Abdi Nazemian
Writing
Biography
Abdi Nazemian spent his childhood in a series of exciting locations (Tehran, Paris, Toronto, New York), but could usually be found in his bedroom watching old movies and reading. Abdi was a staff writer for NBC’s THE VILLAGE, and has written five produced films: THE ARTIST’S WIFE (upcoming) MENENDEZ: BLOOD BROTHERS (Lifetime, 2017), THE QUIET (Sony Pictures Classics, 2006), CELESTE IN THE CITY (ABC Family, 2004), and BEAUTIFUL GIRL (ABC FAMILY, 2003). He also wrote, directed and produced the short film REVOLUTION (2012). He is proud to say that his words have been spoken by the likes of Carmela Soprano, The Nanny, and The Girl With The Most Cake. Abdi’s first novel, THE WALK-IN CLOSET, was awarded Best Debut at the Lambda Literary Awards. He has written two young adult novels, both published by Balzer + Bray / HarperCollins: THE AUTHENTICS (2017) and LIKE A LOVE STORY (2019), an Indie Next Pick. As Head of Development for Water’s End Productions, Abdi has been an executive producer or associate producer on numerous films, including CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, IT HAPPENED IN L.A., THE PRICE, THE HOUSE OF TOMORROW, and LITTLE WOODS. Abdi has been interviewed by HuffPost Live and Fox News, and has written for numerous websites, including The Advocate and W. He lives in Los Angeles with his two children and his fiancé, and holds dual citizenship between the United States and Canada. Abdi is not the inspiration for Madonna’s children’s book “The Adventures of Abdi,” though he will forever insist that he is.
Known For
In the summer of 1983, a 17-year-old Elio spends his days in his family's villa in Italy. One day Oliver, a graduate student, arrives to assist Elio's father, a professor of Greco-Roman culture. Soon, Elio and Oliver discover a summer that will alter their lives forever.
Call Me by Your Name
Welcome to the Village, an apartment building in Brooklyn that appears like any other from the outside but is quite unique inside. The people who reside here have built a bonded family of friends and neighbors.
The Village
After her widowed father dies, deaf teenager Dot moves in with her godparents, Olivia and Paul Deer. The Deers' daughter, Nina, is openly hostile to Dot, but that does not prevent her from telling her secrets to her silent stepsister, including the fact that she wants to kill her lecherous father.
The Quiet
Claire Smythson, wife of the renowned abstract artist Richard Smythson, is plunged into a late-life crisis when her husband is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and is in danger of not completing the paintings for his final show.
The Artist's Wife
Weeks after his wife's suspicious death, Dr Martin MacNeill moves in his mistress under the guise of a live-in nanny. Shocked by her father's actions, his daughter begins to question everything she's known about him while uncovering a web of lies.
The Good Father: The Martin MacNeill Story
The story of a socially invisible high school senior who, after slipping up and getting the school's biggest bully suspended, realizes he may only have two weeks left to experience everything he's ever missed out on.
Sid Is Dead
A pregnant woman returns to her recently-deceased grandparents’ old family home to spend time with her estranged mother. What begins as a tenuous reunion slowly turns terrifying.
Reunion
Lyle and Eric Menendez were nice, educated boys from Beverly Hills, which makes the murder of their parents even more inexplicable. Never-before-seen details emerge in this investigation into their lives.
Menendez: Blood Brothers
Small town girl Celeste Blodgett moves from Bangor, Maine to Manhattan when she gets a job with the New York Examiner, but hears there it's only fact checking, with little prospects for real journalism. Her welcoming young flat neighbor Kyle Halley in an interior designer, who helps her to give her apartment a make-over. At a party she learns her cousin is gay and goes by the new name Dana Harrison; he promises to teach her the city way with a fashionable image transformation, which succeeds with the help of various gay friends. Now she's ready for social life, hoping to impress her boss, reputedly womanizing magazine section editor Mitch Tanzer. He accepts to read her work, but says he can't use it because it's unethical given their personal relationship- then she finds reality is different.
Celeste in the City
A collection of six gay-themed short films about relationships and the pain of love, including: REQUITED (directed by Sal Bardo), BOYS LIKE YOU (directed by Daniel Armando), WE ONCE WERE TIDE (directed by Jason Bradbury), REVOLUTION (directed by Abdi Nazemian), THE IN-BETWEEN (directed by Alain Hain) and FROZEN ROADS (directed by Mark Pariselli).
Blue Briefs
A coming-of-age story about Jack, a 16-year old Iranian boy growing up in 1989 Los Angeles. With the 1979 Iranian Revolution a distant memory, the AIDS movement as a backdrop, and a haunting score by Vampire Weekend's Rostam Batmanglij, Jack learns how to stage his own much smaller revolution within the confines of his traditional family.
Revolution
Despite discouragement from her mother, a woman enters a beauty pageant in hope of winning a free honeymoon.
Beautiful Girl
When an American chef travels to a quant village in Italy for inspiration, she falls in love with the flavors, culture, gelato, and the Italian gentleman who helps her discover it all.
Two Scoops of Italy
A true and tragic love story of two teenage boys in Iran, where homosexuality is illegal and punishable by the death penalty.