Episode 103: The Exorcist, a Conversation with Kamran Pasha

Parvez and Omar are joined by screenwriter and director Kamran Pasha, to discuss The Exorcist (1973). 

In addition to being a favorite film of both Parvez's and Kamran's, The Exorcist has had a significant influence on popular culture and has received critical acclaim, with several publications having regarded it as one of the greatest horror films of all time.

We hope you enjoy this discussion, part of a recurring series of recordings focused on movies and film.

About Kamran Pasha

Kamran Pasha was one of the first Muslim filmmakers to succeed in Hollywood.  He recently worked as writer-producer on Showtime Network’s drama series set in the American military prison at Guantanamo Bay, directed by Oliver Stone.  Previously, Kamran served as a writer and co-producer of Showtime’s Golden Globe and Emmy-nominated series “Sleeper Cell,” about a Muslim FBI agent who infiltrates a terrorist group.  Kamran has also served as a writer and producer on television shows such as “Reign,” “Nikita” and “Roswell, New Mexico” on the CW, and “Kings” and “Bionic Woman” on NBC. He also served as head writer for the “Tron: Uprising” animated series on Disney XD.

Kamran’s movie career launched when he sold his first feature script to Warner Brothers Pictures, an historical epic on the love story behind the building of the Taj Mahal.  He is currently developing a movie on the famed Sufi poet Rumi, as well as a feature film about Ibn Battuta, which follows the adventures of an Arab traveler who journeyed from Morocco to China in the 14th century.

Kamran is a published novelist as well.  In 2009, Simon & Schuster published “Mother of the Believers,” a novel showing the rise of Islam from the eyes of Prophet Muhammad’s wife Aisha.  His second novel, “Shadow of the Swords,” follows the conflict between Richard the Lionheart and the Muslim leader Saladin for control of Jerusalem during the Crusades.

Kamran holds a BA and an MBA from Dartmouth College, a JD from Cornell Law School, and is an alumnus of the MFA Producers Program at UCLA Film School.