Syrian native Ahmad Zahra said he wanted to be a filmmaker from the time he was a child. But he had to take the long way.
Making movies was socially taboo in Syria. Zahra was expected to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a doctor. Pleas to his parents to go to film school in the U.S. fell on deaf ears.
“I argued every year with my father about what I wanted to do,” Zahra said. “Every year he won.”
So Zahra got his medical degree at Damascus University, passed the U.S. medical residency tests,and headed to Hollywood. That was more than 10 years ago.
In October, his Anaheim-based Zahra Pictures debuted its first film, “AmericanEast,” a co-production with Los Angeles-based Distant Horizon. Produced by Zahra, Anant Singh and Brian Cox and Directed by Egyptian American director Hesham Issawi, the movie stars Tony Shaloub of the TV series “Monk,” Kais Nashef, lead actor in last year’s Warner Bros. surprise hit “Paradise Now,” and Egyptian-American actor Sayed Badreya.
Billed as the first Arab-American film produced by Arab-Americans, “AmericanEast” is the story of Arab-Americans living in post Sept. 11, 2001, Los Angeles from the points of view of three characters.
It was a collaborative effort, starting with the financing,always the most difficult part for independent filmmakers. Investors include Mohannad Malas, an Orange County businessman who cofounded the Orange County Islamic Foundation in Mission Viejo, and Los Angeles-based Distant Horizon, which has produced more than 50 films.
Actor Badreya helped recruit Shaloub as the film’s star.
The movie is showing at the American Film Market in Santa Monica and at festivals in New York, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
The film isn’t set to for release in theaters. But for Zahra, he said it’s a breakthrough and one that may finally convince his father that movie-making can be an honorable profession.
Long Road
Getting to the U.S. was just one part of the long road Zahra took to the movies. He went to film school at the University of California, Los Angeles, and then worked for 20th Century Fox as an assistant producer.
Then he set out on his own as a freelance filmmaker, starting with documentaries about Arabs and Muslims for nonprofits and mosques in OC.
Such films weren’t much more than a small niche before 2001. He said he struggled to make ends meet.
A local church asked Zahra to produce “On Common Ground” about Jewish, Muslim and Christian groups trying to work together to build a house for a family in Mexico.
It was his first feature documentary,a low-budget effort that cost less than $30,000.
It launched him into television and now into feature films with “AmericanEast.” Those projects have budgets of $750,000 to $1.5 million, he said.
There is demand for films about Arab-Americans these days, Zahra said.
TV star Shaloub, who’s Lebanese-American, bolstered the film and opened more doors, he said.
“Tony is very supportive of Arab-American causes and film,” Zahra said.
The film has the potential to make $3 million to $6 million in distribution, he said.
Got a Break
Before 2005, Zahra focused on documentaries and short films, doing much of the production work out of his home in Fullerton and later from an Anaheim office.
Then he got a break from an unexpected source that resulted in his first television project.
A Hallmark Channel executive saw a trailer for “On Common Ground” on his church’s Web site and ended up signing Zahra to a regular spot on the channel’s “New Morning” segment, which features stories about ordinary people with extraordinary life experiences.
The TV show caught the attention of “AmericanEast” investor Malas. Eventually, Malas worked out a deal to provide funding for Zahra Pictures.
“If you want to make a quick buck, this isn’t the business to be in,” Zahra said. “This business requires patient investors.”
“On Common Ground” was the first DVD for Zahra and Malas. The DVD market is a big revenue stream for the company between films.
“It’s all about the DVD market,” he said. “Even a big studio release is just an ad for the DVD world.”
Now the company sells documentaries to universities and through Muslim and Arab retailers in the U.S., he said.
Other films by Zahra Pictures include “Camping for Allah,” which examines what goes on at a Muslim youth camp, and “Saudis in America,” which tries to tell the tale of the Arab-American people through everyday lives.
“Saudis in America” was produced by Fahmi Farahat, who started with Zahra Pictures as an intern while he was a student at California State University, Fullerton.
Zahra also has produced two DVDs of Islamic tales for children, “Uncle Abdo’s Stories.”
His next goal: theatrical films. That will require some sort of deal with a major studio or production company, largely due to the money required.
“Studios consider anything under $20 million low-budget,and even then they typically (make) it through their subsidiaries,” Zahra said.
Zahra declined to disclose annual revenue for his company and said it has part-time and contract employees whose numbers vary by project.
He said he has five films in the works, including one about Arab-American women.
