Biography
Hammad Zaidi is a founding partner and CEO of the Ryz Sports Network, a Sports FAST Channel, which is showcased on every major FAST platform in the United States. Hammad also founded The Lonely Seal Company Group, Lonely Seal Releasing The Lonely Seal International Film, Screenplay & Music Festival Lonely Seal Streaming, Hourglass24 and Pet Divorce Court. He is one of 1,200 Priority Cinema Buyers worldwide. Hammad is also on the Board of Directors of Cinema Without Borders and the Advisory Board of the Masters in Entertainment Leadership and Management-MELM-at Loyola Marymount University (LMU).
Zaidi is an award-winning member of The Producers Guild of America and the Writers Guild of America. He has produced, written, and or directed several projects. These include award-winning feature films, feature documentaries, a children’s television series, live concerts, a nationally recognized short film, and 29 video games. Hammad also hosted Limping On Cloud 9, a podcast about his life that is being developed as a motion picture, and he wrote nearly 300 published articles for Going Bionic, his film distribution, and his career strategy column. Hammad also served as a journalist who was a member of the Cannes Film Festival Press Corps for three years.
Additionally, Hammad created "Ogreachiever," a national Shrek-based billboard campaign designed to inspire children. He won a Telly for writing "Generosity," a national PSA, and he wrote, produced, and directed "Champions of Hope," a White House-endorsed national PSA made for the first anniversary of September 11. Champions of Hope played on 5,001 theatrical screens, television networks, and major sporting arenas. It was paid for by Disney and Verizon and released theatrically by Regal Cinemas.
Zaidi has been a jury member, filmmaker advisor, curator, panelist, advisory board member, and world cinema screener at several major film festivals. These include, but are not limited to, Sundance, SXSW, Slamdance, Nashville, Cinequest, Temecula and many more.
Hammad has served as an adjunct professor, guest lecturer, and panelist at several universities, including his alma mater UCLA, USC, Vanderbilt, Chapman, Avila, The Watkins Film School (acquired by Belmont University), San Diego State, The University of Kansas, The University of Missouri, and numerous others. Hammad Zaidi received his Master of Fine Arts from the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television in 1994.
