I'm the Cap'n - In Reel Life

Hello, my name is Waseeq Mohammad, and you might be wondering why I’m introducing myself or at least some of you might. Well friends, I am a new member of the Reel Nation Media team and I am honored to be going on this blog adventure of ours. As captain of this blog-ship, it’s my job to make sure I’m providing you with valuable content that is both inspiring and entertaining. Please let me know what you think as you read through the articles we will be sending your way. If there’s anything in particular you really like, tell us and we can try to release more content like that or if there is something that’s maybe not as cool tell us why you thought so. We would love to improve and your assistance is most certainly appreciated. In fact, I’m actually going to be counting on it because the goal of Reel Nation Media's blog is to provide valuable content alongside our films. It is a way to engage with our audience; to inspire and entertain.

From producer Abdullah Abu-Mahfouz: "In Reel Life" is Reel Nation Media's new blog. It's in it's baby steps right now, so we look forward to growing it and improving through the years! The goals of the blog is to provide insight on our current productions (like how we are going with Stand Up), become a leading source in media philosophy and on inspiring media, create a FAQ list on our nation, engage with you, our audience, become your go to source for media reviews, and to ultimately reform media to a healthy state. 2017 is going to be big for us, and this is one of the biggest additions to the nation. We're so excited to learn and grow alongside you!

You can find the guidelines for "In Reel Life" by clicking here!

Well that’s basically all I wanted to share with you guys in terms of why I wanted to introduce myself and what we are all about.

A little bit more about myself: I was born in Pakistan and raised in Houston, Texas although my southern accent is quite weak. I am the youngest of four siblings, we get along pretty well now that we are all old and wise, jk I’m not old and wise. I graduated from Texas A&M University. My interests include films, writing, and video games. I'm a big fan of tea and coffee; I could go to a coffee shop every day and not get tired of it. For writing, I’m interested in mostly fantasy, sci-fi, children’s books, and poetry. I’m always up for a good book recommendation. I am currently writing a novel but it might be a while until it hits the shelves. My favorite video game genre would have to be RPGs and some of my favorites are XCOM, Mass Effect, Legend of Zelda (Link is so cool his games don’t even need to be RPGs ;p) and Banner Saga. For films, besides what Reel Nation Media has created hehe, it would have to be the Dark Knight Trilogy. "A hero can be anyone. Even a man doing something as simple and reassuring as putting a coat around a young boy's shoulders to let him know that the world hadn't ended." - Batman

I’ve actually always been interested in films, but it wasn’t until now that I have been able to do something with this passion of mine. I hope to continue my work here and learn even more about the film industry and become an active part of it.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, I hope I managed to make you at least chuckle if not there’s always next time :D

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And if there’s anything else you want to know about me feel free to comment below and I’ll get back to you, you’re also more than welcome to introduce yourself so that I can learn more about you as well and with that we at RNM would like to say Keep it Reel!

#introduction #interests #WaseeqMohammad #ReelNationMedia #Blog

Dead ED Isn't Dead 2! - The Unwanted Sequel

Well, well, well... have a lot of explaining to do, don't we?

"An Idea about appreciating each other after straying away, an idea about breaking free. That idea is Dead ED," said a year younger me, in an embarrassing video released to Kickstarter backers, as I was figuring out how to explain what the hell happened to the, then three-years-old, now four-years-old, Kickstarter film. Now I am trying to figure out how to explain what the hell happened, once again.

Failure is what happened, ladies and gentlemen. Here is last year's video:

Written Recap:

In the video we apologized, went through how our team split up, and how life threw us to the curb. To me watching the video is almost unbearable, and like wanting to punch my little brother in the face, repeatedly. Looking at your old self is... weird. Then we discussed the startup of this production company, Reel Nation Media. We then explained how our obligations to our backers would not change, and it still hasn't. You also got to see a short but sweet unfinished scene of the film where our heroes were turning against each other as they were trapped with little hope of escape. Next we promised to still commit to the Kickstarter rewards, finish the film, and to introduce a new lifetime rewards system which promised the backers equivalent rewards for every film in the future (this will still hold true). We then promised monthly updates... yeahhhhhhhhhhh. Didn't happen. You'll see why- but something gives me hope at the end of the video. "Dead ED shows that it's never too late to set things right. That is what this journey is about."

Nothing could be more true.

So here we are, trying to set things right.

In the year since that video, a lot has happened: We finished our first feature documentary film, Stand Up, but could not get to distribution until August 2016 because of some novice failures related to the film. We also had to shut down our office because our steady stream of income from short documentary was eliminated when Al Jazeera America decided to abort mission for good. By that time, we had started an Al Jazeera short documentary that we were commissioned for. Even though we could have dropped it we felt that our responsibilities to the subjects demanded more time, which turned into our newest film, Refuge. So we had to start spending more of what we didn't have to keep that project alive. As if things couldn't have gotten any worse, a lethal illness affected a family member, which had to result in a split of the team once again... what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?

This is me working with AlJazeera. I was an assistant to the famous John Ware from the BBC's Panorama. I'm going to really miss that.

No worries, everything is fine now, that person was a champion and is making it out, and we're actually doing pretty well. Stand Up is on its way to theaters while Refuge is almost done with production. Dead ED is the project that had to wait because the lack of time and resources. Hopefully it can bring this Nation back together again.

Here are the trailers for "Stand Up" and "Refuge".

Our plan is to finish what's on our plate, including Dead ED, by March 2017, and to deliver all original Kickstarter and lifetime rewards for all projects. Then we hope to start anew. I will be making a video to explain more, but I just needed to get this out while I had 20 minutes of spare time. Thanks for your patience this whole time, guys. I feel like I could not be any more in the wrong. Hopefully you'll give me another shot!

For Dead ED Kickstarter backers, please get ahold of me at RNM@reelnationmedia.com for concerns or complaints so that I may address them with full commitment.

Expect more frequent updates.

Keep it Reel.

#DeadED #Kickstarter #ReelNationMedia #StandUp #Refugee #Feature #Documentary #AlJazeeraAmerica #Hope #Updates #DeadEDisn39tDead #JohnWare

How do Syrian Refugees Live in the USA? - Introduction

So how do Syrian Refugees live in the USA? Well that is the exact question I asked when I learned a year ago that Allentown PA, a town near me, was accepting Syrian Refugees into its community. The issue is now a hot topic with all the elections and debates going on in the popular media. Some will say "yes accept them with open arms!" Others will say "no, they're a danger to our communities. Some may be associated with terrorism. Look at what happened to Europe." My opinion fell somewhere in the middle, but, of course like most people, I was ignorant.

What is the true effect of these families settling in my home, the USA? How does the USA effect and change them? What is the true story and motivations behind these families? And most importantly, how do they relate to us?

I was told by a wise teacher that you will never truly know a people until you sit down with their children at their dinner table/mat. To answer my questions, I aimed to do just that, and film it.

My film Refuge seeks to answer the questions above. For the next few weeks, I will relate the story of my filming and beautiful experience of getting to know a lovely family that I learned to call my own. This blog series (hopefully to become a video series) will explore this journey step by step. I hope you join me by signing up at www.reelnationmedia.com/refuge. As I edit and film the last few sequences, you will be able to get an exclusive insight and even contribution to the creation of my film: the answer of How do refugees live in the USA?

Have you seen the teaser trailer for the film? Watch below!

Please feel free to comment below on what you'd like to see and if you have any ideas on how we can better go through this journey together. Looking forward to it guys!

Keep it Reel!

Abdullah Abu-Mahfouz

#SyrianRefuge #Syrian #Announcement #AbdullahAbuMahfouz #Refugee #ReelNationMedia #Trailer #Blog #VideoSeries #USA