Double Threat Zuher Khan - On the Fast Track to Filmmaking and Acting Success
New York native Zuher Khan isn’t wasting any time. Growing up with aspirations to both act and produce on/for big screen and TV, he decided, at age 19, to produce the film "3 Holes And A Smoking Gun,” from a script by veteran writer Scott Fivelson (“Route 666”). For the next 3 years Khan did just that - raised the money, cast the film, oversaw production and post-production. For cast, he successfully locked in Golden Globe Winner Joaquim de Almeida who starred opposite Sandra Bullock in Warner Bros. "Our Brand Is Crisis", "Desperado" with Antonio Banderas, and "Fast Five" with The Rock and Vin Diesel. He also cast in the other lead roles, the great character actors Rudolf Martin who starred in film "Sword Fish" with John Travolta and Hugh Jackman and Richard Edson who starred in "Platoon" with Charlie Sheen.
Khan’s gamble paid off! The film won 9 awards including: Best Actor 2015 at the "Winter Film Awards", Best U.S Narrative Feature Film 2014 "Laughlin International Film Festival", Grand Jury Prize and Best Actor 2014 "Red Dirt International Film Festival", Independent Spirit Award 2015 "Garden State Film Festival", Best Screenplay at the "Downtown Film Festival Los Angeles", Best Actor In a Supporting Role 2015 & Recognition of Dramatic Excellence "Buffalo Niagara Film Festival" & Best Supporting Actor 2015 "Cinerockom International Film Festival"
It’s fair to say that Khan has striking similarities to film moguls past – think the young Irving Thalberg or David O. Selznick, who were already forces to be reckoned with in their early 20’s. It would also be fair to say that he’s the only actor/producer of South Asian descent to accomplish this. After the films completion, Khan teamed up with the expansive Entertainment One (“12 Years aa Slave”) and Phase Four Films to give "3 Holes And A Smoking Gun" a Theatrical, VOD, DVD Release, across North America. Now available on several platforms, the film will also be available in Walmart starting in October.
From there, Khan jumped aboard the prolific Dallas entertainment show, “Let’s Go, DFW!” as an Executive Producer. Among the shows guests: Julianne Moore, Kate Bosworth, Andrew Garfield and Ben Kingsley. Currently, Khan is working on his second film with Scott Fivelson, where he will play a Marine who becomes a war hero. He is also launching his own distribution company, ZStar Distribution in 2017, that will be handling several A-list projects. ZStar Distribution’s slate of films will be announced in the coming weeks.
All this and he’s only 24 years old. What will the future hold?
