Karan Soni  immigrated to the United States from India at the age of 18 to attend USC’s prestigious School of Theater. Growing up, he idolized the likes of Jim Carrey and Robin Williams. (Campus Circle) He is most notably known for his supporting role in Safety Not Guaranteed, alongside Aubrey Plaza (Parks & Recreation), Jake Johnson (New Girl) and Mark Duplass. He has also appeared in Betas and Mighty Meds.

Links: IMDB | Twitter

Callie Khouri is a screenwriter, producer, and director, and is most famous for her award-winning, groundbreaking screenplay for the film Thelma and Louise. She made her directorial debut with the film Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. She is of Syrian-American descent.

Links: Wikipedia | IMDB | Twitter

(Image Source: Rick Rowell/ABC via Getty Images and dramaistanbul.com.tr)

Hoda Kotb is an Egyptian-American television news anchor and TV host. She’s known as the co-host of Today’s Talk with Kathie Lee Gifford and is a correspondent for for NBC’s Dateline NBC.

Links: IMDB | Wikipedia | Twitter

Hannah Simone, Actress, currently starring on New Girl alongside Zooey Deschanel. “Simone was born in London to a father of Indian origin and a mother of German, Italian, Cypriot, and Greek descent.” (Wikipedia) In an interview with Yahoo Shine, Simone says of the  show’s creator and executive producer at New Girl:

“I remember thanking Liz, and saying, ‘You’ve no idea what you’ve done, that you’ve put this Indian actress in this visible role, where it’s not about her ethnicity,’” she told Glow, adding, “It’s an incredibly exciting time to be a comedic actress. There is this demand for smart, funny, attractive women.”

Links: IMDB | Wikipedia | Twitter

Nahnatchka Khan is an American born television writer and producer (Wiki). She’s worked on American Dad!, and created the ABC sitcom Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23 (2012-2013, find it on Hulu).  In an interview, she shared her inspiration behind the show:

“Women behaving badly has always been funny, to me personally, so I knew I wanted to do something like that. And then, Breakfast at Tiffany’s has always been one of my favorite movies [and] I was wondering what Holly Golightly might look like today, if she currently existed in the real world. And then, I was like, “Maybe it would be funny to get a perspective on that character from just giving her a normal roommate, who is just trying to pay bills and watch Castle while this other woman is floating in on a cloud of champagne. I thought that could be a funny dynamic, between those two girls.”

Mousa Kraish is a young Palestinian-American actor and director that has been around the block for a few years now.

Though he is most notable for his role as Billy Baybridge in Superbad (2007), some of his awesome minor roles include Eddie in Parenthood, Iraqi Soldier in Arrested Development (2006), and Guy in Karoake in an independent film I strongly recommend watching, Man Push Cart (2005). He has also appeared in You Don’t Mess With Zohan, Munich, Fast & Furious, Men of a Certain Age, and the TV series Chuck. Brother has been around!

Additionally, he has written and directed a short film, How to Make a Dollar Bill in Brooklyn (2009), which I’m looking forward to checking out.

Browse Mousa’s filmography and check out his insightful interview with Killer Film from 2009 and another with the Institute for Middle East Understanding where he explains how he rejects “terrorist” acting roles. His website his hilarious. He makes videos that you can check out. Here he is on Facebook.

Sammy Obeid is a Lebanese-American comic that I just came across. Check out this short reel: “You can’t just pick any brown person and call us Indian… you’re not Columbus.”

Follow him on Twitter, like him on Facebook, and keep an eye out – hope there’s plenty more witty banter coming our way.

Zahra Noorbakhsh is a hilarious writer, performer, and comedian that performs in a one-woman show titled “All Atheists Are Muslim.” Check out this delightful video by her. Give it a couple of minutes – the message is important, and there’s some funny stuff that comes after. ::chuckle:: Learn more about Zahra at her website.

Sameer Asad Gardezi is a Pakistani American writer that has written for Modern Family, Aliens in America, and Outsourced. Check out his filmography and follow him on Twitter. He goes by the name Jinn Busters, and that’s pretty awesome. Featured here is the short he wrote that caught Fox’s eye, entitled Equal Opportunity.

Bahar Soomekh, of Persian Jewish descent, appeared on an episode of Parenthood last night as Dr. Haryana, a more compassionate oncologist whom Adam and Christina seek out for a second opinion. She had her big break in the movie Crash (2004) and has starred in Syriana and Saw III and Saw IV, as well as Mission Impossible: III. Check out her filmography here.