While at San Francisco State working on his Masters in Business Administration, in a desperate gesture to save his sanity from the dryness of the business world - Isa took the plunge and submitted an essay to a writing competition. To his surprise he won and got his first taste of his love of writing.
Years later, discontent with the lack of artistic expression within a career in finance, he again took pen to hand when he was invited to join a collaborative team of Arab and Israeli writers for the purpose of creating a play for the San Francisco Mime Troupe addressing the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. The work resulted in the critically acclaimed, ground-breaking piece - Seeing Double, which toured the US and Israel for two years and picked up an OBIE Award for it’s New York run. It also resulted in the end of his business aspirations forever.
Isa also contributed to another critically acclaimed SF Mime Troupe piece, Back to Normal — which addressed the first Gulf War.
His semi-autobiographical, coming-of-age, screenplay America is slated for a late 2013 production start - with Mark Johnson producing along with Lou Digiaimo. After reading the script Mark Johnson, in an article in Variety magazine - referred to the film as the Arab-American Diner, Johnson’s first film credit.
Recently, he wrote and directed the explosive short film Battle which explores the little-known reality of the signature wound of the Iraq War — traumatic brain injuries. It's a moving story about two vets that takes place ten years after serving in the conflict.
Years later, discontent with the lack of artistic expression within a career in finance, he again took pen to hand when he was invited to join a collaborative team of Arab and Israeli writers for the purpose of creating a play for the San Francisco Mime Troupe addressing the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. The work resulted in the critically acclaimed, ground-breaking piece - Seeing Double, which toured the US and Israel for two years and picked up an OBIE Award for it’s New York run. It also resulted in the end of his business aspirations forever.
Isa also contributed to another critically acclaimed SF Mime Troupe piece, Back to Normal — which addressed the first Gulf War.
His semi-autobiographical, coming-of-age, screenplay America is slated for a late 2013 production start - with Mark Johnson producing along with Lou Digiaimo. After reading the script Mark Johnson, in an article in Variety magazine - referred to the film as the Arab-American Diner, Johnson’s first film credit.
Recently, he wrote and directed the explosive short film Battle which explores the little-known reality of the signature wound of the Iraq War — traumatic brain injuries. It's a moving story about two vets that takes place ten years after serving in the conflict.
“It’s rare to read a script and think, ‘I’ve never seen a movie like this before!’ But that was very much my experience when I first read America. Not only does it tell an important story, but it makes me laugh, both with its ironic wit and its warmth.”
Mark Johnson — Producer
Breaking Bad, Rainman, Bugsy, The Notebook,
The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe