A Storyteller's Journey: Kamran Pasha

Profession: Writer/Producer

Credits: Taj Mahal, Stranger Adventures, Sleeper Cell, The Twilight Zone (2002), Seven Days

Bio: Kamran Pasha is a writer and co-producer for Showtime Network's Golden Globe nominated series Sleeper Cell, about a Muslim FBI agent who infiltrates a terrorist group. An expert on the Middle East, Kamran is one of the few successful Muslim screenwriters in Hollywood. In 2003, he set up his first feature script at Warner Brothers, an historical epic on the love story behind the building of the Taj Mahal. He is currently adapting the Japanese anime Kite, about a teenage girl who works as an assassin, into an action thriller for Rob Cohen, the director of The Fast and the Furious. Kamran is also writing a Hollywood adaptation of the Japanese horror movie Don't Look Up by Hideo Nakata, creator of Ringu and director of The Ring 2. And Kamran is adapting Deepak Chopra's novel Soulmate, a supernatural love story, as a feature film for Anant Singh's production company, Distant Horizon.

1) What were you doing before you "made it"?

I was an attorney in New York. Previously I had served as a journalist on Wall Street covering the financial markets.

2) What was your "big break" and how did you get it?

I wrote a spec script of a science fiction TV series on UPN called Seven Days. I was shopping it around to agents as a writing sample. One of the executive producers of Seven Days got hold of the script and was impressed that I understood the show so well and was able to match the character voices. The showrunner purchased the script (a rare event in the TV world) and hired me to write a second episode. I quit my job as a lawyer, moved to Los Angeles, and never looked back.

3) How does your career today stand up to your previous expectations?

My career has developed remarkably well. I have several feature scripts in development and have become a successful TV producer on a show I love. As a Muslim, Sleeper Cell allows me to work on issues that I have unique knowledge of regarding the War on Terror and how the extremists distort Islam to achieve their political goals. While there have been moments over the past five years where I have been frustrated and exhausted by the Hollywood game, I've remained persistent and the rewards have come through.

4) What do you find most rewarding about your profession?

The greatest thing about being a writer is the ability to create your own reality. As writers, we create the script, which is the foundation of everything in Hollywood. We are the only players in the game that can generate our own work, giving us a creative independence and the ability to re-invent ourselves and our careers. Unlike many actors or directors, we can transcend Hollywood's efforts to typecast us or put us in a creative box. For example, if we are tired of being known as the "teen horror" movie writers, we can write an historical epic or a romantic comedy and enter new genres. I prize that freedom and personal empowerment above all.

5) What are the pitfalls of your profession and how do you deal with them?

Overcoming procrastination is a major problem for all writers, including myself. The truth is, procrastination stems from fear and self-doubt. Every time I stare at a blank page, I am terrified. No matter how many successes I have, I fear that this time, there will be no magic. Of course, if you really are a writer, you always have access to that creative magic, and the answers will come once you start writing. The critical thing is to look at the blank page, take a deep breath, say prayer, and then start typing. The instant your fingers begin to move, you are in the moment and fear vanishes.

6) What is your personal philosophy, method, or style toward your profession?

Write what you love. Nobody has any idea what is commercial or what will sell in the marketplace. Don't try to write something you don't enjoy just because you think the idea is commercial and will sell. If your heart is not in it, the end result will be mediocre. When you write what you love, your passion comes across on the page and seduces the reader. Every script that has advanced my career was a highly improbable venture that sold against all expectations. I loved the script and in the end my love won over the buyers.

7) What advice would you give to someone trying to "break in" to your profession?

Persistence is the one and only means of breaking into Hollywood and keeping your career going. Talent can help, but there are many talented writers who do not have the strength to face constant rejection and come back with something new. And there are many mediocre writers who have perfectly good careers because they keep plugging away until they find an opening. Persistence is the one and only way to achieve your dreams.

About "A Storyteller's Journey" Series

There are many trails you can choose when you're determined to scale a mountain, but as long as you keep climbing, they will all reach the top.

"A Storyteller's Journey" maps the paths others have taken before you. Writers and filmmakers tell you in their own words what they were doing before their ascent, the obstacles they faced along the way, and what they discovered at the summit of their ambitions.

I hope their insights and experiences will educate, motivate, and inspire you with your own goals. Whether you follow their footsteps or forge your own way, just remember that no rules for success will work if you don't.