Half-hour series, developed under Ahmed’s Left Handed first-look deal with Amazon MGM Studios
CULVER CITY, California—June 20, 2024—Today, Prime Video announced it has ordered a yet-to-be-titled half-hour series from Academy Award and Emmy winner Riz Ahmed who will also produce, write, and star in the series. Emmy winner Ben Karlin (Modern Family, The Colbert Report, The Daily Show) is attached to executive produce and will showrun with Ahmed. The series will premiere exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.
The series follows Shah Latif, a struggling actor on the cusp of landing the role of a lifetime, only to find himself thrust into a full blown existential crisis and trippy conspiracy thriller all at the same time.
This marks Ahmed’s return to television following his 2017 double Emmy nominations: guest star for Girls and lead actor for The Night Of, the latter of which he won. The series was created by Ahmed and developed under his production company, Left Handed, through their first-look deal with Amazon MGM Studios.
“I’ve wanted to tell this story for a long time. It’s personal, bold, and a lot of fun. It feels so good to be writing and creating it now with this incredible team,” said Riz Ahmed.
“Riz Ahmed is a gifted writer, actor, and producer, and we have been energized by his passion,” said Vernon Sanders, head of television, Amazon MGM Studios. “Led by Riz and the hilarious Ben Karlin, and guided by Rola Bauer’s Pan-English team, this series is sure to delight our global Prime Video customers and make them laugh.”
The show is executive produced by Ahmed and Allie Moore for Left Handed, and Jake Fuller on behalf of Jax Media. Ben Karlin will executive produce and is showrunning with Ahmed. Roopesh Parekh (Willow, His Dark Materials) will also serve as executive producer. The series is produced by Jax Media and Amazon MGM Studios.
Alongside Ahmed, the writers room includes playwright and television veteran Dipika Guha (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Black Monday, Sneaky Pete), creator of the Patriot Act, Prashanth Venkataramanujam, Karen Joseph Adcock (The Bear, Swarm, Yellow Jackets, Atlanta), Azam Mahmood (Industry, Ramy), and novelist Fatima Farheen Mirza.
About Left Handed
Left Handed is the production company started by Riz Ahmed, focused on stretching culture with bold stories. The company continues to have a first-look deal with Amazon MGM Studios, which was announced in January 2021. Allie Moore oversees production and development for film and television.
Left Handed won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film with The Long Goodbye in 2022, and made history the same year with Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Flee; the first movie to earn Oscar nominations in the categories of Best Animated Feature, Best Documentary Feature and Best International Feature. Most recently, Left Handed executive produced Saim Sadiq’s film, Joyland, the first Pakistani film at Cannes, which won both the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize and Queer Palm, as well as the Indie Spirit Award for Best International Feature in 2023. The company’s debut feature Mogul Mowgli, directed by Bassam Tariq, won the International Critics’ Prize at the Berlin Film Festival, was nominated for a BAFTA Award for ‘Best British Film,’ and received six British Independent Film Awards nominations, with the film taking home ‘Best Debut Screenwriter’ for Ahmed and ‘Best Music.’ Left Handed currently has a wide-ranging slate of upcoming projects, including a reimagining of Hamlet from Aneil Karia, which is currently in post-production, and an adaptation of Booker Prize Nominated Novel Exit West for Netflix in partnership with the Obamas’ Higher Ground Productions and Joe and Anthony Russo’s AGBO.
