Brothers Ehsan Ahmad and Shakil Ahmad grew up in New York City as the first-generation American children of immigrants from Pakistan. Ehsan spent his early twenties traveling across four continents to meet the people of countless cultures, while Shakil earned degrees in psychology and social research. In their late twenties, the brothers reunited in Pennsylvania to start a wedding film company. Ehsan also spent those years writing lyrics and playing bass for an alt rock band, recording three studio albums. In their thirties, they sold the film company and returned to the city of their birth to now work for separate tech startups, where they continuously collaborate together on screenplays and novels.