As an aspiring filmmaker, Naim was mostly inspired by directors like Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, Oliver Stone and Spike Lee.
During his four-year education at Emerson, Naim created a number of short films, among which figures his 1999 thesis, a 28-minute documentary titled Grand Theater: A Tale of Beirut.
In this work, Naim puts the spotlight on Beirut’s historic Grand Theater, which was torn in a violent no-man's land between two bellicose sides in the Lebanese civil war.
The film earned Naim several awards at Emerson, an Honorable Mention, and played at a number of international festivals.
Above all, and perhaps most importantly, this film earned the young director loaded hands-on experience he needed to be able to tackle his next giant project, which was still dormant at that time.
As Lionsgate was recruiting actors, Robin Williams expressed interest in playing the lead role of Alan Hakman.
The 95 minutes movie was shot on 35mm film in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and was described by Naim as a very harmonious, very organized 35-day shoot “with no problems whatsoever”.