The Conversation
Sparrow and Finch Films is many things.
We <write><produce><direct> film, theater and branded digital content.
We <create> and <curate> art exhibits and community events.
We are a production company that creates and curates inspirational content via film and stage for the awakening of America’s collective social consciousness.
"Art that elevates the conversation” characterizes our mission of utilizing heartfelt performances as an arm of activism to stimulate thought, conversation and ultimately action on issues affecting our mutual well being.
We are also the primary production arm of Urban Artivist Academy.
This is our visual index to showcase our projects, both big and small and whatever new creative inspirations and partnerships that are purpose aligned.
NINA & TROYBOY February 23rd-25th, 2024 @ Long Beach Playhouse
NINA and TROYBOY
STAGE PLAY 2024
Collaborative Production with Long Beach Playhouse premiering February 2024.
The play, initially slated to premiere at the 2020 Hollywood Fringe Festival had readings with Inkwell Theater's Virtual Playwright's Night and the Greater Film Fest 30 @30. before being adapted to film.
Nina and Troyboy explores how mental health, racism, and religion collide to color the stark reality facing many young men, and their families across America.
Nina's son Troy has gone missing after an argument the night prior. His absence at his weekly meeting with his social worker puts him in direct violation of his parole agreement and further risks his freedom. With news of yet another unarmed Black man being shot by police, Nina is tempted to fear the worst and must rely on her faith for the preservation and salvation of her only child she’s struggled to raise in a "post-racial" America.
Film & Web-series
Stage
Home SOON
SHORT FILM 2021
Winner of BEST ACTRESS, BEST EMANCIPATORY FILM -
Nominated for Best Short, Best Female Director and Outstanding Performance.
Official Selection of The Oscar Micheaux Film Festival, The San Francisco Black Film Festival, Ocktober Film Festival, Women of African Descent Film Festival, The National Black Theater Film Festival and more...
Set at the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement, a weary mother's fears and desires for her mentally distressed son’s future hang in the balance while awaiting his arrival home. HOME SOON examines a family’s collective, and unprocessed trauma, which is often eclipsed by police violence.
In 2021,"Home Soon," the short film adaptation of the play, Nina and Troyboy, earned recognition with over 10 official film festival selections, winning awards for Best Actress, Best Emancipatory Film, and Best Female Director. It also received nominations for Best Short and Outstanding Performance before securing distribution through ASPIRE TV, reaching over 30 million homes last fall and is also available on the black-owned streaming service, KweliTV.
HOME SOON premiered on ASPIRE TV's Urban Indie Film Block -October 2023
NOW on
ZYQUIL
SHORT FILM 2019
Official Selection of the 26th Annual BHERC African-American Film Marketplace and S.E. Manly Short Film Showcase & The 2020 Youth Diversity Film Festival
Filmed in 24 hours as part of the AT&T Create-A-Thon
Los Angeles. Zyquil is a farce, asking the question:
At what cost will our attainment of knowledge supersede our ability to empathetically connect and thrive as humans?
After working a graveyard shift, Mhy arrives home to find her roommates awake yet still unable to offer emotional support through her most recent existential crisis. In her downward spiral, she questions whether her insatiable desire to consume information has hindered her ability to sleep and authentically connect. At what cost will she become Woke?
THE LIFE UNSCRIPTED PROJECT
Web-series Seasons 1&2 2009-2011
Official selection of The Martha's Vineyard African-American Film Festival and The Urban Media Makers Festival in Atlanta, GA where it earned the Top Ten Youth Audience Award.
The Life Unscripted Project is a teen lead web series exploring issues and themes relevant to teen life while promoting positive choice alternates to peer pressure. The series navigates police profiling, cyber-bullying, race relations and the everyday challenges of being a teen growing up in New York City.
The series was also a special featured presentation screening at the MCNY 5th Annual Short Film Festival in New York City.
Art Exhibition & Community Events
Known Novice Photography Exhibition
Curated Gallery Event 2019
Known Novice is a submission-based annual photography exhibition highlighting mobile phone photographers from youth and senior communities throughout the San Gabriel Valley.
The event showcases the work of professional and amateur photographers exploring portraiture, photojournalistic, and nature themes.
The event's mission is to celebrate untrained photographers of all ages and walks of life to extend the reach of their art beyond the mobile phone lens. It is a cultivation of cross-cultural and inter-generational conversations about visual art around San Gabriel Valley in community-based spaces.
In Development
KITTY
SHORT FILM
A young Caribbean girl falls for a charming and seductive older man, who forever changes the trajectory of her life over one summer. .
A young Carib-being girl, Adah falls hard for Osa, a charming and seductive older man, who manipulates her simmering limerence over the course of a summer resulting in life altering consequences. Naive longings quickly whirlwind into an illicit relationship far beyond any teenage ability or control. Adah’s and Osa’s story is anchored in the redemptive love of Vera, Adah’s mother, bent on protecting her daughter’s future by any means necessary.
SPARROW AND FINCH OFFERS A NUMBER OF SERVICES FOR INDIVIDUAL CREATIVES AND ENTITIES ALIGNED WITH THE MISSION OF DOING CREATIVE GOOD.
Creative and Production Services
We offer scriptwriting, treatments, creative direction, production and directing of short form digital content, and theater productions.
Creative Empowerment Coaching
We guide and support individual creatives with concept development, execution, funding strategies and marketing/distribution plans for content creation.
Speaking Engagements
Sparrow and Finch Director, Maisha Azadi is available for workshop facilitation, panels, and appearances.
Services
BACKGROUND/BIO
As Featured in
We believe in the power of stories to change lives within our community for a greater good.
Sunday afternoon, I watched as sparrows flew in and out of the tree in my backyard. They joyfully sang to one another while perched on the tree’s branches. Their song was simple and carefree. A touching reminder of how God created us also to simply "be" and in doing so, our needs will be cared for.
Immediately the gospel song,"His Eye Is on the Sparrow" echoed in my ear.
Upon closer observation, alongside each sparrow, was a different buddy bird playfully frolicking between the leaves or leading the duo in a high-speed chase.
I learned that these buddy birds were called Finches. Similar in size, almost identical in markings, yet lesser known than its more popular counterpart.
I can honestly admit to times in my life where I've felt more like the Finch than the Sparrow. The lesser-known and, often overlooked one. Yet this "buddy bird"is still very much apart of the story and still very much a priority of its Creator.
Here is where Sparrow and Finch Films was born.
Our vision is for the development and inclusion of "Finch stories" or the often untold and lesser-known perspectives of mainstream storytelling. These are narratives of hope through trial and a unique angle on life’s journey leading to experiencing the redemptive love and unfaltering presence of God.
Our work affirms that as His Eyes are on the Sparrow, they too are on the Finch; and its song is as worthy, welcomed, and as deeply loved as it's counterpart.-
Maisha Azadi holds an undergraduate degree in T.V. Production from Morgan State University and an M.B.A. in Media Management from Metropolitan College of New York.
Her work in front of and behind the camera has been selected by Martha's Vineyard African American Film Festival, The Oscar Micheaux Film Festival, Urban Media Makers, The San Francisco Black Film Festival, Women of African Descent and internationally at the Paris International Film Festival and London Indie Short Film Fest.
Maisha has worked with AFIFEST, Tribeca Film Festival, The National Black Theater, African-American Women in Cinema, New York Film Academy, Studio Arena, Ujima Theater, Jamaica Center for the Arts & Learning
More at www.maishaazadi.com