compulsively

READABLE

WHITE-WINNER-BigAppleFilmFestivalScreenplayCompetition-2022FallEdition

THE NAME IS REAL. EVERYTHING ELSE IS MADE UP.

Life is Short

Wear Minis to Match!

THE NAME IS REAL. EVERYTHING ELSE IS MADE UP.

Supermodel U.N.

When a publicity stunt gone wrong thrusts an unfiltered tween into the job of heading the United Nations, she must prove that diplomatic expertise is no match for street smarts.

The Songstress of Baghdad

A Jewish girl in 1946 Iraq escapes a dangerous fiancé by running away to Baghdad to become a nightclub singer -- until she's forced to choose between losing her voice or her life.

Feature Screenplay

SCREENPLAYS

World Class

A 12-year old runs away from home and into the United Nations, seeking refuge on its international territory, where she stumbles on a huge scandal and then becomes an international incident.

Fakes

A Bronx couture genius teams up with a counterfeiter to sell fakes -- but their success depends on the one person who refuses to help.

Sh*tcoin

A genius group of poor immigrants exploited by their greedy boss plots to scam her back using cryptocurrency.

Media Darling

A thirsty bit-part TV actress is publicly dumped by her Hollywood heartthrob husband and gains a starring movie role on condition that she maintain a pathetic public image.

Feature Screenplay

Like Nobody's Business

Desperate to afford trendy fashions, a shallow teen sells the wine her family makes from their unique Manhattan rooftop vineyard with brilliant success—as long as her principled Arab father never finds out.

Supermodel U.N.

When a publicity stunt gone wrong thrusts an unfiltered tween into the job of heading the United Nations, she must prove that diplomatic expertise is no match for street smarts.

Now Playing

When a dying indie movie theater suddenly becomes a hot new hook-up spot, its cynical owner realizes how to turn a profit—if only she can hide the fact that she hates love.

The Nearlywed Game

At a couple's engagement celebration, the groom's ex shows up as the waitress, reigniting sparks between them that threaten to burn the party down.

6 Words for Love

When Zeus, King of all Greek gods, stakes his entire domain on a bet that he can seduce a mortal woman, he discovers that love is more dangerous than power.
Feature Screenplay

The Songstress of Baghdad

A Jewish girl in 1946 Iraq escapes a dangerous fiancé by running away to Baghdad to become a nightclub singer -- until she's forced to choose between losing her voice or her life.

Feature Screenplay

Delicacies

When her commercial rent spikes, a hopelessly single pastry chef is forced to fuse her business with a dating service whose owner she can't stand.

Half-hour Television Pilot

Sextortion

An attention-starved college coed lands in the crosshairs of a murderous Incel who weaponizes technology to sextort her until she can no longer tell what’s real and what’s fake, who helps and who kills -- or how to break free. Feature Screenplay

Wild Mountain Lily

At tango class in New York City, a Peruvian wife learns more than dance with her Japanese partner – until their performance is crashed by fate.

Feature Screenplay

The Circle at Liberation Square

An Iraqi Christian patriot is forced to fight for his life and the safety of his community during the rise of Saddam Hussein.
Historical Novel Manuscript

Miss Fortune Teller

A New York-born Iraqi woman tries to avoid her mother's fanatic embrace of Arab fortune-tellers only to fall for an all-American guy who decides to become one.
Modern RomCom Manuscript

PRODUCTIONS

When her commercial rent spikes, a hopelessly single pastry chef is forced to fuse her business with a dating service whose owner she can't stand.

Comedy Short
Director: Tak Inagaki
Writers: Tak Inagaki & Jessica Jiji
Stars: Akiko Fujiwara, Mendel Abehsera, Mark Yowakim

How to Judge a Book by its Lover

A LAUGH-OUT-LOUD ROMANTIC COMEDY

Laurel Linden wants nothing more than a publishing contract for her 600-page historical novel about Napoleon Bonaparte’s hairdresser. Despite mounting evidence that it’s hilariously bad, she clings to faith that it’s a future bestseller. While expecting to become fabulously famous, Laurel’s earning cash as a New York City dog walker and living in a rundown apartment. Her friends and family want her to move back to the suburbs, get a real job and settle down – until Laurel shocks them all by nabbing a huge book deal and a hot Belgian boyfriend.

Only problem is… the perfect life she always dreamed of feels all wrong. Changing course would mean giving up everything she worked so hard for and – way more difficult – accepting who she really is. For all the thousands of words of fiction she’s ever typed, it’s finally time for Laurel to write a real happily ever after.

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Let's Tell Stories

My mother always told me we could travel far with books. Long before there were virtual tours and Google Earth, she introduced me to books that transported me across seas and centuries.

Like parents everywhere, my father used to tell me bedtime stories. Being Iraqi, he made up tales about a brave girl named Cassima. Instead of starting with “Once Upon a Time…” he would open with the line, “I was a cook for the Queen of Iraq…” The cook was never much good at fighting off bandits or protecting the palace but Cassima would swoop in and save the day. I was mesmerized.

Somewhere between being raised on the power of reading and those imaginative tales, I started writing. Sometimes, I cross continents and decades to write about the Arabic culture I was raised to revere. Other times, I stick with here and now. Either way, it’s a journey we’re on together.

Jessica's Story

Media & Press

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Books

Sweet Dates in
Basra

About the Book

Sweet Dates in Basra

Beautiful Kathmiya is sent from Iraq's idyllic countryside to work as a maid in Basra, where she meets Shafiq, a Jewish boy whose brotherhood with his Muslim neighbor Omar proves friendship transcends religion. Set during the Second World War, Sweet Dates in Basra portrays the unyielding power of human solidarity.

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Diamonds Take
Forever

About the Book

Diamonds Take Forever

If her family had never left Morocco, Michelle would be in big trouble, being almost
thirty and still single. When her hot boyfriend breaks up, she gives up on getting a sparkly ring. But then Michelle discovers a diamond is just coal until it's forged by fire and time.

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How to judge a Book by its Lover

About the Book

How to judge a Book by its Lover

Laurel Linden wants to publish her novel and nab a sophisticated boyfriend, but when she gets the life she always dreamed of, it feels all wrong. For all the thousands of words of fiction she’s ever typed, it’s finally time for Laurel to write a real happily ever after.

Buy Now

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