WRITER: DREAMER
As a writer / creator, Tarik has made short films, web comics, comedy sketches, and published critical essays. Tarik’s latest short film, DOC: Race, Revolution, Relativity & The Confessions of a Time Traveling Terrorist (2023) is currently being finished and submitted to film festivals.
In early 2017, Tarik shot a six-minute comedic horror short called Page One along with Don P. Hooper, LeMar McLean and Evan Kaufman about an actor who has made his living being the first guy killed in horror movies. In 2019, Tarik noticed how Lucas’ character on Stranger Things wasn’t afforded the same backstory / family narrative that the other kids were. Riffing on a brief mention made in season three, Tarik expanded the character of Uncle Jack Sinclair, and this short fan fiction piece was born with the help of Micah Sherman and Mark Stetson. Tarik, Micah and Mark also worked together in the height of the Covid-19 shutdown, on a horror play that was set on Zoom and comments on capitalism and A.I. The Tank presented Host Invite on Halloween 2020.
Tarik wrote a four-part series on a popular horror website Graveyard Shift Sisters called The Stakes is High. It's his analysis of current events, with parallels to horror movies, monsters, and themes. Graveyard Shift Sisters also published "Your 21st Century Woke Horror Host: Addison Hadley" highlighting Tarik’s original character Addison Hadley. In the article Addison is described as "astondingly handsome, grim soothsayer" Tarik spoke with Addison and he agrees with this description. Also found on the site is Tarik’s article "Is Respectability Politics Killing Black Horror" about the importance of Black representation in genre filmmaking.
An essay Inside the TARDIS, Outside the Box written by Tarik was selected to appear as part of Organic Creativity in the Classroom edited by Dr. Jane Piirto and published by Prufrock Press Inc. and National Association for Gifted Children.
Tarik was the voice behind Bols Liqueurs' satirical social media Harvey Wallbanger for President campaign and was also the writer for the company's shortfilm The Chronicles of Harvey Wallbanger and he also dabbled as a travel writer for Tiqets.com.