‘The Old Young Crow’: Arian Moayed, Rayka Zehtabchi Board Oscar-Contending Short As EPs
02.11.2023 - 19:11
/ deadline.com
EXCLUSIVE: Two-time Tony and Emmy Award-nominated actor Arian Moayed (Succession) and Oscar-winning filmmaker Rayka Zehtabchi (Period. End of Sentence.) have boarded Liam LoPinto‘s Oscar-qualifying live-action short The Old Young Crow as executive producers.
The news comes amidst a recent run on the festival circuit that has just seen the short screen at both SCAD and AFI, after picking up the prize for best of the festival at Palm Springs ShortFest. It also follows the announcement that Moayed will exec produce Joonam, an Oscar-contending short on the Iranian-American experience from Sierra Urich.
Also now aboard The Old Young Crow‘s team of EPs is Scott Aharoni (Leylak, Les Criminels), the multi-award-winning director and producer who co-founded the indie entertainment company Curious Gremlin. Additional EPs include Mamak Shahbazi and Bill LoPinto. Pic’s associate producers are Keisuke Sakuma, Keiko Yamashita (who also stars), Byron Gould, and Shohreh Golparian.
LoPinto relies on the help of his old sketchbook to tell the story, via his short, of Mehrdad, an old man reflecting on his time in Tokyo as a boy. The short specifically hones in on his encounter at a graveyard of an old Japanese woman, who takes him on a whirlwind spiritual journey through her past.
Moayed called LoPinto “a breakout creative voice that needs to be both championed, as well as, promoted,” sharing that he’s “beyond thrilled” to have boarded the filmmaker’s “innovative” new short. The project, he said, “exemplifies that type of stories Iranians and Iranian Americans are dying to tell. In a time and place where Iranians are rarely able to tell their complicated and meaningful stories, it’s refreshing to dive into Liam’s worldview, so audiences