Episode 105: “Artists Fuel Change” with Mahyad Tousi & Bridgit Antoinette Evans
Bridgit sits down with socially-engaged writer and producer, Mahyad Tousi to explore the nature of matching culture change strategy to an artistic practice, and offer insights from their experiences as values-based artists navigating the entertainment industry.
Guests: Mahyad Tousi, Co-Founder and CEO of BoomGen Studios, Television Producer, Writer; Bridgit Antoinette Evans, Executive Director of Pop Culture Collaborative; Artist
Midway through our season, WONDERLAND co-host Bridgit Antoinette Evans sits down with writer, showrunner, and producer, Mahyad Tousi, to discuss the conflicts and connection points between culture change strategy and the creative process. Evans and Tousi share their personal artistic journeys, explore the nature of matching culture change strategy to an artistic practice, and offer insights from their experiences of being values-based artists navigating the entertainment industry.
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TV writer and producer Diana Son and anti-trafficking advocate Rachel Lloyd explore how to create a social justice-infused pop story world and take a look inside the making of a television show.
BRIDGIT ANTOINETTE EVANS – Read more about Bridgit here.
MAHYAD TOUSI
Mahyad Tousi is a writer, creative producer, and media strategist working across story formats, genres, and platforms. His work includes narrative and documentary features, interactive art and media, serialized television, as well as Indie and blockbuster motion pictures.
He is the Co-Founder with Reza Aslan and CEO of BoomGen Studios, the premier incubator and entertainment brand for creative content from and about the Middle East, the cradle of storytelling. Tousi is an Executive Producer on the ABC series Of Kings and Prophets — BoomGen Studios’ Television debut.
After several years of working in conflict zones as a cinematographer, and on award-winning documentaries such as “Blindsight,” “Wasteland,” and “Some Assembly Required,” Tousi produced the micro-budget features “Marvelous” with Oscar®-nominated Michael Shannon and Amy Ryan, and “Looking for Palladin” with the late acting legend Ben Gazzara and Oscar®-nominated Talia Shire. Tousi has consulted on Disney’s “Prince of Persia,” Julian Schnabel’s “Miral,” TLC’s “All American Muslim,” Netflix’s Emmy®-winning documentary “The Square,” Disney’s “Aladdin on Broadway,” Jon Stewart’s “Rosewater,” Relativity’s “Desert Dancer,” Open Road’s “Rock the Kasbah,” and Gini Reticker and Abby Disney’s “Trials of Spring.”
Tousi speaks internationally on storytelling and the designed convergence of mass-entertainment, interactive media, and social impact. @MahyadT