Making it in Movies

Movies or medicine? That is the question for many young hearts growing up in first-generation immigrant families. The illusive security of an established position allures many brilliant minds, while their hearts beat for the arts.

Wednesday, 26 May 2021, at 17:00 GMT (UK time)

From his production company to his foundation, Ali is keen to help young Iranians make it in one of the most exciting fields of work.

This webinar by Persia and Kayhan Life will enable those who are interested to make it in the entertainment industry to consult Ali directly, hear his stories, learn of his insights and follow the path less traveled.

Ali Mashayekhi is an Iranian-Canadian film producer and a graduate of the Canadian Film Center 2016 Producer’s Lab. Ali migrated to Canada in the late 1980’s and grew up pursuing a career in the medical field as per his families requirements. However, after his second year at the University of Toronto, he decided to shift his sights onto film production.

In the past 15 years of content creation, Ali has produced over 50 films around the world since 2003 including; Japan, Indonesia, USA and Netherlands, winning several “Best Short Film” awards for his work and amassing an international reputation for getting the job done.

Ali is also the Executive Director of the Ethnically Diverse Artists (EDA) Foundation, a Canadian non-profit and charitable organization founded by Mena Massoud (Aladdin), which aims to inspire inclusivity and diversity in the arts.

Most recently Ali has produced the award-winning short film Liminal (2020) the feature anthology An Assortment of Christmas Tales in no Particular Order (2019) and the award-winning documentary Because One Day.

Ali has finished production on The First Goodbye, a film shot entirely during the pandemic lockdown, starring Esmé Bianco (Game of Thrones), and is in post-production on a multi-national short film, The Social Industrial Meltdown, about the pandemic to be released in the Fall of 2021.

In the Spring of 2021, Ali will be producing a Stephen King short story adaptation based on Sherlock Holmes, The Last King, entirely in Farsi. This Farsi adaptation will star Maz Jobrani (A Simple Wedding), Navid Negahban (Homeland) and Shiva Negar (American Assassin).

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Persia provides educational support to Iranians worldwide who have the ambition to give back to their communities through the pursuit of public service. Established in 1997, Persia Educational Foundation is a non-governmental UK-registered charity, No. 1066546.


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