Thomas (Tommy-Tom) Verrette’s feature film, I Am The Bluebird, is premiering tonight in Atlanta, hosted by the Atlanta Film Festival!  If you guys don’t know who Tom is, he’s a co-writer of the Arab in America feature screenplay!  So if you’re in Atlanta or in St. Petersburg, FL – you can watch I Am The Bluebird!  Colin and I have been watching cuts of this film since 2007, and I can be completely honest with you when I say that it’s really fantastic.  Check out the Atlanta Film Festival & the Sunscreen Film Festival’s websites for ticketing info and directions.  Also, don’t forget to check out iamthebluebird.com!

I AM THE BLUEBIRD – ATLANTA FILM FESTIVAL
Friday, April 17th – 7:30pm
Tuesday, April 22nd – 1:00pm

I AM THE BLUEBIRD – SUNSCREEN FILM FESTIVAL
Thursday, April 30th – 9:00pm

-Nabil

(P.S. – Look for Colin Ferri & Nabil Abou-Harb in the “Special Thanks” section of the credits!)

PBA NPR

Earlier today, NPR Atlanta (PBA) broadcasted a news piece on our Link TV win intercut with soundbytes from Colin Ferri and myself!  To listen to it online, check out the PBA Website here!  Also, Colin Ferri got featured in his hometown newspaper, The Providence Journal!  We hope you enjoy reading/listening to them!  Thanks again to everyone who’s covered our film, as well as tons of thanks to Link TV, One Nation For All, and Fenton Communications – especially Yasmin Hamidi for all their work in getting this contest covered and featured!

-Nabil

Saphir News: Arab in America - Front Page, Baby

We’ve got some exciting news today!  Arab in America has now been featured on The Huffington Post, Saphir News, and The Athens Banner-Herald!  Not to mention countless and countless internet blogs!  So, for those of you who like to keep count, we’re going to link you to all the stories below!

PRESS

USA Today
The Huffington Post
NPR Atlanta-PBA
The Providence Journal
Saphir News (french translation)
Air America’s State of Belief
The Athens Banner-Herald

BLOGS

Beliefnet
Yahoo Movies News
Filmstew.com
Progressive Islam
Illume Magazine
Alt Muslim
One Nation For All
Minareti (french translation)
Faisal Kutty
Muxlim.com
Queer Isn’t It?
South Florida Drifters
Beauty and the East
Political Peon
Jannah.org
Arabesque (french translation)
Meefedia
Milk and Cookies
Muslim Women
Infocus News.net

And the most humbling thing out of all this coverage is Wake Forest University’s new course MLS 833, Re-imaging Islam in the West, where Arab in America will be discussed, critiqued, and debated alongside my hero’s essay/book/documentary: Jack Shaheen’s Reel Bad Arabs.  Check out the link below to go see more information on WFU’s new course.

Wake Forest University | Master of Arts in Liberal Studies

Also, NPR-Atlanta interviewed Colin Ferri and I last week, so expect that interview to be coming soon, too!  If there are other links that I’ve missed, please – let me know by sending me an email!  nabouharb(a)fiveonfifty.com.  Thanks a bunch and keep checking back for more info!

-Nabil

This is Colin.

“Tell me about that idea you had again.” I say to Nabil as we walk to the Motel.

“Well, it’s about an Arab-American guy who can’t get a job, and it’s about his struggle to make it.”

I was a little interested at this point, but still in a bad mood, owing to the fact that we were going to be stuck in Florida for the night. So, Nabil and I made it to the Motel. We checked into our tiny, smelly room with rock hard beds and fornication stained sheets. Glamorous to say the least. And that night we had the first creative meeting about the short “Arab in America.” I don’t know what exactly we spoke of, or what specific idea’s were thrown around that night… but one can surmise that a work of genius was being created in that stifling motel room.

The next morning came with the sounds of birds chirping, and rays of sunshine beaming down upon our heads. We checked out of the motel and headed over to the Shepboys to see how Nabil’s car had made out… And just when you think a day can’t get any better, we were in for a treat. We arrived to Nabil’s car in the parking lot, and see broken glass around the rear passenger side.

“What the fishsticks?!!” Nabil ejaculated. Except… he didn’t use the word “fishsticks” but you can use your imagination and fill in the expletive of your own choosing.

It’s moments like these when the comforting words of good friends can strike you to the core and move you. Words can make even the worst possible scenario seem trival and insignificant. So I chose my words to comfort Nabil very carefully.

“That sucks, dude.”

With the car fixed and the window broken, we headed back to Savannah – With no radio – Which, when you’re driving with Nabil and he is in charge of choosing the musical selection… having no radio really isn’t such a bad thing. So again, we had time to let the creative juices flow during the music-less two hour car ride. Again, who knows what was said or who came up with what idea. The point is, by the time we reached Savannah we had a story! And as we got home to our apartment we knew that this idea was a winner! We decided we must get to work on writing the script as soon as humanly possible!!

So after a nap, and leisurely dinner we did what we set out to do! Write the script!! We wrote for days… sleeping only when our bodies would shut down and we fell to the floor… we ate only when necessary, and bathed regularly… because like it says in the Qur’an… “Cleanliness is next to Godliness”… maybe not the Qur’an… but something, somewhere says it… I’m sure of it.  Anyway… we had a first draft! And it was good! I brought the funny! and Nabil brought the… the arab stuff??… no… Nabil brought something! And what he brought was good!

So now that we had a script. All we had to do was get it made…. hmmm. That should be easy right??

This is Colin.

I remember the day Nabil pitched Assassinate George to me. Much like Tim Bryan, I didn’t care for the idea that much. I didn’t go so far as to say it was a “Dumb Fan-Film” but I wasn’t on board. “It’s a funny concept Nabil, but I don’t know. You should make something else.”

“Why make something else? This is a great idea! Two friends driving across the country to kill George Lucas! It’s great!”

Well, needless to say – but I’ll say it anyway – Assassinate George was never made.

So Nabil went back to thinking about new ideas. I went home to Rhode Island and began thinking about new things as well. I wanted to make a short based on Macbeth, but in modern times and revolving around a mob family. I had a script written and everything! Well that script had too much prose and descriptive paragraphs that would take up half the page. Nabil didn’t much care for the idea either. (It’s just because he thinks Macbeth is Shakespeare’s worst play. But we all know that his worst is Much Ado About Nothing.) But I digress.

Summer break was over. I was about to fly back to school. Nabil agreed to pick me up at the Jacksonville airport (Flying directly into Savannah will cost you an arm and a leg). Jacksonville is about two hours away from Savannah. Nabil picked me up and we were on our way. I have to tell you that road trips with Nabil are a scary experience. If you ever get a chance to have one with him… I suggest you run away as fast as you can. With the constant looking at his iPod to change songs every 2 minutes and talking on the phone to whichever high-school-friend/girlfriend/parent/girl-he-likes-but-doesn’t-really-like/anyone-who-calls, there is not much safe driving involved. Anyway, Nabil picks me up, we’re driving along in the August heat and Nabil decides to put his A/C on, which is something I’m not opposed to (I get hot very easily, and sweat a lot. Not ‘a lot’ a lot, but more than most perspiratory humans).

Ahhh. Fresh, cool air blowing in my face. Right now I don’t mind the crappy music Nabil is playing. I’ve got chill air from the vent blowing my hair back. Nothing can go wrong. This is a great feeling. Wait. No it isn’t! The air, that was once cool, is now hot. This is not cool (in both senses of the word)! Suddenly everything on Nabil’s dashboard turns off and we hear a sudden “brrrrrrr’ from the car. “Uhh, what was that?” I ask.

“I don’t know dude.”

“I think that’s a bad sound.”

“I think so too.”

“I hope my car isn’t —-”

Wait!…. Im getting ahead of myself. Rewind about 30 minutes. We’re driving along the road away from the airport and Nabil says to me. “I’ve got a great idea for a movie.”

“It’s not a ‘dumb fan-film’ is it?” I ask, adding a slight Kansas City accent to the words dumb fan-film.

“No Tim!” Is Nabil’s response. “It’s about this Arab guy. And he’s, y’know, he’s Arab. But like, American. He’s like, half Arab, half American.”

“Okay.”

“So this Arab guy is like smart y’know. He’s just graduated college and needs a job. But he’s really smart and he can’t get a job.”

-This is how Nabil pitches idea’s that he hasn’t fully formulated. If you ever have to sit through a developing idea from Nabil, I suggest you run away as fast as you can-

So I sit there listening to Nabil meandering around, searching for a point to get to. About ten minutes go by.

“So then, he like gets turned down a lot at job interviews because he is Arab, and he decides to just, like change his name or something, to get a job, or something? I don’t know. What do you think?”

I don’t really know what he is talking about at this point. “Uhh I don’t know. Sounds lame.”

“No it’s not! It’s a great idea! It’s the best idea ever! Is it hot in here?”

-Jump forward 10 minutes-

Nabil is now on the phone with his Dad telling him the problem with his car.

"I think that's a bad sound..."

“The dash just shut off. –Yes- Yes- Yes Dad the car is running. No but the lights… yeah…. I love you Dad….. Uh huh… Yeah. No the car seems fine. But the dash is out- no. You think I should pull over? Yes- Yes- Look Dad, I love you… Really, couldn’t it just be some electri—yeah. I love you Dad. Ok. Ok I’ll pull over and call you back. –I love you too Dad. “ The conversation went something like that.

So we take the car to a … lets call it… a ShepBoys auto repair place.

We’re in the waiting room. It’s hot. The room smells like stale body odor and almonds. I hate it here. I want to go home.

A man with greasy hands comes over to talk with us. I don’t like the look on his face. “We’re going to have to keep the car overnight and work on it in the morning.”

“What!?” Nabil and I say in unison.

–Well, we didn’t, but it would have totally been like a movie if we had. -

“Yeah, the guy who knows how to fix the problem works tomorrow. And we’re about to close in 30 minutes.”

“Are you serious?” Nabil asks.

Nabil's Crappy Car.

“There is a motel down the street if you want to stay there for the night.” He points a greasy finger down the road. “See you tomorrow then.” He walks away. Not only do I hate the room I’m in, I also hate that guy. I hate Nabil’s car and I hate Florida.

I take a deep breath and decide not to be angry. “Well I guess we’re stuck here.” I say.

“I guess so.”

“Tell me about that idea you had again.”

~Colin

This is Colin.

This is Colin Ferri writing, co-writer/producer of the Arab in America short, and co-writer of the Arab in America feature.

Out of the small creative team behind Arab in America I am currently the only one living in LA. I moved here a little over a year ago, and I’m living with an old high school friend. When I arrived, I was excited about being the front man of the crew, pitching the script to the Hollywood bigwigs, then relaying the info back to Nabil and Tom in Georgia.  Oh, how that all changed when I arrived.

Having barely any money and no job, Arab in America got put on the back burner because of my human need to feed and clothe myself. I had to get a job at a restaurant … I once told my self, that once I graduated, I would never work in a restaurant again… oh, how life always seems to humble you.

Now that I had a somewhat steady income, I was poised to get Arab made. All we needed to do was punch up the script and then that would be that, right? Well… We had a pretty good draft finished but at whopping 140 pages… that’s far too long for a comedy. Trimming the fat is what was needed. Much easier said then done.

Some things got cut here and there… and we had, what we thought, was a better version. Not perfect, but something we could work with and show people. It got read by some people. Tom managed to get it into the hands of a pretty well-known Hollywood producer. I talked with his assistant (who also happened to be a girl I went to school with).  “Its okay, but it’s too long” she said, with a condescendingly smug smile.   When we were in school, she was in my writing class and her worked sucked! When I say “sucked”, it’s not because she had potential and didn’t use it, it’s because she was a just a bad writer who produced nothing but god-awful scripts!  So when she said “it’s too long”, my response was “Well, you’re too fat! And you’re ugly to boot!”….That’s what I would have said… but I’m a professional (well not yet but I will be soon). My REAL response was “yeah, we’re working on trimming it down.”  I then smiled. But in my brain I was kicking her in the shins.

Strike one. Whatever. I wasn’t fazed. I’m still gonna make something of myself. A few months go by and I start chatting with my boss’s girlfriend, who is an entertainment lawyer. We chat about work and whatnot, and then she asks me “What do you do?” I tell her “I’m a writer.” Then I tell her about this wonderful project Arab in America. She seems intrigued. “Can I read it?” She asks me as she exhales the smoke from her slender 100cm cigarette. “Sure. If you want.” Maybe she can offer some feedback. “I know some people at Lionsgate.” She tells me. “Cool.” Was my response however, I wanted to go call Nabil right then and tell him “DUDE! Lionsgate is gonna read our script!!!” I don’t, though. Like I said before. I’m a professional.

I never heard anything from her again about it. Strike two. I’m getting a little discouraged.

A few months pass. I tell myself “Colin, take a break from Arab, work on some of your own things. Then you can go back to it with fresh eyes.” I take my own advice. I write three story outlines, I finish a short story, I start writing what turns out to be a book (still unfinished), and I begin a script that I still grapple with to this day. But Arab sits there. I never get back to it. A few more months go by. Tom is working on Bluebird and Nabil is working for a dumb TV station in GA. And I’m working more and more at my job. A few more months go by. Arab is still collecting dust… Not real dust but the dust that collects on files that sit in unopened folders on the hard drives of computers. A few more months go by. Arab is on life support. Nabil and I hardly ever speak of it, and when we do it is always “yeah, we should do something about that.”

More time passes. I become a jaded LA resident. I haven’t really worked on anything for a while. I’ve lost my creativity. I end up working more and more at my job waiting tables. My roommate David, who is an Actor (which means he’s also a Server) says to me “Lets go on a trip.”

“Sure.”

A few months later I’m in Europe, drinking beer in Ireland and touring wineries in France and Italy. I love it… it changes me. I’m creative again. I sit on a vineyard with a bottle of Chardonnay sketching the landscape and scribbling down more ideas for movies and stories. But I never once think of Arab.

I come back to LA and continue to work at the restaurant. But I’m working on my own writing as well. Just not Arab.

Arab is dead.

A few days ago, Nabil calls me and tells me about his idea of starting a blog and really getting Arab off the ground again. “We need to do this man, I think it can work.” he convinces me. “I’m moving out there with Tim, in January, and we need to start moving on Arab. If it doesn’t work this time, then we’re done. We’ll move on and work on something else, but we need to give it one more try.”

So there you have it. Arab is back from the dead. And I’m happy about it. We didn’t get strike three, and I hope we never do. I’ve been in LA for over a year, and now the reason I came out here has come back to me. So this blog will chronicle what is being done to get Arab made into a feature. I’m sure there will be plenty of posts about the history of the short, and how we got it made. I’m sure I’ll make a few post about it, too. But now you know me, and you know that the LA man will hold down the fort until the re-enforcements arrive. I didn’t do the greatest job before, but the best is yet to come.

~Colin