Ari Halevy recently earned his MFA from the NYU Graduate Film Program. Since graduating from Carnegie Mellon University, he has written several award-winning screenplays and teleplays praised for his original voice (Austin Film Festival, Screencraft). His debut novel Heretical translates his cinematic imaginings to the page in the immersive world of Sanctum, a sequestered continent molded by a religion shrouded in mystery. Under the rule of a regressive dictatorship, a lowborn thief embarks on a quest to shatter their caste system and uncover the truth behind the holy books.

From a young age, Ari was an avid reader of sci-fi and fantasy epics that tackled complex issues through the lens of distant worlds. While working at Jane Startz Productions, he studied the process of adapting books into films firsthand, which ultimately inspired him to capture his most ambitious story in a novel. No matter the medium, Ari highlights the crises of identity and loneliness in gay men whether they exist in Manhattan or under a dystopian regime. His film Influenced played at online film festivals during the pandemic and can be seen in the HollyShorts Monthly Screening Series.