{"id":114279,"date":"2025-12-31T00:37:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T00:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/114279\/"},"modified":"2025-12-31T00:37:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T00:37:08","slug":"los-alamitos-ahsan-lucie-arnaz-alec-baldwin-star-in-dr-sam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/114279\/","title":{"rendered":"Los Alamitos\u2019 Ahsan, Lucie Arnaz, Alec Baldwin star in \u201cDr. Sam\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Pictured (L-R), Beckmann, Broadway actress Lucy Arnaz and Ahsan at Paramount Studios following a fundraiser near the backlot where Arnaz\u2019 parents Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz made television history.<\/p>\n

Almost every day, you can find this 2008 Los Alamitos High School graduate, now an actor, serving pizza at Pietrini Pizza Napoletana in Los Alamitos.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Although he has appeared on popular shows like The Consultant (Amazon Studios), Mini (HBO Max), New Amsterdam (NBC), and Promised Land (CBS), he\u2019s still working a day job, so to speak, and trying to write his way to a series.<\/p>\n

In fact, hundreds of his Los Al friends, including one very famous one, helped him launch his next project when the Bay Theatre opened its doors in January 2025. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Back in January, more than 300 people purchased tickets to contribute a portion of the funds needed to make his short film, \u201cDr. Sam,\u201d sometimes described as \u201ctart with heart.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Pictured (L-R) Actor Alec Baldwin, Director Danielle Beckmann and Raji Ahsan on the set of \u201cDr. Sam.\u201d Courtesy photo<\/p>\n

In addition to himself as \u201cDr. Sam,\u201d the film stars Lucie Arnaz and Alec Baldwin, both of whom are friends of his who have played key roles in his career.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The film is oddly autobiographical in that it replicates the struggle of many aspiring performers to pay rent. In fact, Ahsan tapped another friend, Danielle Beckmann, to direct the film, having exchanged $20 Venmo\u2019s with her as they occasionally helped each other out with coffee money when they were in New York.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the script began to take shape, I knew Danielle was the perfect person to direct. Having led many of her own projects to Oscar-qualifying festivals as a producer, I knew she had the brain to lead, yet also the heart for the tone and the eyes for the image,\u201d said Ahsan.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking with comedy legends at the level of Alec Baldwin and Lucie Arnaz has been a creative delight. The chemistry on set with them and Raji was especially fun to direct. We are thrilled to share that our film, \u201cDr. Sam,\u201d is in session. As we gear up for our festival run, I hope to bring audiences laughter, healing and maybe even a bit of a breakthrough,\u201d said Beckmann.<\/p>\n

Ahsan said he and Baldwin met in 2013 when Baldwin chose him to be one of sixteen students in a scene study course at NYU\u2019s Tisch School of the Arts (Ahsan graduated NYU Film School in 2013).\u00a0 Ahsan said he never forgot one line from Baldwin\u2019s class: \u201cI think the idea of a lonely, even fake therapist, is funny. Possibly very funny.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI took the prompt and ran with it. I wrote a short, fun thing for my friends to do,\u201d said Ahsan. \u201cAlec has taught me some of the simplest, yet most powerful lessons that have led to many successes,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Ahsan says Dr. Sam is about an unemployed millennial musician who masquerades as a therapist to pay his rent, which leads to his own unexpected personal breakthrough.<\/p>\n

True to form, this many years later, Baldwin said, \u2018yes\u2019 when Ahsan asked him to play a role. Baldwin plays Dr. Melvin Sampson, the best therapist that bad insurance can afford.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking with young filmmakers is always an opportunity. You may be working with the next Spielberg, Scorsese, or Bigelow.\u00a0 I have an abundance of faith in Danielle and Raji and look forward to seeing the film,\u201d said Baldwin at the film\u2019s recent premiere at the Roundabout Theatre in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

As chronicled by ENE earlier this year, Arnaz, who plays Ahsan\u2019s mother in the film, lent much of her star power to Ahsan in fundraising and in making the film.<\/p>\n

Arnaz, and her husband Larry Luckinbill, both Broadway legends, appeared at the Bay Theatre in January of 2025 to screen the Emmy Award-winning documentary \u201cLucy and Desi: A Home Movie,\u201d (directed by Arnaz) about her famous parents, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Then again, this past summer, Arnaz screened her film again for another fundraiser, this time at the Paramount Pictures lot, very near to the soundstage where Lucy and Desi made television history.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI am always excited to screen my documentary for people and discuss their thoughts afterwards,\u201d said Arnaz, \u201cand to do that while helping my good friend Raji get this film made is a win-win for all,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Arnaz agreed to play Sam\u2019s adoptive mother Joyce, and Dana Powell (Modern Family, Bridesmaids) plays the cheerful therapy office receptionist Amber.<\/p>\n

While the creation of this film is a story in itself, Ahsan\u2019s story is powerful as well.<\/p>\n

Ahsan\u2019s mother Manal fled Egypt pregnant with Raji with little money and nowhere to go.\u00a0 Manal was taken in by New Life Beginnings Shelter in Long Beach and eventually, they were taken in by a woman named Joyce in Cypress, where Raji grew up and where he fell in love with the \u201cI Love Lucy\u201d show, watching reruns with Joyce.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ahsan never forgot her generosity, nor the shelter, so a portion of all the funds raised was donated to the New Life Beginnings Shelter in Long Beach, and there was a character named \u201cJoyce\u201d in the film.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has been a very fulfilling process,\u201d said Ahsan this week. He said the film is for anyone with a dream.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cDr. Sam is for the people who are unsure about continuing to persevere in the pursuit of their dreams. This film exists to say, \u2018Hold on and keep going. You\u2019re worth what you want.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Ahsan says the film will now hit the film festival circuit, hoping it will be picked up as a series, made-for-television movie, or perhaps even for the big screen. \u201cI never expected Dr. Sam to turn into this incredible venture,\u201d said Ahsan this week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAll I wanted to do was make something with my friends. While I am hopeful and excited about the future of this piece, I am learning that we\u2019ve already won. We made it. We got up to bat, and we took huge swings. With the deck stacked against all artists, completing anything\u2014of any size\u2014is a miracle. I am so grateful to my community in our beloved town for all of their support,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pictured (L-R), Beckmann, Broadway actress Lucy Arnaz and Ahsan at Paramount Studios following a fundraiser near the backlot…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":114280,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":["post-114279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114279\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}