An Arab in Hollywood

Broadway Bound, Zamboor, Picasso

2009-07-07T18:58:00.001-07:00

Extremely sorry for the delay in posting. I have been incredibly busy in the pre-production process with Broadway Bound, along with the development of my upcoming short film Zamboor. Also, I have begun working on my next feature script, which is a biography on the life of legendary artist Pablo Picasso.

We are looking to shoot Broadway Bound in January, Zamboor in April, and Picasso sometime in 2012. Spoke with Javier Bardom's agent and he is awaiting a script! It will be exciting to have him play the painter so many people know little about.

Will try my best to post in the coming weeks!

Four films at once...

2008-12-22T16:19:00.000-08:00

It's been a little longer than expected since my last post. Busy can't even describe how preoccupied I've been in the past few weeks. I'm currently working on four screenplays at once (three shorts and my feature, Broadway Bound), all of which I will be Directing in the next year.

Broadway Bound is moving along smoothly (Production is tentatively slated to begin sometime in early summer). I'm currently finalizing the screenplay with one of the talented producers I have on board. We should have the script locked in the next few weeks. After many conversations, I have decided to include myself in the casting for the lead role of Ali. Many people have urged me to act in it, and I have finally succumbed. It will be a challenge, but I am up for it.

I'm currently on the second draft of my latest AFI SHORT entitled "The Beautiful Veil", which I will be Directing in February. It's an ambitious short film about a young Arab-American girl who is struggling to cope with her identity in the days following the 9/11 attacks. The production design on this film will be vital, since we will be recreating New York City's lower Manhattan area one week after the attacks.

Also in the pipeline, I am working on a first draft of my AFI THESIS FILM entitled "Lost Angel", which I will be Directing sometime next year. The film is about an Arab-American woman who embarks on a road-trip across America to recover the corpse of her husband, who was killed abroad in Iraq. The film is a clear-eyed look at post-9/11 America.

Lastly, I am juggling a few ideas around for my third AFI SHORT, which I will be Directing sometime in April. So there you have it. For those who were wondering where I have been the past few weeks, hopefully this offers you an explanation.

Europe, Broadway Bound, AFI...

2008-10-16T09:23:00.000-07:00

It seems like an eternity since my last post (roughly three months). Since then, I have traveled all over Europe, been doing pre-production on my feature film Broadway Bound, and have begun my studies as a Directing fellow at the AFI Conservatory in Los Angeles.

I'll try my best to fill you guys in on what has been happening. Production for Broadway Bound has been posponed until Summer 2009, which will give us more time to develop the script and get it into the best shape possible. A new producer has come on board, and we will now be co-producing the film. Once the script is complete, we will be making offers to our wish-list of actors (Natalie Portman, Ryan Gosling), who will hopefully sign on. Currently, Emmy-Award Nominee / National Board of Review winner Louise Lasser (Bananas, Take the Money and Run, Requiem for a Dream) has signed on to play Dorthy Palmer.

I recently finished Directing my first dramatic short film at AFI entitled Za'er (Visitor). It was a fun little experience, however, it was a bit stressful working with people who didn't believe in my vision. I am glad I was able to experience the difficulties of working with a screenwriter, since I am so used to writing my own films. It was good preperation for the future (working within the Hollywood studio system).

In the next few weeks, I will be fleshing out the script for my second AFI Short Film (Nine Twelve) which I will also Direct. I won't get too into the story right now, but it is an extremely controversial and personal film that will take place the day following 9/11. A producer has already come on board, and I am currently in the proccess of selecting a Cinematographer and Production Designer.

Stay tuned for more blog entries. I will try my best to update this blog as much as possible, now that I have a little more time.

Production meetings, vacation, AFI...

2008-07-13T16:39:00.000-07:00

I will be traveling to London on Tuesday to meet with a few production companies who are interested in financing Broadway Bound. Am feeling very optimistic about the meetings since most of these companies have been known to produce engaging films.

Afterwards, I will be traveling throughout Europe for a month before heading back to Los Angeles and beginning my first year as a Directing fellow at the American Film Institute. Am a little behind on the readings and DVD viewings, but I'm confident I'll be up to par come time for classes to begin on August 21st.

It may be a little while until I post again, since my access to internet will be extremely limited, but I will try my best to fill you guys in on what happens in London as soon as I can.

Stay tuned...

Broadway Bound - Updates

2008-07-01T09:38:00.000-07:00

If feels like ages since my last post. I have had a very hectic but productive past two weeks. I will try my best to fill you guys in on what has happened.

A friend of mine (a graduate of the AFI Directing program) who has been touring the festival circuit with his Sundance Award Winning film Captain Abu Raed, referred me to an extremely talented actor (whose name shall remain anonymous for the time being) who he thought would be a great match for the role of Ali.

I met with this actor and within five minutes knew that he is the Ali that I have been looking for. He is a Palestinian-American originally from the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn, who has appeared in films by Mike Nichols, Greg Mottola, Judd Apatow, Al Pacino, Sydney Lumet, Steven Spielberg, and Todd Solondz.

Secondly, things have been picking up with the pre-production aspects of Broadway Bound. We have locked an Editor, Composer, and are currently in the proccess of locking a Cinematographer. Financing has been working itself out, with numerous film production companies (weirdly enough, most are based out of London) interested in Broadway Bound.

My producer is very optimistic that we will garner the $5 million budget for Broadway Bound before summer 2009, and wants to aim for production to begin January 2009.

Stay tuned for more updates...

Broadway Bound - Second Draft

2008-06-21T22:53:00.000-07:00

After much procrastination, traveling, meetings, etc... I have finally managed to complete the second draft of my feature screenplay Broadway Bound.

There have been some dramatic changes from the previous draft, including the character of Ali's best friend. I won't give too much away, but I have rewritten the screenplay so that it is more multicultural, appealing to a wider demographic.

Stay tuned for more updates. In the meantime, enjoy a photo of Ali looking suave!

CineVegas Film Festival - Memorial Day

2008-06-20T16:31:00.000-07:00

Below are photos of the world premiere of MEMORIAL DAY, which was held at the CineVegas film festival. I was one of the actors in this extremely controversial film. The film is basically Girls Gone Wild meets Abu Ghraib.

Here is what the press had to say about the film:

DISPATCH FROM LAS VEGAS | CineVegas Showcases Small Films Under Big Lights
Wednesday June 18 6:50 PM ET

by Eric Kohn (June 18, 2008)

"I think we found our audience by the end," said Josh Fox, director of the fiercely controversial feature "Memorial Day," which premiered last week at the CineVegas Film Festival. It was an apt summary of a prevailing sentiment for many filmmakers in town for the event, which showcased a variety of audacious films that would probably get buried at the country's larger festivals. For Fox, the statement merely reflected the small crowd left in the theater for the Q&A, which followed a screening plagued by a wave of walk-outs during its first hour.

It's not that their reactions came as a surprise: "Memorial Day" spends a long time in the company of a queasily explicit group of twentysomethings engaging in grossly hedonistic party behavior on a beach near an army base in Maryland -- their drunken, horny revelry captured in lo-fi home video with the sort of shaky-cam maneuvers that have grown into a code word telling viewers to read between the lines. After awhile, howev er, "Memorial Day" does that for you, as the scene gradually switches to Abu Ghraib, where the same reckless characters apply their brutish tendencies to Iraqi prisoners in ways that the American public now knows too well. Whether or not the transition works or reveals frustratingly obvious intentions is tough to determine, but there certainly were fewer walkouts during the topical second half. Fox leads a theater troupe in New York called the International Wow Company, and "Memorial Day" seems like a kind of brash performance art testing out how much one audience can take.

As it turned out, his initial assessment of the room was something of a misnomer, since many of the remaining viewers quickly took Fox to task for downgrading the Abu Ghraib scenario to a simplistic reading. (He claimed that the soldiers mistreated prisoners because they thought it was "fun," and left it at that.) Still, it's possible that Fox -- a native Manhattanite whose sheltered New York background was overly stressed in the Q&A -- doesn't comprehend the nature of his creation. "Memorial Day" has a mesmerizing hook that unavoidably provokes dialogue about the disingenuousness of the "bad apples" rubric set forth by the American government.

At the same time, it's difficult to recommend. While the film firmly situates Abu Ghraib within the larger context of humanity's destructive tendencies, you have to sift through a lot of unnecessary ugliness to find that conclusion. ("A cousin of 'Full Metal Jacket'," suggested Variety's Robert Koehler after the screening. "A digital verite indictment of the generational nihilism bred by "Girls Gone Wild," "The Real World" and popular culture's general evasion of moral consequence," concluded Spout's Karina Longworth. ) Either way, it's hard to deny the impact it has on viewers willing to stick around. Where Brian De Palma's "Redacted" was intellectually flaccid, "Memorial Day" has a raging boner for the motivations behind Abu Ghraib. "I think there's a searing energy running through the core of America that has no place to go," Fox said, but couldn't really explain it -- and neither could his cast ("We all think torture is bad," said one). If the "Memorial Day" gang doesn 't try to understand their characters, it suggests that they reflect them -- and that makes the movie a symptom of the national disease it seeks to diagnose.

Three short films, one year...

2008-06-08T22:22:00.000-07:00

I have been struggling these past few weeks with coming up with ideas for three short films that I will direct while at the American Film Institute during my first year. After much deliberation, I have finally settled on two of those ideas.

In my previous post, I listed the synopses of the two ideas, but after receiving numerous messages from people who were concerned of my work being stolen, I have opted to remove the descriptions.

I am still struggling with the third story, but I have a few ideas floating around in my mind. Hopefully I will have it locked down before I begin AFI on August 21st.

Los Angeles to London - Broadway Bound

2008-06-01T15:31:00.000-07:00

Me and my producer will be traveling to London on July 15th to meet with the production company who will hopefully be financing Broadway Bound. We are going to present our package to them and will be discussing the production logistics in detail.

As of now, production is slated to begin Summer 2009 with a budget of $5 million. We will be locking the script within the next few weeks and will begin casting in a few months. The majority of the film will be shot on location in New York City with a few interiors at a studio in Los Angeles.

Keep checking back here for more updates.

Producer attached to produce Broadway Bound...

2008-05-28T16:24:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-05-27T15:00:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-05-27T11:51:00.000-07:00

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...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

I will be working on getting them what they have requested in the coming days. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

Broadway Bound - Feature

2008-05-26T15:47:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-05-26T15:28:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-05-25T21:54:00.000-07:00

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.