Producer attached to produce Broadway Bound...

It's official, I have a producer attached to produce Broadway Bound. Right now we are working with a U.K. production company for the financing and are hoping to begin production as early as Summer 2009.

The budget for the film is estimated at just under $2 million, but we are looking to expand that to $5 million (per the U.K. production companies request) so that we can get some known talent attached to the project. This will make it much easier to sell the picture come time for distribution.

I'll be sure to keep you guys updated as I get more information. I have a meeting with my producer on Saturday.

Natalie Portman to appear in Broadway Bound?

I contacted Natalie Portman's agent over at Creative Artists Agency this afternoon and spoke to him about her possibly playing the role of Amie in Broadway Bound.

Overall, I felt the conversation went well. According to her agent, Natalie won't be able to read the script and get back to me until 10 months from now, after she gets back from her tour of Africa. However, the fact that she will actually read the script is a huge accomplishment.

Let's see what happens...

U.K. Production company considers Broadway Bound for financing...

I received an interesting e-mail today from a production company in the U.K. that has expressed interest in considering Broadway Bound for financing. They have produced a lot of great films that have premiered at Sundance.

Below is a snipet of the e-mail they sent:

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Dear Bandar,

Your email has been forwarded to me.

I think your project looks extremely interesting - although I could not get to see the short online because there seemed to be a problem with the password. Perhaps the dvd could be posted to me?

Although we tend to look at a budget range of $5 - 25m, I would be interested in considering the project for our next round of financing. We will need the following material in order to evaluate the project...
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I will be working on getting them what they have requested in the coming days. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

Broadway Bound - Feature

I recently finished the first draft of my feature length screenplay entitled Broadway Bound. It is based on the short film that I directed a year ago.

The feature takes place right after the short ends, with Ali homeless on the streets of New York City. I don't want to give too much away, since I plan on directing this film in the summer of 2009. A few people have read the feature screenplay, and so far I have received unbelievably great feedback. I truely believe that this film will have an immense impact on society, since it deals with many issues, such as family, friendship, love, loss, theater, art, 9/11, and the American dream.

For now, please enjoy the trailer of the short. I am hoping to upload the entire short film in the coming days.

Off-Broadway acting reviews...

I thought it would be interesting to post some reviews I received while acting as a terrorist off-Broadway in the production of Back of the Throat at the Flea theater.



BACK OF THE THROAT by Yussef El Guindi
Running Off Broadway @ The Flea Theater (www.theflea.com)

"Albuliwi delivers a compelling, organic performance of subtle honesty, making a man determined to destroy our country both sympathetic and empathetic." -- Sean ODonnell (Show Business Weekly)

"...played with fiery dignity by Bandar Albuliwi" -- Andy Propst (Backstage)

"Albuliwi has a penetrating stare that is both soulful and disconcerting, and his halting vocal delivery and soft Arabic accent lend him a more sensitive air than what we might normally associate with a terrorist." -- Dan Bacalzo (TheaterMania)

"Bandar Albuliwi wonderfully plays Asfoor, a dead Arab man connected to 9/11..." -- Antoinette Nwandu (OffOffOnline)

"Bandar Albuliwi, who plays Asfoor, uses a Middle Eastern accent flawlessly and most poignantly in a monologue about the power of language." -- Liza White (New Theater Corps)

Los Angeles - The city of dreams...

It has been exactly nine months since I moved to Los Angeles from New York City. In those nine months, I have worked at Paramount Pictures, been fired from six jobs, had a short film screen at the Cannes Film Festival (Broadway Bound), finished writing a feature length screenplay, and have been accepted into the prestigious MFA Directing program at the American Film Institute.

Looking back now, it has been an incredibly long journey to get to where I am today. Before moving out to Los Angeles, I was a professional actor in New York City. I auditioned for stereotypical Middle Eastern roles on a weekly basis, all the while playing a terrorist off-Broadway at the Flea Theater. It was definitely an exciting time in my life.


I decided to make the move out west in the summer of 2007. I had just finished directing my first short film (Broadway Bound), about an Arab-American actor struggling to survive in post-9/11 New York City. I wrote and directed Broadway Bound because I was fed up with all of the stereotypical roles I was being offered, and decided that change needed to be evoked. The film was based on my personal experiences as an Arab-American actor while living in New York City shortly after the 9/11 attacks. I was able to get Emmy-Award Nominee / National Board of Review winner Louise Lasser (Happiness, Requiem for a Dream, Take the Money and Run, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman) to play the role of my talent agent in the film.






Shortly after finishing post-production on Broadway Bound, I packed my bags and made the move out west to Los Angeles. After a few weeks of living there, I decided to apply to the American Film Institute's prestigious Directing program. I wrote my personal statement in a few days while working a horrible desk job, and sent in my short film Broadway Bound as a creative sample of my work.

I received an interview from AFI a few months later, and on April 14th, I received a phone call from Peter Markham informing me I was admitted into the Directing program. Those were by far some of the best words I ever heard in my life. It has always been a dream of mine to one day walk the same halls as some of my favorite filmmakers. I was one of only 28 Directing fellows from all over the world who were admitted into the competetive program. I will now be joining the ranks of filmmakers such as Darren Aronofsky, David Lynch, Todd Field, Edward Zwick, and many others, who all graduated from AFI's Directing program.

This brings me to where I am today. I invite everyone to come on board with me as my journey to becomming a filmmaker beings.