Born in 1985 in Mowbray Cape Town to mother Soraya Majiet, a English school teacher and drama student. Waleed was surrounded by the bohemian culture of Cape Town in the 80's which brought with it the theatrics of 'District 6', Coon parades and communal love of music. Waleed M. Al-Yamani quickly found the virtues of the performing arts a worthwhile avenue. Enamoured with film at a young age, he would often memorise dialogue and fine movements of characters, this fascination was nurtured by his family. Memories of weekly family 'shows' convinced him that he came from a long line of natural storytellers who only lacked the opportunity. He fondly remembers attending a pantomime of 'Goldilocks and Three Little Bears' which proved that storytelling on a broader scale was well within his reach.

Always flirting with the realm of theatre and film, it was in 2005 through video production that Target Practice Pictures was started from humble beginnings. A small production company which Al-Yamani did private video work through which ultimately progressed into corporate and commercial work. By way of his own personal scrappiness and Divine intervention the production company became committed to developing independent film in South Africa.

A chance encounter and collaboration with then up and coming fellow film maker Khalid El-Jelailati birthed '82', an experimental short film that garnered international attention. This spurred more collaboration between the two film makers and their production companies, Image State and Target Practice Pictures. Since then the two have produced shorts like 'Oh Wait', 'Coffee', 'Nothing to Lose', 'Jihad' and now 'Masterpiece’. His feature film credits include producing 'GeniAs', 'Alexia', 'Zea and Hanneli' and most recently the trailblazing film 'Aya'.