / producer), Almost Family (Story Editor), The Village (Staff Writer) | Brant Rose. Brant Rose Agency. brose@brantroseagency.com | Abdi Nazemian’s screenwriting credits include the films The Artist's Wife, The Quiet, and Menendez: Blood Brothers, and the television series The Village (staff writer) and Almost Family (story editor). He has been an executive producer and associate producer on numerous films, including Call Me By Your Name, Little Woods, The House of Tomorrow and Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood. He is also the author of three novels that focus on the Iranian-American experience, with a specific focus on the intersection of Middle Eastern and queer life. His first novel, The Walk-In Closet, won the Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Debut Fiction. His most recent, Like a Love Story, an Indie Next Pick, Walden Award finalist and Junior Library Guild selection, was awarded a Stonewall Honor, and was chosen as one of the best books of the year by Entertainment Weekly, Audible, Buzzfeed, the New York Public Library and more. His next two novels are set to be published by HarperCollins. He lives in Los Angeles with his husband and two children. | ||||||
46 | Joie Botkin | Moroccan | Romantic comedies/teen movies/horror | Feature Writer with Credits | Christmas in Vienna, Love in Store, My One & Only | JoieBotkin@gmail.com | A Moroccan Spanish writer focusing on romantic comedies, I’ve written countless MOW for the Hallmark Channel along with specs in the horror and indie romance/teen genre. I’m also an activist having worked with such organizations like Sea Shepherd Conservation Society as well a former mental health worker/crisis counselor. I’m a Mom and identify as LGBTQIA. | ||||||
47 | Kira Kalush | Lebanese | Comedy | Co-Producer | THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (SW --> ESE), PUNKY BREWSTER (Co-P) | Chervine Naamani (Rain Management Group): cnaamani@rainla.com | Kira Kalush is a mid-level, multiethnic comedy lady who grew up in an eclectic household as the daughter of a news anchor, and a photographer-turned-mountain unicyclist-turned-hot dog-entrepreneur. Kira loves high concept stories, but also knows the value of a good old fashioned poop joke (and a good old fashioned, but that’s beside the point). As a mixed race woman, Kira is committed to telling untold stories from underrepresented communities in a weird, relatable way. | ||||||
48 | Daria Polatin | Egyptian | Drama | Executive Producer | CASTLE ROCK (Co-EP), HUNTERS (Co-EP), JACK RYAN (2 seasons), DEVIL IN OHIO (EP/Showrunner) pilot at Netflix | UTA, Haven Entertainment | Daria Polatin is an award-wining playwright, TV writer/producer and author of Middle Eastern descent. | ||||||
49 | Samuel Franco | Syrian, Moroccan, and Turkish | Action/Drama/Thriller | Attached as an EP on the two shows that I recently sold. | Keeper of the Diary; The Fall of the House of FIFA; Mayday 109 | samuelvfranco@gmail.com - Parker Davis, Matthew Doyle, David Boxerbaum @ VERVE. | Born and bred in NYC, Samuel Franco took two gap years before college to live in the Middle East where he studied biblical history & archaeology in Israel, Egypt & Jordan. He then studied WWII history & the Nazi Death Camps in Poland, before going on to filmmaking at FAMU in Prague, CR. Returning to NY, Samuel worked for filmmakers Ted Demme & Joel Stillerman while writing & directing short films, music videos, and producing I SING!, an off-B-way musical. After a year at SUNY Binghamton, Samuel graduated from NYU Tisch, and secured an apprenticeship under investigative journalist Mike Wallace at 60 Minutes, and later joined The Charlie Rose Show as a research writer, before working for Howard Stern, in strategic marketing, promos & sales. Samuel went on to work for CBS Radio, MEGA Films, and Miramax before moving to Los Angeles, where he worked at Paramount Pictures, and CBS Television. Samuel’s credits include the Black List scripts: KEEPER OF THE DIARY (Searchlight) and MAYDAY 109; and TV shows THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF FIFA (FX), and CAMELOT (Peacock), alongside writing partner Evan Kilgore. Samuel lives in Los Angeles with his wife & two children. | ||||||
50 | Maytha Alhassen | Syrian/Lebanese/Egyptian/Saudi/Bedouin Arab | Dramedy and unscripted | Staff Writer | Producer and Writer for Ramy | Chervine Naamani Rain Management cnaamani@rainla.com www.maythaalhassen.com | MAYTHA ALHASSEN, PHD, is a journalist, professor, social justice organizer, poet and TV writer who regularly appears as a co-host on TYT and Al Jazeera English. Alhassen recently moved from creative advisor to staff writer for Hulu’s “Ramy.” She received her Ph.D. in American studies and ethnicity from USC and thus, regularly consults on race, ethnicity and gender in film and TV. In 2018, she authored a report on the history of Muslim representation in Hollywood, “Haqq and Hollywood: Illuminating 100 Years of Muslim Tropes and How to Change Them.” A year after the Arab uprisings, she co-edited a volume of stories by Arab youth, “Demanding Dignity: Young Voices from the Front Lines of the Arab Revolutions” (2012). Over a decade, she has co-founded multiple social justice organizations including Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative, The Social Justice Institute at Occidental College, Believers Bali Out and Arabs for Black Lives. She is currently a Pillars Narrative Cohort Fellow and Pop Culture Collaborative Senior Fellow. | ||||||
51 | Siavash Farahani | Iranian/Persian | Action, thriller, sci fi, horror, fantasy, crime, drama, historical | Executive Story Editor | The Last Tiger (feature film, writer/EP, Circle of Confusion/Westbrook) Neon City (creator/EP Penélope Cruz attached to star, Jose Padilha attached to direct, Circle of Confusion/ITV). The Walking Dead: World Beyond (exec story editor, AMC ) | CAA - TV: Ann Blanchard, Chris Licata Feature: Jon Cassir, Darian Lanzetta Susan Solomon - Circle of Confusion Direct: karmafilm77@gmail.com | Siavash Farahani is an Iranian American writer director in feature and TV. He is part of a writing team with his sister Dana Farahani. As children they fled the chaos of war and revolution in Iran as refugees in Norway before immigrating to Los Angeles. He graduated from USC School of Cinematic arts where he is also currently a professor. He is most passionate about using elevated genre to entertain audiences while bringing social awareness to pressing social issues of the day. | ||||||
52 | Taylor Hamra | Lebanese | Drama and Comedy | Co-Executive Producer | BLUFF CITY LAW - Co-Executive Producer NASHVILLE - Co-Executive Producer DALLAS - Co-Executive Producer | Personal email: taylorhamra@gmail.com Lawyer: Bruce Gellman - (310) 248-3184 Former Agent: Andrew Miller (CAA) - (424) 288-2611 | 2nd Generation Lebanese. Grew up in Dallas then went to Dartmouth College before coming to LA and pursuing a career in sitcom writing. Worked on a few Comedies, then transitioned to Drama, and have alternated back and forth since. Have sold multiple pilots in both genres. | ||||||
53 | Lewis Sarmed Alsamari | Iraqi-British | Drama - Espionage - Thriller - Horror - Fantasy - Supernatural | Freelance episode(s) | GREEN ZONE, UNITES 93, OCCUPATION | https://directories.wga.org/member/ccc321e9-6060-4b03-a5cb-da4c2e7fa727 | Script award nominee's epic escape from Saddam Hussein's army & military intelligence is a biography published by Penguin Random House. Smuggled into Jordan by Bedouins at night, attacked by desert wolves, locked up in Malaysia & finally landing in the UK (where he grew up) to claim political asylum. With his Jewish-British wife he hatched a sting operation to rescue his family from imminent death. | ||||||
54 | Allyson Philobos | Egyptian/Swiss | Comedy / Dramedy | Staff Writer | CALL YOUR MOTHER (Staff Writer) | allyson.philobos@gmail.com | I’m an Egyptian / Swiss dramedy writer. I grew up in Corona, California, a city affectionately known for its crippling smog emissions and defunct citrus groves. I come from a multi-cultural family – most of my Egyptian family immigrated to America, while my Swiss family remains in Switzerland. I was the weird commuter kid at my private high school. The balancing act of having to constantly perform as a good, Christian, Egyptian girl and rich, cool, American girl (I was neither) led to my love of finding comedy in grief and otherness. After moving to New York and working in journalism (I wrote for the 9/11 Memorial & Museum website), I landed an internship with Focus Features, where I realized: holy shit, screenwriting is a real job. Even though I didn’t have any connections, I had to find a way in. I moved to LA, where I worked in television development (Assistant to Dana Walden / Writers’ Assistant at Family Guy) until 2020, when I was selected as 1 of 5 comedy writers in the Walt Disney Television Writing Program. After complaining my way through several pilot seasons, I realized: no one is going to write the show I want to see. I have to. Currently, I write pilots that meld genres and bring comedy and drama together. | ||||||
55 | Ed Herro | Lebanese | Comedy | Producer | AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE (Producer), CHUNK & BEAN (TV pilot, EP and Creator), SCOOB! (Animated Feature - rewrite). | Bruce Gellman (Attorney) at Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman | Ed came up in improv and stand-up comedy, then national radio before moving to LA. There he paid his dues in network comedies before creating his own streaming/premium comedies. He's drawn to real-life stories and darker, character stuff but also rewritten some animated features and delving into his own (non-animated) features. | ||||||
56 | Debbie Jhoon | Iranian/Persian | Comedy | Co-Producer | A.P. Bio co-producer, Marvels New Warriors executive Story editor, The Neighbors staff writer. | David Baggelaar at Good Fear Management DBaggelaar@good-fear.com 310 435 0807 | I am a female Persian refugee who grew up in Los Angeles. My father is the chief orthodox rabbi of the persian Jewish community in Los Angeles so I live a double life. This led to a career performing and writing comedy. I have a lot of stories to tell that will seem made up but one hundred percent true. I also love cooking Persian food and throwing dinner parties for 10 to 100 people. | ||||||
57 | John Aboud | Lebanese | Comedy | Executive Producer | HOME ECONOMICS (ABC pilot), CLOSE ENOUGH (EP, HBO Max), A FUTILE AND STUPID GESTURE (2018, Netflix Original Film, Sundance Film Festival selection) | https://directories.wga.org/member/cd17968d-5114-47da-b929-a7bfa87edaa1/ | John Aboud writes the kind of comedy that you, specifically you, find funny. For an Arab-American, he is not overly menacing. | ||||||
58 | Abdullah Saeed | Pakistani-American | Comedy | Staff Writer | High Maintenance (staff writer) | 6025158075 | Former unscripted producer, reporter, host for Vice turned actor and writer on High Maintenance, currently co-writing first film for Searchlight and New Regency, comedic and horror pilots in the works. | ||||||
59 | Tamara Farsadi | Iranian-American | Drama/Comedy | N/A - Haven't staffed yet | DUKE OF THE VALLEY (TV Series) TALL, DARK & PERSIAN (Feature Comedy Script) L.A. PERSIAN (TV Series Pilot) | Tamara.Farsadi@gmail.com | Hi, I’m Tamara Farsadi. Here’s my bio in a nutshell: I grew up in a bi-cultural home in the Pacific Northwest. My father is Iranian and my mother is American. I write both feature and TV, award-winning drama and comedy, having garnered awards for “Best Female Protagonist” and “Best Diverse Protagonist.” My education is in Writing and Directing. I have a B.A. in Film & Television from Chapman University and an M.F.A. in Screenwriting from the AFI. I also work as a professionally trained Script Supervisor and have worked at Disney, Universal and CAA. | ||||||
60 | Mano Agapion | Palestinian/Syrian | Comedy | Story Editor | Pretty Smart (story editor), Punky Brewster (Staff Writer) | manoagapion@gmail.com REPS: Katt Riley katt.riley@a3artistsagency.com 203-615-8551 Casey Neumeier cn@artistsfirst-la.com 323-459-3353 MY WGA PROFILE:https://directories.wga.org/member/1d69c2ea-658a-4f06-9e67-c21b32125c21 | I'm Mano Agapion; a gay/queer Arab/Greek American comedian from North Carolina.... I know, yikes! I just sold a sitcom to Freeform. Before that, I wrapped as story editor on Pretty Smart for Netflix. I was also a staff writer on Punky Brewster for Peacock. I even wrote for RuPaul's Drag Race! Before that, I was head writer on a WOW Presents Plus show for drag race winner Symone as well as a Spotify Podcast called Nightmare Neighbors. I was a teacher and performer at UCB-LA on various house teams like Winslow, Benetton, and QueerWorld! I hosted a sold-out comedy drag show every month called UCB Drag Race at Dynasty Typewriter! I'm also SUCH a podcast KWEEN: hosting Drag Her (A Rupaul's Drag Race Pod), We Love Trash (A Patreon Pod w/ Betsy Sodaro), & Podcast Killed The Video Star w/ Oscar Montoya! I've also acted on some TV shows like Hacks, Mother Mary, Drunk History, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Bajillion Dollar Properties, Adam Ruins Everything, & Comedy Bang Bang! I wish to thank the fat Arabic kids from my childhood. Without their love, I’d be nothing. | ||||||
61 | John Hibey | Lebanese | based on a true story action/thriller | Feature Writer with Credits | Fishing Without Nets (co-writer/producer) Mask of Gods (co-creator/executive producer) Bird In Flight (writer) | secretresearch.assistant@gmail.com | John Hibey co-wrote and produced Fishing Without Nets, which began as a Somali pirate short film that won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and was expanded into the first scripted feature film financed by Vice Media. The feature film played around, winning awards including Best Director at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival for Hibey's frequent collaborator Cutter Hodierne. Hibey is also the co-recipient of the Sundance/Alfred P. Sloan Commissioning Grant for Mask of Gods, an episodic series spanning across millennia. Fabula attached to produce his feature script, Bird In Flight, based on a famous 1970's hijacking. His work combines real life, dramatic stories of adventure through the intimate lens of his characters, allowing space for the vibrancy, spontaneity, and wildness of life. | ||||||
62 | Benjamin-Shalom Rodriguez | Israeli-Mexican-American | Comedy, drama | N/A - Haven't staffed yet | Sundance Screenwriters Intensive Fellow, National Hispanic Media Coalition TV Writers Fellow, CBS Diversity Showcase Writer | IKIGAI Management - Carlos E. Hernandez carlos@ikigaimgmt.com / (323) 394-6297 | BENJAMIN-SHALOM RODRIGUEZ (or simply, “Ben”) is a queer Israeli-Mexican-American Jewish writer, director and comedian. Some #humblebrags: 2020 Sundance Institute Feature Film Program Fellow, Will & Jada Smith Family Foundation development grant recipient, Ryan Murphy HALF Directing Mentee, NHMC TV Writers Fellow, Fox Writers Intensive Fellow, and alumnus of Film Independent’s Project Involve and CBS Showcase. As a writer/director Ben’s had 20+ comedic shorts/webisodes produced and 2 dramatic, award nominated/winning shorts produced. Before outing himself as an artist, Ben assisted the producers of DJANGO UNCHAINED, was a talent manager in Miami for telenovela stars, and a features exec for the Lionsgate-backed, 3Pas Studios. On the juicier personal side, before coming out as queer, Ben edged dangerously close to becoming another closeted statistic: he (accidentally, he swears!) stumbled into a meth addiction, struggled with bulimia, and was a serial monogamist - all before 18! He was basically Rue before it was HBO cool. But he got clean by simultaneously taking up surfing and becoming captain of his high school’s boys’ dance team (naturally.) He also now writes a lot in the YA space, is an out and proud filmmaker mentor with Youth Cinema Project - where he teaches film to students in Title I schools - and is a charter member of the queer Latinx writers collective, The Clubhouse. | ||||||
63 | Atif Myers and Graham Currin | Moroccan | Comedy. Horror | Staff Writer | Surviving Jack(Staff Writer), CBS Diversity showcase(Staff Writer), Warner Brothers Writers Workshop (Staff Writer) | Rep: Michael Kolondy(Kaplan-Stahler) - mkolodny@kaplanstahler.com US: Atif Myers - atif.myers@gmail.com Graham Currin - rcurrin@vt.edu | In the year 2029, America lies in ruins after a sham election. Fearing for his safety after working for former president Obama on his WHITE HOUSE PRESS CORRESPONDENTS’ DINNER speech, Graham (CURRIN) escapes D.C. and heads west. He assumes a new identity as a staff writer on FOX’S SURVIVING JACK after infiltrating the highly covert WARNER BROTHERS’ WRITERS WORKSHOP and later, the UPRIGHT CITIZENS BRIGADE. However, Graham quickly runs across an old foe, Atif (MYERS), whom he’d battled previously in the D.C. and West Coast standup and festival circuits. Atif, known for his unique Jamaican and Moroccan background, had excelled in the WORLD SERIES OF COMEDY and joined up with the ultra-clandestine CBS DIVERSITY SHOWCASE, becoming even more formidable.Realizing that competing for stage time at the Laugh Factory and Improvs would only lead to their mutual destruction, the two decided to form an unlikely alliance and did that cool Arnold Schwarzenegger/Carl Weathers bicep-flexing handshake thing. It was equal parts hot and uncomfortable. Now, one a married Southern man with a toddler and the other a stylish black Muslim man-about-town, they’ve set out to do the impossible – succeed as a non-toxic male comedy duo. (SFX: EXPLOSION) This summer, Currin and Myers are...(DRAMATIC CRESCENDO) ”A Writing Team.” | ||||||
64 | Sara Saedi | Iranian | Drama & Comedy | Co-Executive Producer | iZombie, Katy Keene, Green Lantern | Michael Pelmont & Matt Ochacher at Nacelle. Lynn Fimberg & David Rubin at Gersh. | Sara Saedi was born in Tehran, Iran and immigrated to the Bay Area with her family in 1982, where they remained undocumented for TWENTY LONG ASS years. Her TV writing credits include The Goodwin Games (FOX), iZombie (The CW), Grand Hotel (ABC), Katy Keene (The CW), and Green Lantern (HBO MAX). She is also the author of three books, including her memoir AMERICANIZED, which she's developing as a pilot with Hello Sunshine and Disney+. She currently resides in LA with her husband and two boys. | ||||||
65 | Dana Farahani | Iranian/Persian | Action, Drama, Fantasy, Sci Fi, Thriller | Executive Story Editor | The Last Tiger (writer, feature, Circle of Confusion/Westbrook) The Walking Dead: World Beyond (executive story editor, AMC ) Blood & Treasure (story editor, CBS) | CAA - TV: Ann Blanchard, Chris Licata Feature: Jon Cassir, Darian Lanzetta Susan Solomon - Circle of Confusion Direct: dgfarah@gmail.com | I tumbled through space and time until one day I was born in Iran during a war. Of all the gin joints in all the world... Some years later, I fled as a refugee to Norway with my parents and brother, Siavash Farahani, who today is my writing partner. It was there in makeshift camps amid the frost my brother and I discovered a new refuge -- stories. For us they became a bridge to the home we left behind and a way to connect with the strange one we now found ourselves in. Years later, these are the stories we strive to tell… the ones that open our eyes to strange new worlds and connect us to the people who live in them. | ||||||
66 | Nastaran Dibai | Iranian/Persian | Comedy/Drama | Executive Producer | Flatbush Misdemeanors (EP), Dear White People (EP), Run the World (EP) | Agent: David Boxerbaum (VERVE) Manager: Matt Ochacher (The Nacelle Company) | Nastaran is a writer in both comedy and drama. She began her career in sitcoms, rising through the ranks of shows like LIVING SINGLE, THE NANNY and THIRD ROCK FROM THE SUN. Currently she's an Executive Producer/Showrunner for the Showtime comedy series, FLATBUSH MISDEMEANORS, which was just ordered to series. She was also an Executive Producer for the upcoming Starz comedy, RUN THE WORLD, for which she will also direct. Prior to that, she worked on the Sci-Fi Thriller, RESIDENT ALIEN for Syfy and served as Co-EP/EP on Netflix's DEAR WHITE PEOPLE for 3 seasons. Over the past several years she has developed at HBO, FX, and Freeform. Nastaran is currently co-adapting the NYT Bestselling memoir from former editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue Elaine Welteroth, MORE THAN ENOUGH, for Paramount TV and Anonymous Content. | ||||||
67 | Mona Mira | Iranian/Persian | Comedy/Drama | Staff Writer | The Offer (Staff Writer), A Little Late with Lilly Singh (Staff Writer) | https://directories.wga.org/member/e46aae1d-5825-43ce-8ba4-ddf34676f81c/ | Mona is an Iranian-American writer, actor and comedian. She is currently a staff writer on The Offer (Paramount Plus) starring Armie Hammer. She was also recently a staff writer on the first season of NBC's A LITTLE LATE WITH LILLY SINGH as well as THE WEAKEST LINK. Mona is an alumnus of NBC’s Late Night Writers Program and Actor’s Showcase. Upcoming TV appearances include THE GOLDBERGS, RAVEN’S HOME and CRIMINAL MINDS (where she plays a victim but doesn’t die!!!). She has a Neuroscience degree and a Masters in Business which has nothing to do with anything but she spent a shit ton of money collecting degrees so her parents could brag at dinner parties and also so she could write this in her bio. So thank you for reading. | ||||||
68 | Dan Bailey | Lebanese | Comedy | Freelance episode(s) | 2 episodes of Freeform comedy "Alone Together" (110 & 210), upcoming episode of "The Goldbergs" (821) | Audrey Knox, Manager at The Cartel, Audrey@cartelent.com | Dan is a Lebanese-American comedy writer currently on THE GOLDBERGS. He previously staffed on THE BAXTERS mini-room for MGM and spent two seasons on Freeform’s ALONE TOGETHER, where he penned two episodes, including the series finale. Dan holds a bachelor's degree in music, which led to several years recording and performing in New York City as a professional guitarist for hire, and he's now an ASCAP-certified composer for TV and film. He was named one of Tracking Board’s top Young & Hungry Writers of 2019 and previously worked as a segment producer with CNN, where his team was nominated for a News & Documentary Emmy for Outstanding Live Coverage of a Current News Story - Longform. In June of 2020, Dan and his partner welcomed their first baby girl into the smoldering hellscape we now refer to as "the world." | ||||||
69 | Mike Dow | Lebanese/Italian | Comedy | Co-Executive Producer | Inside Job (Co-Exec) Young & Hungry (Co-Exec) Candy Crosby Cruz (pilot in dev) | Dianne Fraser & Ava Jamshidi, Industry Entertainment | Writer/producer on Netflix's upcoming "Inside Job," "Young & Hungry" and "Happily Divorced." Currently in development on a multi-cam pilot. Alum of NYU Tisch School of Arts and Phillips Exeter Academy. Lebanese-Italian Masshole, go Pats! | ||||||
70 | Ursula Taherian | Afghan-American | Comedy | Staff Writer | United States of Al (Chuck Lorre comedy on CBS, Staff Writer), A Little Race-Ish (pilot, Writer), The Brownlist (multiple award-winning short film, Writer/Producer/Actor) | The Gersh Agency Ian Greenstein: IGreenstein@gersh.com Gotham Group Jeremy Bell: Jeremy@Gotham-Group.com | Her Mom is a Christian-practicing white girl, her Dad is a Muslim-practicing Afghan, she is a yoga-practicing Halfghan (with a mezuza outside her door just to cover all her bases). Ursula Taherian is a creative multi-hyphenate, most recently writing, producing and starring in the multiple award-winning short film, The Brownlist. It screened at several Oscar-qualifiers and took home the Jury Award for Best Short Film at Geena Davis' Bentonville Festival, amongst others. Her spin-off tv pilot script, A Little Race-Ish, is quickly gaining recognition in the contest world, earning a win at the CineStory TV Fellowship, Top Ten at Final Draft and countless others. It eventually landed in the lap of CBS which landed her a writing job on the new Chuck Lorre comedy, United States of AI. | ||||||
71 | Maryam Keshavarz | Iranian/ Persian | Drama, Political Thriller, Dramedy | N/A - Haven't staffed yet | Feature Film Writer CIRCUMSTANCE, Feature Film Writer VIPER CLUB, Feature Film Writer THE PERSIAN VERSION, Pilot Writer 2030 (BBC America) | maryam.keshavarz.a@gmail.com , cbazdekis@icmpartners.com | Maryam’s first narrative feature fiction film, CIRCUMSTANCE won the Audience Award at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. The critically acclaimed film was released by Participant Media. Maryam's sophomore feature VIPER CLUB starring Academy Award Winner Susan Sarandon had its world premiere at Toronto International Film Festival 2018 and was released theatrically by Roadside Attractions. The Persian Version, an epic dramedy of migration, family, and the secrets we keep, that traverses decades and toggles between the United States and Iran, is Maryam’s third feature and is in pre-production. Maryam has also sold pilot scripts to BBC America and FX and is in development on several new original series. | ||||||
72 | George V. Ghanem | Lebanese | Drama, Comedy, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Thriller | Staff Writer | GRAYMAIL (Staff Writer), VERMILION (Feature, Drama), B-Rab (TV Pilot, Dramedy) | Kelsey Roberts / Paradigm / kroberts@paradigmagency.com | George V. Ghanem is a Lebanese American writer, raised both in the Middle East and the US Midwest. George was most recently staffed on the upcoming Netflix series GRAYMAIL and is developing his original podcast BLOODTHIRSTY HEARTS for QCode. After earning his MFA in Screenwriting from DePaul University in Chicago, George became a published editorial writer and an award-winning copywriter while also placing in the Top 50 of the 2015 Academy Nicholl Fellowships for his feature-length character drama VERMILION. Additionally, his original crime pilot JULIET was named winner of the 2015 First Look Screenwriting Competition in Chicago. For a second time, George placed in the 2017 Academy Nicholl Fellowships for his psychological thriller THRESHOLD APPREHENSION. | ||||||
73 | Lance Khazei | Iranian / Italian | comedy, action, sci-fi, thriller | supervising producer, feature writer with spec sales and credits | ROMANTIC COMEDY (feature spec sale), BABY FORMULA (feature spec sale), COLOR TV (supervising producer) | lance@spaceagepix.com, 310-403-8677 | Lance Khazei is a Harvard graduate, Emmy nominated writer, award winning producer, and festival acclaimed director. Lance sold his original screenplay ROMANTIC COMEDY to MGM and action comedy spec BABY FORMULA to New Line. Khazei has written additional feature films for New Line, Columbia and Warner Brothers, working across comedy and action genres. Lance has developed and written television comedy for Fox, Comedy Central, Disney, Dreamworks, MTV, Cartoon Network and NBC Studios. Khazei served as creator and supervising producer on his sketch comedy COLOR TV which received a six script order from NBC. NAMCAR NIGHT RACE, an independent comedy Lance wrote and directed recently screened to forty-five festival wins and honors worldwide and stars Theo Vonn of Netflix’s ”No Offense" and James Morosini of HBO's "Sex Lives of College Girls." | ||||||
74 | Sabine El Gemayel | Lebanese/ Iranian/Persian/ French | Drama | writer director | NILOOFAR | https://writers.wga.org/sabineelgemayel | Following the aftermath from the Persian Revolution and the Lebanese Civil War, her passion for filmmaking brought her to Los Angeles where she resides since 1994. Sabine conveys her strong narrative skills and her deep understanding of human emotions into her writing and directing work giving a voice to extraordinary people in ordinary situations. She focuses on stories with socially engaged themes with a particular focus on the socio-political differences between the Middle East, France and the United States. | ||||||
75 | Bayan Wolcott | Persian-American | Drama | Staff Writer | FX's IMPEACHMENT: AMERICAN CRIME STORY (SW) Amazon's THE SUMMER I TURNED PRETTY (SW) ABC's TIME AFTER TIME (Freelance) | Agents: Manal Hammad & Felicia Prinz @ Verve Managers: Chelsea Benson & Zadoc Angell @ Echo Lake Self: bayanwolcott@gmail.com | Bayan Wolcott is an LGBTQ+ and Persian-American TV writer coming off the staff of FX’s IMPEACHMENT: AMERICAN CRIME STORY. Prior to that, he was Staff Writer on Amazon’s YA romantic drama, THE SUMMER I TURNED PRETTY after a handful of Research & Writers’ Assistant gigs in drama rooms ranging from sci-fi shows to true-crime adaptations. He started his career in earnest assisting Kevin Williamson where he worked his way up to writing and producing an episode of Kevin's ABC show TIME AFTER TIME. Bayan is mixed race, gay, from a small Mormon town in Arizona, and grew up in a strict Baha’i household where TV and film were rarely allowed. Which clearly explains why he’s chosen this path forward for his life, despite family objections. Bayan writes grounded sci-fi, family dramas, thrillers of all types, and mysteries. He’s a WGA Feature Access Honoree and has developed projects that have progressed in varying degrees, including a feature with Bad Robot and a TV series with Snapchat. | ||||||
76 | Nate Varrone | Lebanese | Comedy | Staff Writer | STEPHEN COLBERT PRESENTS TOONING OUT THE NEWS (Staff Writer), SECOND CITY MAINSTAGE | ayala.cohen@icmpartners.com | Nate Varrone is an alum of The Second City Mainstage in Chicago, IL. His work has been featured on Vulture, Comedy Central, Funny or Die, Brightest Young Things. He has also written for McSweeney's. He was selected to be in Comedy Central’s “Up Next” Showcase in 2019 at Clusterfest. He most recently was a staff writer for Stephen Colbert Presents Tooning Out The News on Paramount +. | ||||||
77 | Ben Deeb | Lebanese | Comedy | Staff Writer | BLACKISH (Staff Writer) | Jared Negron: jared@writersmgmt.com | Ben enjoys building custom furniture, creating bizarre puzzle games, making dumb websites, and digging large holes in the desert. With his writing partner, Graham Towers, he has written a number of pilots as well as four produced episodes of ABC’s Black-ish, including a fully animated special, which the nerds at the AV Club called a “near perfect Black-ish episode.” Ben is a Lebanese American who has worked in a geochemistry laboratory, traveled the country as a professional narc, interned in the US Senate, and taught science in over a hundred Los Angeles schools. There are very few experiences Ben will say no to. To that end, he spent a week at a 17th century French castle full of twenty-something cryptocurrency millionaires, lived on a houseboat in Prague for a month where he was in a clinical trial for the world’s most powerful hallucinogen, and had an hour-long session with a professional Dominatrix. | ||||||
78 | Mithra Alavi | Iranian/Persian/American | comedy, dramedy, romcom | Staff Writer | SINGLE DRUNK FEMALE (Staff Writer) | The Cartel: Ryan Saul rlsaul@cartelent.com ; Audrey Knox audrey@cartelent.com | Named after the Zoroastrian “God of Light,” MITHRA B. ALAVI is an Iranian American comedy writer/director and graduate of the MFA Film program at Florida State University. Raised Muslim in the Evangelical Bible belt of Northeast Tennessee, Mithra credits her mixed cultural background as the source of inspiration for her work. Her most recent short film, “Bird’s Fly Home” has been accepted into the Academy Award Qualifying, LA Short International Film Festival, and won Best Narrative Short at the Indie Spirit Film Festival and Best Drama Short at the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival. Her student film THREE’S A CROWD was a Student Emmy Award winner and convinced her to pursue writing and directing in Los Angeles. Mithra’s original pilot “Rules for Being a Mutt” based on her experience as an Iranian American Muslim teenager after 9/11, helped earn her a spot in Disney General Entertainment’s 2022 Writing Program, which led to her current position as a Staff Writer on Season 2 of Freeform’s “Single Drunk Female.” She’s worked professionally in entertainment for years starting as a mailroom trainee at APA and working her way up to Coordinator of Development and Sales at Myriad Pictures before refocusing on her creative career. She continues to write and develop original features and pilots, while teaching belly-dancing and aerial acrobatics on the side. | ||||||
79 | Brittany Assaly | Lebanese-American | Comedy, Drama, Dramedy | Story Editor | Raven's Home (Story Editor), Malibu Rescue (Freelance Writer), Lizzie McGuire Reboot (Script Coordinator) | brittanyassaly@gmail.com AGENT: Michael Kolodny - Kaplan Stahler, MANAGER: Kasra Ajir - Venture Entertainment | Brittany Assaly is a Lebanese-American TV writer. She is currently a Story Editor on Disney Channel’s That’s So Raven spinoff Raven’s Home. Her writing credits include Raven’s Home, Netflix's Malibu Rescue and Disney Channel's Bunk'd. She's passionate about the YA space and loves telling authentic coming-of-age stories. | ||||||
80 | Catherine Clinch | Greek | Comedy / Dramedy / Procedural / Thriller / Action / Mystery / Speculative Fiction | Producer | Stan Lee's S.T.E.A.M. Squad :: Jake & The Fatman :: Hunter | catherine.clinch@icloud.com | Once a stand-up regular at The Improv, The Comedy Store, and The Playboy Club (where she was conspicuously overdressed), writer-producer Catherine Clinch has written for some of television’s most popular network series including “Love Boat,” “Hart to Hart,” “Hunter,” “Jake & The Fatman,” “Knight Rider,” and “Transformers: Rescue Bots” and, in 2018n she created “Stan Lee’s S.T.E.A.M. Squad” for POW! Entertainment. Catherine has worked directly for a veritable who’s who of iconic television producers and executives, including Aaron Spelling, Fred Silverman, Alan Landsburg, Peter Roth, Kevin Reilly and Stephen J. Cannell, earning 18 produced credits. She’s the former Associate Publisher of the print version of Creative Screenwriting Magazine, and co-coordinator of the Screenwriting Expo, covering an average of 50 conferences and panels a year for five years. Looking for a new challenge, Catherine expanded her experience into other forms of media such as marketing, technology, and mobile entertainment for which she has been awarded three patents. She’s also won five hackathons. Catherine Chairs the WGAw Career Longevity Committee. She wrote and created the art for a new graphic novel, “A Millennial’s Guide to the Apocalypse,” which she plans on releasing later this year. She is on the speaker circuit around the country and frequently speaks at local conferences. Catherine is happily married with three sons. | ||||||
81 | Abe El-Raheb | Egyptian-American | Genre, Drama, Grounded Sci-Fi/Fantasy | Staff Writer | GASLIT (Starz), DOWNFALL (Hulu) | Manager: Jeff Portnoy (Bellevue) jeff@bellevueprods.com, Agent: Varun Monga (Paradigm) vmonga@paradigmagency.com Abe El-Raheb: abrahamelraheb@gmail.com | Abe El-Raheb is an Egyptian-American screenwriter based in Los Angeles. Abe grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma ad worked as a financial analyst for five years in the Oil & Gas Industry, prior to making the leap for his lifelong dream of writing for film & television. He earned a Masters Degree in Screenwriting at the American Film Institute in 2019. He has worked at Annapurna and Esmail Corp, where he served as a feature assistant for Sam Esmail. He most recently served as the Showrunner's Assistant for Robbie Pickering on the Starz series GASLIT and was a staff writer on Pickering's follow up limited series DOWNFALL for Hulu. Abe loves to cook, travel, and run marathons. | ||||||
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