Sabir Pirzada on writing in Hollywood

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By Fareeha Molvi

(This post was originally published to Instagram on June 8, 2022)

Have you watched Ms. Marvel yet? The internets are (rightfully) abuzz with how historic this show is for the representation of Pakistani-Americans and Muslims. Can you imagine the time, effort and energy that went into making this first-of-its-kind show? Luckily, we don’t have to because I interviewed writer Sabir Pirzada who wrote on Ms. Marvel. Pirzada is a Pakistani-American Muslim writer who has worked on amazing shows including Marvel’s The Moon Knight and CBS’ Person of Interest. He’s also written Ms. Marvel comics in the anthologies, known as Marvel’s Voices: Identity. If you’re interested in the backstory of Ms. Marvel or just curious about what it takes to break into Hollywood as a person of color, read on for the Q&A! You can stream Ms. Marvel on Disney+ with new episodes dropping every Wednesday.

Brown in Media: Can you talk about your writing journey up to this point? Did you find it hard to break into the industry?

Sabir Pirzada: “The largest barrier to entry for me when I started out was the fact that I hardly knew anyone in an industry where getting work relies on having references and people that you know. I had to start at the bottom by doing unpaid internships at small production companies and boutique agencies until I had gathered enough experience and references to get in at larger places, like the mailroom at CAA. The rest was hard work and asking people to have coffee with me while remaining earnest about my desire to become a writer.

That led to a new obstacle: finding time to continue to write and study the craft while holding other (non-writing) assistant jobs that were building my network. Eventually I made the hard choice to leave my assistant job at CAA with the confidence that I had built a network that would serve me well while I focused on the writing. That led to a ticking clock: find a job as an assistant in a writers office before I ran out of my savings. Mercifully, I was able to do that on Person of Interest and that opened all the doors I needed to become a writer.”

“The fact that I had the opportunity to write something so autobiographical in the MCU is a privilege I will never take lightly“

Sabir Pirzada on writing for Ms. Marvel

BIM: How did it feel to work on Ms. Marvel, the first show to represent Pakistani-Americans and Muslims this way?

SP: “It was exciting! We knew that because it was a Marvel project it was going to have a lot of scrutiny from all sides, including from Pakistani-Americans and Muslims, but our head writer Bisha K. Ali  put together a writers room with so many different perspectives that the pressure never felt like it came from any one person to get everything right. We used each other as resources all the time, and of course the hard work that G. Willow Wilson and Sana Amanat put into making the comics authentic was a strong starting point. Generally, if something felt right to the entire room, we would proceed with the idea and build on each other’s excitement. If it felt wrong to even one person, we would stop and troubleshoot and, if we couldn’t get rid of that feeling, we’d look for another direction.

Ultimately it became an amazing opportunity to write some of the most personal work I’ve ever done, because I could pull directly from my experiences as a Pakistani-American and as a Muslim and just put it on screen. Particularly in episode 4, there are some specific experiences that Kamala has that happened pretty much exactly the same way to me when I was her age. The fact that I had the opportunity to write something so autobiographical in the MCU is a privilege I will never take lightly.”

BIM: What’s one of the most compelling experiences you’ve had while working in the industry?

SP: “I’ve had so many wonderful experiences. One of the elements I didn’t count on changing in the industry was the fact that I would meet more practicing Muslims. When I was in Budapest filming The Moon Knight, it turned out that one of our directors was Muslim, one of our actors was Muslim, and so were several assistants, so even though I was expecting to have a lonely Ramadan away from my family and friends, I had plenty of company to break fast with and mark the occasion. Ethan Hawke even joined us for Iftar on the first night of Ramadan and told us some wonderful and hilarious stories from his time over the decades as an actor. It’s a memory I’ll cherish forever.”

BIM: What’s your advice for anyone looking to break into Hollywood, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds?

SP: “Breaking in isn’t typically a dramatic moment of discovery as much as it is a linear path of increasingly valuable opportunities, with the door opening ever-so-slightly wider. Keep focusing on your craft, and keep forging connections. Eventually those two things will line up to give you an opportunity, and you’ll be ready for it when it happens.”