Newsletter Subscription

Use this form to sign up for our weekly newsletter, in order to receive Event updates, special deals, and promotional coupons in your area. We will not use your email address to send spam, and we will not provide your contact details to third parties.
  • فارسی
  • Home
  • Near Me
  • News
  • Articles & Entertainment
  • Add Event
  • Add Business
  • Advertise
  • More
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Near Me
  • Events
  • Business
  • Tickets
  • Deals
  • News
  • Latest News
  • Latest Topics
  • Top News
  • Most Visited News
  • Articles & Entertainment
  • Articles
  • Travel
  • Media
  • Near Me
  • Entertainment News
  • Politics
  • Culture
  • Health & Science
  • Iranians in Diaspora
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Blog
  • Travel
  • Tehran
  • Isfahan
  • Shiraz
  • Yazd
  • Persepolis
  • Kashan
  • Media
  • Radio/TV Stations
  • Music
  • Videos
  • More
  • Iranian Calendar
Kodoom
Kodoom.com فارسی
We Collect Iran-Related News and Local Events
Change Los Angeles
  • Home
  • Near Me
    • Events
    • Business
    • Tickets
    • Deals
  • News News
    • Latest News
    • Latest Topics
    • Top News
    • Most Visited News
  • Editorials & Media
    • Articles

      Entertainment News
      Politics
      Culture
      Health & Science
      Iranians in Diaspora
      Economy
      Sports
      Blog

      Travel

      Tehran
      Isfahan
      Shiraz
      Yazd
      Persepolis
      Kashan

      Media

      Radio/TV Stations
      Music
      Videos
  • Add
    • Add Event
    • Add Business
    • Advertise
  • More
    • Prominent Iranians
    • Pinglish to Farsi
    • Iranian Calendar
    • Search in:
  • Login
  • Subscribe
Home
Features
Entertainment

Iranian American screenwriters in Hollywood

Dec 28, 2010
Iranians in Diaspora , Entertainment

Writing a commercially successful screenplay in Hollywood is not an easy task even for native English speakers, yet several Iranian-American screenwriters have enjoyed commercial and/or critical success in Hollywood:


From left: Guillaume Canet, Eva Mendes, Massy Tadjedin, Keira Knightley

Massy Tadjedin: Born 1978 in Tehran and raised in Orange County, California, Tadjedin studied English Literature at Harvard before starting to write screenplays. Her movie credits include Leo (original screenplay, 2002, directed by Mehdi Noroozian, Iranian-American director), The Jacket (adapted screenplay 2005), Le Voyeur (recently picked up by Columbia Pictures for Will Smith and James Lassiter to produce through their Sony-based Overbrook Entertainment), Last Night (2010, Massy's directorial debut, starring Keira Knightley and Eva Mendes - pictured above). Massy's other current projects: The Case Study (written and produced by Tadjedin) and Lady Gold (a drama with director Mel Gibson, distributed by Icon Entertainment International and Paramount Pictures). Tadjedin is married to Dr. Babak Fardin, an Iranian American ophthalmologist in Orange County. The couple met at Harvard.


Ramin Bahrani (middle) Iranian American filmmaker

Ramin Bahrani: Born 1975 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina to Iranian parents, Bahrani received his BA from Columbia University in New York City. His first feature film, Man Push Cart (2005), premiered at the Venice Film Festival (2005) and screened at the Sundance Film Festival (2006). The film won over 10 international prizes, was released theatrically around the world, and was nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards. Bahrani was named by renowned film critic Roger Ebert as "the director of the decade" for "Chop Shop," Bahrani's second film (2007).

Goodbye Solo (poster shown below), Bahrani's third feature film, premiered as an official selection of the Venice Film Festival (2008) where it won the international film critic's FIPRESCI award for best film, and was called a "masterpiece" by numerous critics including Roger Ebert and A.O. Scott of The New York Times. In 2009, Bahrani received the prestigious 2009 Guggenheim Fellowship and was also selected as a member of jury in prestigious Venice Film Festival. He film studio is Noruz Films.


Cyrus Nowrasteh: Born 1956 in Boulder, Colorado to Iranian parents, and raised in Madison, Wisconsin, Nowrasteh graduated in 1977 from the prestigious School of Cinema at University of Southern California. He began his career in 1986 writing on the CBS television series, The Equalizer, and later wrote the pilot for the USA network show La Femme Nikita (1996). In 2001 Nowrasteh received the Pen USA West Literary Award for writing and directing "The Day Reagan Was Shot," a Showtime presentation starring Richard Dreyfuss. The film's executive producer was Oliver Stone.

Despite association with the liberal Dreyfuss and Stone, Nowrasteh has been accused of rightwing and ultraconservative views for his ABC docudrama "The Path to 9/11," in which he blames the Clinton Administration for many of the events that led to September 11 attacks. Another film by Nowrasteh, "The Stoning of Soraya M." (2008) starring James Caviezel and Iranian American Shohreh Aghdashloo, has been criticized in some liberal circles. The movie was written by Nowrasteh and his wife (pictured below), screenwriter Betsy Giffen Nowrasteh, and based on the true story of a woman falsely convicted of adultery in Iran and subsequently stoned to death according to Islamic laws. The Iranian information hub Kodoom.com reported that shortly after the release of the movie, Iran's parliament considered suspending harsh Islamic rules such as stoning and hand cutting. Nevertheless, Nowrasteh has been criticized by some critics for historical inaccuracies and conservative bias in his documentary works.


Khashyar Darvich: Born 1966 in Washington DC to an Iranian father and American mother, Darvich graduated (1991) in English/Creative Writing from Cleveland's Baldwin-Wallace College and moved to Colorado to write as a news reporter in the small Colorado mountain town called Black Hawk. There he founded his film production company, "Wakan Films" and wrote "Black Hawk Waltz: Tales of a Rocky Mountain Town," which was adapted into a documentary and broadcast (1996- 1997) on the History Channel and PBS stations, and won several awards.

In 2000, he founded a nonprofit foundation, "The Wakan Foundation for the Arts," to serve humanitarian causes through film and other forms of arts. When Dalai Lama of Tibet invited 40 of the West's leading, most innovative thinkers to his residence in the Himalayan Mountains of Northern India to discuss the world's problems and offer solutions, Darvich was invited to capture the summit. After several years, Khashayar finished editing 140 hours of video footage that a 18-person, 5-camera film crew captured from the summit in the Himalayas, into an award winning documentary "Dalai Lama Renaissance," (trailer shown below) narrated by Harrison Ford (pictured with Khashayar below). Khashyar lives in Hollywood, California, with his wife Lena and his African Grey parrot "Bodhi."

Khashayar Darvich (left) with Harrison Ford


Farhad Safinia: Born in Tehran, Iran, in 1975, Safinia left Iran during the 1979 revolution with his family to live in Paris, and later London, where he studied Economics but also acted in a number of stage productions for the Cambridge University Amateur Dramatic Club. After graduating, Safinia moved to New York to study film at the New School University and at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. In 2006, Safinia co-wrote, with Mel Gibson, the commercial hit "Apocalypto."

In the summer of 2007 he married actress Laura Regan in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In 2009, Safinia was asked to write the screenplay for Sir Ridley Scott's big screen adaptation of Aldous Huxley's 1931 futurist science fiction classic "Brave New World" starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

Farhad Safinia

»This is a summary of the original feature in Farsi. To request a more extensive translation of the Farsi text, please contact us.
© 2025 Kodoom LLC All Rights Reserved
Cinema
Sundance

Nearby Events or Businesses

Advertise with us Sponsored Ad

Advertise with us

Advertise with us

Lower cost than Facebook, TV, Paper or Radio Ads: Show your ad to Geo-targeted users next to other top news and popular events for only $10-$50 per thousand viewers. Check out our advertisement packages.
Iranian Events Around the World Sponsored Ad

Iranian Events Around the World

Iranian Events Around the World

We process 500-1000 new events every month using data robots and user/advertiser submissions, and then list them on local maps in bilingual user-friendly Geo-targeted searchable formats. Try adding your event via our online form.
Iranian Events Around the World Sponsored Ad

Iranian Events Around the World

Iranian Events Around the World

We process 500-1000 new events every month using data robots and user/advertiser submissions, and then list them on local maps in bilingual user-friendly Geo-targeted searchable formats. Try adding your event via our online form.
Sponsored Ad
Previous Next

News

  • MOST VISITED
  • TOP
  • LATEST
Shock in Gaza as Trump appears to welcome ...
BBC -   Oct 4, 2025
Overnight strikes hit Gaza ahead of crucial ...
BBC -   12 hours ago
Netanyahu says he hopes to announce hostage ...
BBC -   Oct 4, 2025
Overnight strikes hit Gaza ahead of crucial ...
BBC - 12 hours ago
Netanyahu says he hopes to announce hostage ...
BBC - Oct 4, 2025
Shock in Gaza as Trump appears to welcome ...
BBC - Oct 4, 2025
Hamas response to US Gaza plan is significant ...
BBC - Oct 3, 2025
Hamas says it agrees to release Israeli ...
BBC - Oct 3, 2025
Four Gaza flotilla activists deported by Israel
BBC - Oct 3, 2025
Israel intercepts Gaza flotilla and detains ...
BBC - Oct 2, 2025
Activists say Gaza flotilla circled by Israeli ...
BBC - Oct 1, 2025
Israel 'tightens siege' of Gaza City as Hamas ...
BBC - Oct 1, 2025
Bowen: Momentum is the strength of Trump's ...
BBC - Oct 1, 2025
Trump peace plan 'ignores interests of ...
BBC - Sept 30, 2025
For Netanyahu, avoiding a peace deal may now ...
BBC - Sept 30, 2025
Leaders in Middle East and Europe welcome ...
BBC - Sept 29, 2025
Trump to push new peace plan in talks with ...
BBC - Sept 29, 2025
Sanctions reimposed on Iran 10 years after ...
BBC - Sept 28, 2025
Israeli strikes kill dozens in Gaza including ...
BBC - Sept 27, 2025
UN sanctions against Iran to resume over ...
BBC - Sept 26, 2025
UK urged to act on colonial-era war crimes ...
BBC - Sept 26, 2025
Netanyahu attacks Palestinian recognition as ...
BBC - Sept 26, 2025
Tony Blair in discussions to run transitional ...
BBC - Sept 26, 2025
Trump says he 'will not allow' Netanyahu to ...
BBC - Sept 25, 2025
Palestinian president says ready to work with ...
BBC - Sept 25, 2025
BBC and news agencies launch film calling on ...
BBC - Sept 24, 2025
Israeli strikes kill dozens in Gaza City, ...
BBC - Sept 24, 2025
Trump to address UN General Assembly after ...
BBC - Sept 22, 2025
Starmer confirms formal UK recognition of ...
BBC - Sept 21, 2025
Israel will occupy more West Bank land, but ...
BBC - Sept 20, 2025
Portugal confirms it will recognise ...
BBC - Sept 20, 2025
One hellscape to another: Gazans tell of dire ...
BBC - Sept 19, 2025
US blocks UN call for Gaza ceasefire for sixth ...
BBC - Sept 18, 2025
Two shot dead in attack near West Bank-Jordan ...
BBC - Sept 18, 2025
'Cataclysmic' situation in Gaza City, UN ...
BBC - Sept 18, 2025
Israeli minister touts Gaza 'real estate ...
BBC - Sept 18, 2025
Thousands of Palestinians flee as Israeli ...
BBC - Sept 17, 2025
Israel launches ground offensive on Gaza City
BBC - Sept 16, 2025
Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, UN ...
BBC - Sept 15, 2025
Spanish PM calls for Israel to be barred from ...
BBC - Sept 15, 2025
Rubio meets Netanyahu to discuss fallout from ...
BBC - Sept 15, 2025
Netanyahu is only obstacle to bringing ...
BBC - Sept 14, 2025
First sick children have left Gaza for UK - Cooper
BBC - Sept 13, 2025
The Israeli army took over my home, used it ...
BBC - Sept 12, 2025
US joins UN Security Council condemnation of ...
BBC - Sept 12, 2025
Ros Atkins on... Israel's war in Gaza and ...
BBC - Sept 11, 2025
Israeli strikes in Yemen kill 35 people, ...
BBC - Sept 11, 2025
Qatar says search continues at site of Israeli ...
BBC - Sept 10, 2025
'Netanyahu, we're not leaving': Defiance in ...
BBC - Sept 10, 2025
'I thought the world was going to end', Qatar ...
BBC - Sept 10, 2025
Bowen: Diplomacy in ruins after Israel strikes ...
BBC - Sept 9, 2025
Tunisia denies claims Greta Thunberg's Gaza ...
BBC - Sept 8, 2025
Five killed in Jerusalem shooting attack, ...
BBC - Sept 8, 2025
Thousands throng Jerusalem to press Netanyahu ...
BBC - Sept 7, 2025
Israel destroys second high-rise as assault on ...
BBC - Sept 6, 2025
Hamas releases video of two Israeli hostages ...
BBC - Sept 5, 2025
Israel destroys dozens of buildings in Gaza ...
BBC - Sept 5, 2025
Israel dismisses 'spin' after Hamas says it is ...
BBC - Sept 4, 2025
Film about Gaza child's killing gets record ...
BBC - Sept 4, 2025
Thousands of Israeli reservists report for ...
BBC - Sept 2, 2025
Body seen in secret mortuary could solve ...
BBC - Sept 1, 2025
Gaza flotilla with Greta Thunberg on board ...
BBC - Sept 1, 2025
Israel committing genocide in Gaza, world's ...
BBC - Sept 1, 2025
US suspends most visas for Palestinian ...
BBC - Sept 1, 2025
UN chief demands release of 11 staff arrested ...
BBC - Sept 1, 2025
Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida killed in Gaza, ...
BBC - Aug 31, 2025
Houthis confirm their prime minister killed in ...
BBC - Aug 30, 2025
US to stop Palestinians attending UN meeting ...
BBC - Aug 29, 2025
Body of Israeli hostage recovered in Gaza, IDF ...
BBC - Aug 29, 2025
New footage shows Israel struck Gaza's Nasser ...
BBC - Aug 28, 2025
UK, France and Germany move to reimpose UN ...
BBC - Aug 28, 2025
Israeli strikes kill six Syrian troops, Syria says
BBC - Aug 28, 2025
Blair joins White House meeting with Trump on ...
BBC - Aug 27, 2025
'Exhausted, hungry, and scared': What it's ...
BBC - Aug 27, 2025
UN demands justice over Israeli double strike ...
BBC - Aug 26, 2025
Australia accuses Iran of directing ...
BBC - Aug 26, 2025
Israeli double strike on Gaza hospital - what ...
BBC - Aug 25, 2025
At least eight killed in Israeli strike on ...
BBC - Aug 25, 2025
Israel must take hostage deal, its military ...
BBC - Aug 24, 2025
Israel pounds Gaza City in preparation for ...
BBC - Aug 24, 2025
'My youngest child doesn't know what fruit ...
BBC - Aug 22, 2025
Famine confirmed in Gaza City for first time, ...
BBC - Aug 22, 2025
Israel tells medics and aid groups to prepare ...
BBC - Aug 21, 2025
UK backs call for Israel to allow foreign ...
BBC - Aug 21, 2025
Pope Leo XIV to travel to Lebanon in likely ...
BBC - Aug 21, 2025
Israeli military says first stages of assault ...
BBC - Aug 20, 2025
Israel approves controversial West Bank ...
BBC - Aug 20, 2025
Netanyahu accuses Australian PM of 'betraying' ...
BBC - Aug 19, 2025
Mediators await Israeli response to new Gaza ...
BBC - Aug 19, 2025
Hamas agrees to latest Gaza ceasefire ...
BBC - Aug 18, 2025
First group of Gaza children to be brought to ...
BBC - Aug 18, 2025
BBC witnesses Israeli settlers' attack on ...
BBC - Aug 18, 2025
Huge crowds gather in Israel calling for ...
BBC - Aug 17, 2025
Palestinians flee IDF attacks on Gaza City as ...
BBC - Aug 17, 2025
War crimes likely committed in Syria coastal ...
BBC - Aug 15, 2025
Far-right Israeli minister taunts prominent ...
BBC - Aug 15, 2025
Bowen: Netanyahu is presiding over a divided ...
BBC - Aug 14, 2025
Israeli settlement plans will 'bury' idea of ...
BBC - Aug 14, 2025
New Israeli rules stopping critical aid ...
BBC - Aug 13, 2025
Gaza talks to focus on releasing hostages all ...
BBC - Aug 13, 2025
UK, France and Germany ready to reimpose ...
BBC - Aug 13, 2025
Israel bombards Gaza City as UK and allies ...
BBC - Aug 12, 2025
Who were the Al Jazeera journalists killed by ...
BBC - Aug 12, 2025

Editorials

The Influence of Persians and Shirazis on East Africa and Zanzibar

The Influence of Persians and Shirazis on East Africa and Zanzibar

Did Charlie Kirk Oppose Trump on Attacking Iran?

Did Charlie Kirk Oppose Trump on Attacking Iran?

 Iranian American Women in the 119th US Congress

Iranian American Women in the 119th US Congress

Iran, Israel, Middle East Update September 2025

Iran, Israel, Middle East Update September 2025

Latest News, Patterns and Trends on Iran, Israel, Middle East

Latest News, Patterns and Trends on Iran, Israel, Middle East

Music for Your Soul from Pete Seeger

Advertise with us
Lower cost than Facebook, TV, Paper or radio Ads: Reach Geo-targeted users for only $10-$50 per thousand viewers. Check out our advertisement packages.
Need our help?
Our growth depends on serving our user community. Email our Customer Support with questions, comments, business offers, interesting news, video links, etc.

About us

  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Tickets and Advertisement
  • How to Link to us

Add to our listings

  • An Event
  • A Local Business
  • A Distinguished Iranian

Near You

  • Events
  • Tickets
  • Coupons
  • Local Ads

My Account

  • Login
  • Register
  • Subscribe to Newsletter
  • Change Location
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
© 2025 Kodoom LLC, All Rights Reserved. An independent private partnership incorporated in USA.
Kodoom is a Search and Listing Service and not responsible for contents and accuracy of listings, maps and advertisements.
Affiliate Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.