Mahyad Tousi: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia
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{{Short description|Iranian American filmmaker and philanthropist}}▼
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▲{{Short description|Iranian American filmmaker and philanthropist}}
Mahyad Tousi (born 1973) is a multidisciplinary filmmaker, writer, media strategist and philanthropist.
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{{Infobox person
== Background ==
| name = Mahyad Tousi
Born in 1973 in [[Portland, Oregon]] and raised in the Iranian capital of [[Tehran]], Tousi spent his childhood amid revolution, war, and societal upheaval. He emigrated to the United States as a teenager in 1986 and started working at age 14. He now lives in [[Los Angeles]] and [[Brooklyn]]. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Nevins |first=Jake |date=2022-10-21 |title="What's Happening in Iran is Not a Local Story": Meet Filmmaker Mahyad Tousi |url=https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/whats-happening-in-iran-is-not-a-local-story-meet-filmmaker-mahyad-tousi |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=Interview Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Tousi |first=Mahyad |date=2023-09-28 |title=Culture Shift: I’m a Writer Facing Eviction. Do I Regret the Strike? (Guest Column) |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/writers-strike-eviction-regret-1235602699/ |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}</ref>▼
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| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1973}}
| birth_place = [[Portland, Oregon]], U.S.
| occupation = Scriptwriter, producer, director
| years_active = ?–present
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'''Mahyad Tousi''' (born 1973) is an Iranian filmmaker, scriptwriter, producer and director. He has created/co-created, directed and produced several films and documentaries including ''[[Looking For Palladin]]'' (2008), ''[[Of Kings and Prophets]]'' (2016) and ''[[United States of Al]]'' (2021-22).
== Early life and career ==
▲BornTousi was born in 1973, in [[Portland, Oregon]] and raised in the Iranian capital of [[Tehran]], Tousi spent his childhood amid revolution, war, and societal upheavalIran. He emigrated to the United States as a teenager in 1986 and started working at age 14. He now lives in [[Los Angeles]] and [[Brooklyn]]. <ref name="Interview">{{Cite web |last=Nevins |first=Jake |date=2022-10-October 21, 2022 |title="What's Happening in Iran is Not a Local Story": Meet Filmmaker Mahyad Tousi |url=https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/whats-happening-in-iran-is-not-a-local-story-meet-filmmaker-mahyad-tousi |access-date=2024-05-May 28, 2024 |website=[[Interview Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Tousi |first=Mahyad |date=2023-09-28 |title=Culture Shift: I’m a Writer Facing Eviction. Do I Regret the Strike? (Guest Columnmagazine) |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/writers-strike-eviction-regret-1235602699/ |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=The Hollywood ReporterInterview]] |language=en-US}}</ref>
In 2007, along with [[Reza Aslan]], he co-founded BoomGen Studios, an entertainment based company helping contents related to the Middle East.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Horst |first=Carole |date=October 11, 2010 |title=BoomGen nabs multimedia rights to 'Shahnameh' |url=https://variety.com/2010/film/news/boomgen-nabs-multimedia-rights-to-shahnameh-1118025482/ |access-date=August 7, 2024 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2020, he founded Starfish, an accelerator program industry.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Drury |first=Sharareh |date=January 22, 2020 |title=Accelerator Starfish Launches Program for Diverse Talent |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/accelerator-starfish-launches-program-diverse-talent-1271866/ |access-date=May 28, 2024 |website=Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Career ==
== Filmography ==
Originally a conflict zone videographer and documentarian, Tousi has written, directed, and produced narratives across film, TV, [[Virtual reality|VR]], video art, and emerging media, and works as a media strategist and industry advisor. In 2020, he stepped into philanthropy when he founded Starfish Accelerator, a creative IP accelerator designed to scale big pop culture narratives that take on major civic issues of the day through the lens of mid-career storytellers of color.<ref>{{Cite web |last=fabfabi |title=STARFISH Accelerator |url=https://popcollab.org/grantee/starfish-accelerator-2/ |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=Pop Culture Collaborative |language=en-US}}</ref>
Tousi produced ''Looking For Palladin'' (2008).<ref>{{cite web |last=Toumarkine |first=Doris |title=Looking for Palladin |website=The Hollywood Reporter |date=November 2, 2009 |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/palladin-film-review-93718/ |access-date=August 7, 2024}}</ref> He was the executive producer of the [[ABC Signature]] TV series, ''Of Kings and Prophets'' (2016),<ref>{{Cite web |title=ABC picks up 'biblical saga' from 'Exodus' duo, 4 more drama pilots |url=https://ew.com/article/2015/01/23/abc-of-kings-and-prophets-pilots/ |access-date=August 7, 2024 |website=EW.com |language=en}}</ref> and on two seasons of the CBS primetime comedy, ''[[United States of Al]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 1, 2021 |title=Why the controversy around 'United States of Al' is overblown |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-04-01/the-united-states-of-al-icbs-trailer-controversy-commentary |access-date=August 7, 2024 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref>
In 2022, Tousi wrote and co-created ''[[Remote (2022 film)|Remote]]'', with video artist, [[Mika Rottenberg]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Asch |first=Mark |title=Artist Mika Rottenberg's first feature film captures a futuristic but familiar domestic isolation |website=The Art Newspaper - International art news and events |date=October 11, 2022 |url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/10/11/mika-rottenberg-new-york-film-festival-remote |access-date=August 7, 2024}}</ref> He was also among the executive producers of the virtual-reality documentary, ''[[Zikr: A Sufi Revival]]''.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hipes |first=Patrick |title=Sundance VR Documentary 'Zikr: A Sufi Revival' Acquired By Dogwoof |website=Deadline |date=January 29, 2018 |url=https://deadline.com/2018/01/zikr-a-surf-documentary-sundance-deal-dogwoof-1202273299/amp/ |access-date=August 8, 2024}}</ref>
=== Advocacy ===
During the [[Iranian Green Movement]] starting in 2009, Tousi became a nexus of news coming from journalists he knew who were working in war zones. He provided news from the front to major US news organizations and began taking action to organize global networks of people to share information about the happenings in Iran.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nevins |first=Jake |date=2022-10-21 |title="What's Happening in Iran is Not a Local Story": Meet Filmmaker Mahyad Tousi |url=https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/whats-happening-in-iran-is-not-a-local-story-meet-filmmaker-mahyad-tousi |access-date=2024-05-29 |website=Interview Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>
=== BusinessAwards ventures ===
* 2022 MPAC Media Award for "[[''United States of Al]]" (2021-22)''.<ref>{{Citecite web |datetitle=MayMahyad 28, 2024Tousi |titlewebsite=Mahyad[[Savannah TousiCollege {{!}}of SCAD.eduArt and Design]] |url=https://www.scad.edu/defineart2023/mahyad-tousi |url-status=live |access-date=MayAugust 288, 2024 |website=SCAD {{!}} The University for Creative Careers}}</ref>▼
Tousi is the co-founder, along with author [[Reza Aslan]], of BoomGen Studios, an independent incubator and cross-platform development studio. It was founded in 2006 to develop, launch and consult on entertainment media about the peoples, myths, and cultures of the [[Greater Middle East]]. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Palizi |first=Brooke |date=2020-07-30 |title=Faces of Entrepreneurship: Mahyad Tousi, BoomGen Studios and Starfish |url=https://thecenter.nasdaq.org/foe-mahyad-tousi-starfish/ |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=The Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center |language=en-US}}</ref>
BoomGen Studios has consulted on films including ''[[Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (film)|Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time]]; [[Body of Lies (film)|Body of Lies]]; [[The Promise (2016 film)|The Promise]]; [[Rendition (film)|Rendition]]; [[Aladdin (2019 film)|Aladdin]]; [[Aladdin (2011 musical)|Aladdin: The Broadway Musical]]; Portals; ZIKR: A Sufi Revival; [[A Hologram for the King (film)|A Hologram for the King]]; [[Rock the Kasbah (film)|Rock the Kasbah]]; [[Rosewater (film)|Rosewater]]; [[Miral]]; The Square; [[Amreeka]]; The Trials of Spring''; and several TV series.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Advanced search |url=https://www.imdb.com/search/ |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=IMDb |language=en-US}}</ref>
=== Philanthropy ===
In 2019, in pursuit of increasing visibility and opportunity for underrepresented voices in art and entertainment, Tousi founded Starfish, a creative accelerator investing in artist-entrepreneurs of color in the entertainment industry. Starfish’s philanthropic partners – Pop Culture Collaborative, The [[Doris Duke Foundation]], and [[Pillars Fund]] – established four core principles for Starfish: “radical ownership, authenticity, transparency, and community.”<ref>{{Cite web |last=Palizi |first=Brooke |date=2020-07-30 |title=Faces of Entrepreneurship: Mahyad Tousi, BoomGen Studios and Starfish |url=https://thecenter.nasdaq.org/foe-mahyad-tousi-starfish/ |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=The Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center |language=en-US}}</ref> Tousi has stated that the goal with Starfish is "to better invest in diverse creators;" specifically, "in artists owning their own intellectual property (IP)."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chehlaoui |first=Maha |date=2019-03-19 |title=Fixing Existing Pipelines Isn’t Enough. It's Time to Make New Ones |url=https://popcollab.org/fixing-existing-pipelines-isnt-enough/ |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=Pop Culture Collaborative |language=en-US}}</ref>
In addition to Tousi, Starfish’s founding team includes Reza Aslan, former [[Sundance Institute|Sundance]] program officers Alesia Weston and Nina Spensley, and tech entrepreneur Sian Morson. Starfish’s accelerator program provides participants with a $50,000 stipend and support from three to four mentors who include content experts, topic experts and a fandom representative. The first cohort of participants launched in March 2020 and included: the Black genre writer Vanessa Benton, Vietnamese American playwright and filmmaker [[Derek Nguyen]], Palestinian American television writer, producer and director [[Cherien Dabis]], and [[Def Poetry Jam]] artist Amir Sulaiman.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Drury |first=Sharareh |date=2020-01-22 |title=Accelerator Starfish Launches Program for Diverse Talent (Exclusive) |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/accelerator-starfish-launches-program-diverse-talent-1271866/ |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}</ref>
=== '''Film and television credits''' ===
Tousi co-produced the 2006 film ''Marvelous'', starring [[Amy Ryan]], [[Michael Shannon]], [[Martha Plimpton]], and [[Ewen Bremner]]. He produced [[Ben Gazzara]]’s last film, ''Looking For Palladin'', in 2008, and was a consulting producer on the 2009 TV series "We Are New York."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mahyad Tousi {{!}} Producer, Writer, Director |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1160535/ |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=IMDb |language=en-US}}</ref>
He executive produced the [[ABC Signature|ABC]] TV series "Of Kings and Prophets" in 2016.<ref>{{Citation |last=Arora |first=Gabo |title=ZIKR: A Sufi Revival |date=2018-01-18 |type=Documentary, Short |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7834218/ |access-date=2024-05-28 |publisher=1001 MEDIA, BoomGen Studios, Sensorium}}</ref>
In 2021-2022, Tousi was an executive producer on two seasons of the CBS primetime comedy “[[United States of Al]],” honored by the MPAC Media Awards for “reaffirm[ing] the importance of on-screen representation and narrative building.”<ref>{{Citation |last=Rottenberg |first=Mika |title=Remote |date=2022-10-12 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14234652/?ref_=nm_flmg_t_1_prd |access-date=2024-05-28 |others=Nikita Tewani, Pooya Mohseni, Okwui Okpokwasili |publisher=Artangel Media, Artangel, Hauser & Wirth |last2=Tousi |first2=Mahyad}}</ref> The show was known for including both Afghan writers and military veterans in its writers room, which wrote their family members’ real life-and-death efforts to flee Afghanistan into the plot of season two of the CBS comed (for which Tousi has story credit).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Roxborough |first=Scott |date=2021-10-07 |title=“There Was No Blueprint for This”: How ‘United States of Al’ Set Laughter Aside to Tackle the Fall of Kabul |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/united-states-of-al-fall-of-kabul-episode-sitcom-cbs-1235026346/ |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}</ref>
In 2022, Tousi wrote and co-created with video artist [[Mika Rottenberg]] the feature film ''REMOTE'', a “solarpunk fantasy” in which a woman discovers an anomaly in the virtual world that sends her on a quest toward a more genuine form of connection.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nevins |first=Jake |date=2022-10-21 |title="What's Happening in Iran is Not a Local Story": Meet Filmmaker Mahyad Tousi |url=https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/whats-happening-in-iran-is-not-a-local-story-meet-filmmaker-mahyad-tousi |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=Interview Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> ''REMOTE'' was commissioned by [[Artangel]] in the UK, Denmark’s [[Louisiana Museum of Modern Art]], and [[Moderna Museet]] in Stockholm, Sweden, in association with [[Hauser & Wirth]]. The film was completed with support from [[Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles|MOCA]]'s Environmental Council, Los Angeles; [[Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal|Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal]]; X Museum, Beijing; the [[Busan Biennale]] in South Korea; and San Francisco’s [[Contemporary Jewish Museum]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=The CJM {{!}} REMOTE: A Screening and Conversation with Artist Mika Rottenberg, Mahyad Tousi, and Heidi Rabben |url=https://www.thecjm.org/programs/1208 |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=www.thecjm.org}}</ref>. ''REMOTE'' is in the permanent collections of the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art and Moderna Museet.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Network |first=Sculpture |date=2023-10-28 |title="REMOTE" MIKA ROTTENBERG & MAHYAD TOUSI |url=https://sculpture-network.org/en/event/69058/remote-mika-rottenberg-mahyad-tousi |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=Sculpture Network |language=en}}</ref> ''REMOTE'' was screened at the [[2022 New York Film Festival]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-10-11 |title=Artist Mika Rottenberg’s first feature film captures a futuristic but familiar domestic isolation |url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/10/11/mika-rottenberg-new-york-film-festival-remote |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=The Art Newspaper - International art news and events}}</ref>, at MOCA in Los Angeles<ref>{{Cite web |title=REMOTE |url=https://www.moca.org/program/remote |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=www.moca.org |language=en}}</ref>, at the [[Tate]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tate |title=Mika Rottenberg and Mahyad Tousi: REMOTE {{!}} Tate Modern |url=https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/mika-rottenberg-and-mahyad-tousi-remote |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=Tate |language=en-GB}}</ref>, at [[San Francisco Museum of Modern Art|SF MOMA]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=REMOTE: A Screening and Conversation with Mika Rottenberg and Mahyad Tousi |url=https://www.sfmoma.org/event/remote-a-screening-and-conversation-with-mika-rottenberg-and-mahyad-tousi/ |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=SFMOMA |language=en-US}}</ref>, at MAC Montreal<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 28, 2024 |title="Screening of REMOTE_MAC Montreal" |url=https://macm.org/en/activities/screening-of-remote/ |url-status=live |access-date=May 28, 2024 |website=MAC Montreal}}</ref>, at [[M+]] in Hong Kong<ref>{{Cite web |title=REMOTE {{!}} M+ |url=https://www.mplus.org.hk/en/cinema/techno-sapiens/remote/ |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=www.mplus.org.hk |language=en-US}}</ref>, at the Busan Biennale<ref>{{Cite web |title=Busan Biennale 2022: We, on the Rising Wave - Announcements - e-flux |url=https://www.e-flux.com/announcements/489192/busan-biennale-2022we-on-the-rising-wave/ |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=www.e-flux.com |language=en}}</ref>, at Berlin’s Julia Stoschek Foundation<ref>{{Cite web |title=Julia Stoschek Foundation » SCREENING: MIKA ROTTENBERG & MAHYAD TOUSI |url=https://jsfoundation.art/exhibitions/screening-mika-rottenberg-mahyad-tousi/ |access-date=2024-05-28 |language=en}}</ref>, and at the Moderna Museet<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mika Rottenberg and Mahyad Tousi |url=https://www.modernamuseet.se/stockholm/en/exhibitions/mika-rottenberg-och-mahyad-tousi-remote/ |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=Moderna Museet i Stockholm |language=en-US}}</ref>.
Tousi is listed as a writer-creator on an upcoming “One Thousand and One Nights” adaptation for film, TV and gaming content.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Donnelly |first=Matt |date=2019-10-25 |title=‘One Thousand and One Nights’ Content Universe Launching With Reza Aslan, Erik Feig’s Picturestart (EXCLUSIVE) |url=https://variety.com/2019/film/news/one-thousand-and-one-nights-reza-aslan-erik-feig-1203383766/ |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref>
Tousi is currently writing and producing a television adaptation of [[Ted Chiang|Ted Chiang’]]<nowiki/>s novelette “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate.”<ref>{{Cite web |last=Network |first=Sculpture |date=2023-10-28 |title="REMOTE" MIKA ROTTENBERG & MAHYAD TOUSI |url=https://sculpture-network.org/en/event/69058/remote-mika-rottenberg-mahyad-tousi |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=Sculpture Network |language=en}}</ref>
=== Virtual Reality ===
Tousi sits on the advisory board of [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]]’s Center for Advanced Virtuality and speaks on the “critical impact of popular culture” in shaping our shared future.<ref>{{Cite web |title=REMOTE |url=https://www.moca.org/program/remote |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=www.moca.org |language=en}}</ref>
In 2018, he executive produced the award-winning virtual-reality documentary ''ZIKR: A Sufi Revival''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Donnelly |first=Matt |date=2019-10-25 |title=‘One Thousand and One Nights’ Content Universe Launching With Reza Aslan, Erik Feig’s Picturestart (EXCLUSIVE) |url=https://variety.com/2019/film/news/one-thousand-and-one-nights-reza-aslan-erik-feig-1203383766/ |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref>
=== Writing ===
In 2019 Tousi reported he was finishing a novella and writing his first novel.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stories |first=Local |date=2019-04-24 |title=Art & Life with Mahyad Tousi - Voyage Houston Magazine {{!}} Houston City Guide |url=https://voyagehouston.com/interview/art-life-mahyad-tousi/ |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=voyagehouston.com |language=en-US}}</ref>
=== Awards ===
▲* 2022 MPAC Media Award for "[[United States of Al]]" (2021-22)<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 28, 2024 |title=Mahyad Tousi {{!}} SCAD.edu |url=https://www.scad.edu/defineart2023/mahyad-tousi |url-status=live |access-date=May 28, 2024 |website=SCAD {{!}} The University for Creative Careers}}</ref>
== References ==
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== External links ==
* [https://www.thestarfish.org/ STARFISHStarfish website] ▼
{{authority control}}
[[Category:1973 births]]
▲* [https://www.thestarfish.org/ STARFISH website]
[[Category:Iranian filmmakers]]
* [https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?companies=co0249848 BoomGen] on [[IMDb|IMDB]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American people of Iranian descent]]