Deadline August 15 for Arab Comedy Fest Entries

New York Arab-American Comedy Festival is Seeking Submissions

The New York Arab-American Comedy Festival is seeking submissions from Arab-American artists for its 3rd annual Festival which will take place in New York City from November 13-16, 2005. Last year’s Festival was a great success thanks to the work of the talented Arab-American artists involved and the support of the entire Arab-American community. We plan on making this year’s Festival even bigger and more visible. It is our goal to produce a Festival this fall which will attract even more positive media coverage for the artists and the community as well as provide an excellent industry showcase for all the Arab-American artists who participate.
The Festival will be divided into three parts: Comedic theater, stand up comedy and comedic films. The details for the submissions are as follows:
· Comedic theater: We are seeking comedic theater pieces not to exceed 30 minutes in length. The works can be one acts or excerpts from a longer work. The pieces do not have to be Arab themed. Please included with your submission, contact information and short bio, script, with character breakdown, and a one paragraph blurb about the play. If the play has been staged already, you can submit a videotape of the play.
· Stand up comedy: Please submit a VHS or DVD of 8-10 minutes of your stand up comedy. The comedy does not have to be Arab themed.
· Comedic Films: We are seeking any length, from shorts to features, of comedic films that have been made by Arab-Americans. You can submit the film on VHS or DVD. The films do not have to be Arab themed. Please include contact information, short bio and a one paragraph blurb about the film.All submissions must be RECEIVED by August 15, 2005. Due to time constraints, any submissions received after the deadline will not be considered for this year's Festival. Submissions should be sent to the New York Arab-American Comedy Festival and addressed to the attention of the Festival's General manger Elias EL-Hage at 317 West 95th Street, Suite HG, New York, NY 10025. If you would like your submission returned, please include a self-addressed stamped return envelope.We will be informing artists about the Festival's selections by September 1, 2005. If you have any questions, please contact either Dean Obeidallah at Dean@arabcomedy.org, Maysoon Zayid at Maysoon@arabcomedy.org or Elias El-Hage at Elias@arabcomedy.org.

Please check our website www.arabcomedy.org for periodic updates and to read the media coverage the past Festivals received.

We look forward to receiving your submissions!

Dean Obeidallah Maysoon Zayid Elias El-Hage