Photos from the "Dear Brother" live read & feedback

Thanks to everyone who was able to make it to the Dear Brother live read on Tuesday, June 11th. It was a beautiful evening where the actors gave their all and the audience was genuinely moved. Check out some photos from the evening below of our talented cast, along with Hussein Rashid, Ph.D., and myself, during the reading and Q&A (Photo Credit: Camille Cordero).

From left: Rishi Mutalik as “Yusuf”, Anish Roy as “Saleem”, Nitin Madan as “Faisal” and Ishani Das as “Saima”

From left: Rishi Mutalik as “Yusuf”, Anish Roy as “Saleem”, Nitin Madan as “Faisal”, Ishani Das as “Saima”, Alec Bandzes as “Julian”, Hannah McGovern Gross as “Amanda, Erik LaPointe- Ensemble, and Adeola Role as “Sarah Sullivan”

From left: Rahoul Roy as “Kabir”, Nikki Chawla as “Fatema”, Rishi Mutalik as “Yusuf” and, Anish Roy as “Saleem”

Hussein Rashid, Ph. D during the post-reading Q&A

I’m so grateful for the time you spent listening to my work and thank you for being a part of this process! That said, I’d love to hear what you thought and so, I’ve prepared a form you can use to sound off.

audience feedback from live reading of feature screenplay on Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Live Presentation of my award-winning screenplay "Dear Brother" in NYC on June 11!

Last year, I was at the Cannes Film Festival shopping my script "Dear Brother" to producers at the Maison Des Scenaristes pitch competition. This year, I'm planning a live reading of the screenplay in NYC on 6/11, for a small audience, to be followed by a talk back moderated by religious scholar, and Barnard College faculty member, Hussein Rashid, Ph.D., a thought leader on Islam. Come out, support and engage! Tickets are FREE

Inspired by true events, Dear Brother is the fictional story of a Pakistani-American boxer who fights for his freedom after he's ensnared in an FBI counter-terrorism sting operation. Blending elements of the Denzel Washington classic, "The Hurricane" with Sylvester Stallone's "Rocky" franchise, Dear Brother is the boxing epic reflective of our times.

The goal of the evening is to spark dialogue around the issues of how Islamophobia pervades the American law enforcement and criminal justice systems, and provide an opportunity for the writer to receive feedback for future development.

I just finished casting the reading with these amazing actors below:

Anish Roy

Hannah McGovern Gross

Rishi Mutalik

Alec Bandzes

Al Nazemian & Adeola Role

Erik LaPointe & Sunny Choi

Rahoul Roy & Ishani Das

Nitin Madan & Nikki Chawla

If you are interested in the background research that inspired the elements of the story, I’ve included links to articles and a Ted talk by journalist Will Potter below:

• The Sting: How the FBI Created a Terrorist, by Trevor Aaronson, The Intercept, March 16, 2015

• The United States Wants the World to Forget These Prisoners, by Molly Crabapple, Creative Time Reports, July 21, 2014

• Yassin at Ray Brook FCI, by Yassin Aref, Excerpts from a Letter from Yassin Aref, a prisoner at the Terre Haute Federal Prison’s CMU unit, to Carl Strock of the Schnectady Daily Gazette, September 10, 2007

• The Secret U.S. Prisons You’ve Never Heard Of, by Will Potter, TED Fellow Retreat 2015 - Stream the Video Below.

Investigative journalist Will Potter is the only reporter who has been inside a Communications Management Unit, or CMU, within a US prison. These units were opened secretly, and radically alter how prisoners are treated -- even preventing them from hugging their children.

CUFF's World Premiere will be @NYTVF 2018 on July 17 at 8 p.m.!

The long road that started over two years ago when I sat down to write a new TV series has led me to one steamy night this July when I'll see the pilot Cuff have its world premiere at the New York Television Festival. Just three weeks from now, on Tuesday, July 17th at 8 p.m., I'll be in attendance with some of the very special folks who helped me put this show together as well as the people I hold near and dear to my heart. Tickets are only $5 and are on sale now (click the picture below to zip over to the purchase page). Hope to see you at the Helen Mills Theater in Chelsea, NYC! :)