Photo by Le Wang

Shayan is an Iranian-American writer, director, and editor based in Los Angeles.

In 2011, he filmed and edited The Drop Box, which won the Grand Jury Prize at SAICFF and became one of the highest-grossing films in Fathom Events history upon its theatrical release. He went on to edit the feature documentary The Dating Project and worked on nationally broadcast commercials for brands such as Google, iHeartRadio, and Volkswagen. In 2019, Shayan wrote and directed Life Support, his first award-winning sci-fi short film, followed by a series of viral Persian sketch videos. He later wrote and directed Foreign, a film based on a true immigrant story that premiered at LA Shorts. He then wrote and directed Always Azizam, the first Iranian love story to feature a trans woman in the lead role, which was selected as part of the 2026 SAG-AFTRA Foundation showcase. Since 2021, he’s worked in several writers’ rooms at Netflix, Amazon, and most recently, Murdaugh: Death in the Family at Hulu.

Shayan’s focus is on telling authentic stories of people of color, and raising the bar for Iranian representation in Hollywood.