Conversations with Neil Zafar Haeems

Today we’d like to introduce you to Neil Zafar Haeems

Hi Neil, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I have been making movies since middle school—my family moved around a lot and when I struggled to fit in, filmmaking helped me connect with my peers. Although the camera was my dad’s DSLR and my actors were the sixth and seventh graders at the lunch table with me, these early creative experiences opened my mind to the joy of telling a good story.

I continued to develop my sense for storytelling at UC Berkeley, where I earned a B.A. in English and Film Studies. As an English student, I was a voracious reader. I delved into the great American classics and pulp novels alike, and was inspired by the ways their authors shaped stories and characters. I also developed a strong film studies foundation and as I began to think critically about what makes a film effective, I became eager to apply these techniques in my own filmmaking. In college, I also worked as an arts & entertainment reporter and wrote reviews for films, television shows, video games, and albums. This experience allowed me to hone my writing ability and analyze media on a deeper level than ever before.

After graduation, I immersed myself in the world of documentary filmmaking. I worked as an archival researcher on the true crime documentary series Buried, which premiered on Showtime just a few months before I enrolled in film school. This hands-on experience deepened my understanding of storytelling techniques and the collaborative nature of the filmmaking process.

As an MFA film production student at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, I have devoted myself to writing, directing, and producing. I am currently writing and directing my thesis film Goodbye Stranger, a gritty crime drama starring Max Adler and Charley Rowan McCain and featuring Jim O’Heir. I also wrote No Loose Ends, a dark comedy thriller that was selected by a committee of faculty, students, and alumni to be one of three major graduate projects produced next semester. Last semester, I produced an advanced project titled Indulge Me, a dramedy directed by Clarinda Blais about an ex-priest struggling with his faith. I will end my master’s degree by producing the thesis films Trife, a father-son drama directed by Christian Yosef and set on the streets of Los Angeles, and 30 Yards, a surreal virtual production film directed by Kevin Remy and shot on USC’s state-of-the-art LED volume.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I struggled with the decision to commit myself to filmmaking. I come from a family of engineers and educators, and was raised to place the utmost importance on studying STEM fields. Although I always had a deep passion for books and films, I had no expectation that they would be anything more than a hobby. I enrolled in college as a computer science student and spent two years struggling to fit in to that milieu.

After a soul-crushing experience as an unpaid intern for a Silicon Valley startup, I was unable to continue down that path and was forced to face the fact that, while I might earn a large salary, I would never be happy as a software engineer. I confronted my parents and explained to them how miserable I had been in my first two years of college and how desperately I needed to follow a different path than the one they had laid out for me.

I knew this was a big risk and would mean forgoing a more certain path to a successful career, but when I faced the reality of how I felt in the engineering world, I knew that there was no other choice for me but to commit myself to film.

I returned to college as an English and Film Studies student and immediately found my place and my people. I developed strong bonds with the small Berkeley filmmaking community and gained lots of incredible experiences on and off set that informed my future as a filmmaker and person.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a writer, director, and producer. Regardless of genre, I am drawn to stories about conflicted, morally grey characters and impossible moral quandaries. I have written and directed crime films, dramas, dark comedies, horror films, and science fiction, and I am always interested in stretching my creative muscles.

The work I am most proud of to date is my thesis film Goodbye Stranger. I wrote the first draft of this film in May 2023 and have been working on it non-stop since. After months of revisions, I felt very rewarded that, thanks to my wonderful casting director Katie Lantz, I was able to book name actors Max Adler and Jim O’Heir in my film, as well as the incredibly talented 10-year-old Charley Rowan McCain. I have had such a pleasure working with all three actors and they have brought the film to life in such spectacular fashion that I am incredibly thrilled and honored. I am also incredibly proud of the work done by my brilliant cinematographer Ziqi Yang, whose stellar eye for framing and lighting has brought new and exciting shades to the themes and characters that I could never have thought up alone.

What sets me apart from other filmmakers is my undying pursuit of authenticity. Whether it’s a film about a father and daughter on the run from their past or a guilt-plagued Bible salesman caught in a hold-up, I am dedicated to arriving at the truest possible depiction of the story—in which the characters feel like real people, their conflicts feel compelling, and the camera and sound are used to externalize their internal struggle.

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
My biggest advice to new filmmakers is to really delve into film history. You cannot develop a creative voice until you begin to make sense of what speaks to you and why. Too many filmmakers believe that they can substitute cinematic literacy with talent or enthusiasm. However, just as you cannot be an author without reading a lot of books, you cannot be a filmmaker without watching a lot of movies. It’s only after you understand the heritage of film and the nuances of the current landscape that you can figure out what your own place in it is.

Pricing:

• I’m happy to discuss freelance writing rates depending on the specific opportunity

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.goodbyestrangerfilm.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neilzafarhaeems
• Facebook: Email: [email protected]
• Other: https://vimeo.com/neilzafarhaeems