David Farnor | On 27, Jun 2024

Amazon has ordered a comedy TV series from Riz Ahmed.

The multi-talented multi-hyphenate Oscar winner will produce, write and star in the series, which is currently without a title. The half-hour comedy will follow 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.

Ben Karlin (Modern Family, The Colbert Report, The Daily Show) is attached to executive produce and will showrun with Ahmed.

THe project marks Ahmed’s return to television following his 2017 double Emmy nominations: guest star for Girls and lead actor for HBO’s The Night Of, the latter of which he won.

The new 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 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. 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. 

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