Oren Safdie attended the Graduate School of Architecture at Columbia University before turning his attention to writing. Presently a playwright-in-residence at La MaMa E.T.C. and the interim Artistic Director and the Malibu Stage Co. his plays include THE LAST WORD... which starred Daniel J. Travanti, PRIVATE JOKES, PUBLIC PLACES which ran off-Broadway and will open in London in November 2006, JEWS & JESUS: a musical comedy, FIDDLER SUB-TERRAIN (an updated satire of Fiddler on the Roof, set in Montreal), HYPER-ALLERGENIC, sMOTHER, BROKEN PLACES, and LA COMPAGNIE which he developed into a 1/2 hour pilot for Castle Rock / CBS. He also founded and was the artistic director of The West End Gate Theatre Bar in New York, served as theatre editor for Wipe Magazine, and is a contributor to Metropolis Magazine. As a screenwriter, he scripted the films YOU CAN THANK ME LATER starring Ellen Burstyn, Geneviève Bujold, Amanda Plummer, Mary McDonnell and Mark Blum; FRESH WRINKLE, an Israeli comedy directed by Doron Benvenisti; and the English translation of GIBRAN, THE PROPHET, produced by Denis Heroux. His new play WEST BANK, UK will open in New York in December 2007.