The story
A road that took thirty years to look like a calling.
01
Beginnings
Born in Manhattan on July 1, 1974. His father from Cairo, of Syro-Lebanese descent. His mother raised on a farm outside Galway. Baptized Orthodox. He would later be received into the Catholic Church.
02
School of Visual Arts
Film degree. Drumming for a friend's rock band on the side. The band recorded an album, lined up a tour, then the label went bankrupt. He moved to Los Angeles to try the other side of the camera.
03
Ten years of credits you wouldn't notice
Location scouting for Spider-Man, National Treasure, I Am Legend. Small parts on The Good Wife, As the World Turns, Castle. Voice work for Celebrity Deathmatch. Government assistance to fill the gap.
04
May 2018
Overdrawn on the bank account. Twenty dollars in his wallet, thirty in the bank. Rent due. Three weeks since the last gig. He walked outside, surrendered the career out loud, and went to breakfast on what was left. Came home to royalty checks from shows he had not been paid for in years.
05
The Chosen
He had already shot the 2017 pilot. Two months after the breakfast, the full series came together. Seven seasons in, the show is the largest crowd-funded entertainment project ever made and one of the most watched series on the planet.
200M+
viewers, The Chosen worldwide
50K
in the room at the Eucharistic Congress, 2024
Two
popes met in audience
1M
children sponsored via Unbound, his milestone
