Conversations with Jumai Yusuf

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jumai Yusuf.

Jumai, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
So, I was born in Nigeria then moved around New England when I was young before landing in Massachusetts. For undergrad, I studied Neurobiology at Harvard, which is a whole lot different than what I do now as a filmmaker! But I was also a huge theater kid; I performed on stage in middle and high school and when I got to college, I took on every backstage position I could find. From stage managing, sound design, props, technical directing and more until I eventually directed a couple of plays on my own. When I took my first film class at the end of my sophomore year, that was the first time I was really introduced to filmmaking and the absolute freedom it gave me.

After a wildly fun experience shooting a film in my hometown over spring break, the film bug bit me. Then over my junior year, I directed a web-series with my friends through an undergrad organization called Ivory Tower. That was my real first film school-type of experience. We learned so much by trying (and failing) over the course of four episodes. By the end of that year, we were skilled enough to make a short film called “lili[s]”, a sci-fi short for my “Neuroscience Fiction” course. To my surprise, the film was accepted into a bunch of film festivals and I even got the chance to travel with it to California and New York. That experience solidified my desire to become a film director and also gave me some hard evidence I could use to convince my parents that this is a feasible career!

Fast forward a few years and now I’m in my last semester in the MFA program in Film & TV production at USC! I have over a dozen short films under my belt, scripts for a feature and a pilot, and even a student Academy Award for an animated short film that I produced. When COVID-19 hit and all physical production stopped, I decided to teach myself how to animate. Animation is something I’ve always been a huge fan of but never imagined actually doing myself. But I realized that by using real-time tools such as Unreal Engine, I could continue making films in a pandemic-safe way. Looking back, I am amazed at the path God has chosen for me to get to where I am today. If you told a younger me that I’d be living in LA as a filmmaker (and animator!) I would not have believed it!

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
There have definitely been bumps on the road along the way. When I first applied to film school, I did not get into the schools I applied to, which was a bummer but it gave me the opportunity to gain more experience in the industry. Because of that rejection, I ended up working at a lot of cool jobs; filming surgeries for an online medical journal, interning for an LA development exec remotely, working on set for indie films and the tv show “Castle Rock”, and even working at an IMAX movie theater located in a furniture store (a uniquely New England thing). All of these super valuable experiences allowed me to grow as an artist and as a person, and I definitely do not regret that time I spent before grad school.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a Director, Writer, and Producer with an emphasis in science fiction, fantasy and horror. I love to use my background in Neurobiology as the basis for sci-fi stories where the “truth is stranger than fiction”. So many scientific advancements out there are truly mind-blowing! In my work, I always strive to bring the stories and characters of underrepresented minorities to the screen. With genre filmmaking, I can present important social justice issues to the audience when they’re not expecting it, just like “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “Children Of Men”. My short films have been accepted to festivals worldwide, including the National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY).

Most recently, I directed and animated a music video for “Caught In The Middle” by India & The Jones, scheduled to come out this summer. My directing work can be found www.jumaiyusuf.com. I’m also known for the 3D character designs I share on my Instagram @iamjumaii. It’s been a lot of fun to dream up the POC characters I always wanted to see growing up. Some of these artworks are available in my Redbubble shop https://www.redbubble.com/people/Jumaiy/shop.

As for writing, I’ve written almost all of the short films I’ve directed. Plus, I recently completed a feature horror script called “Cocoa Doll” that combines the social horror genre of “Get Out” with creepy dolls and nannies like “The Boy”. I also have an animated pilot script about a black Muslim girl who travels to an afrofuturistic city-spaceship flying through the stars. In the Spring of 2020, I co-produced two MFA thesis films for students from the SCA animation division. “Izzy’s Demons”, a 2D-animated film dealing with anxiety in women of color, was an Official Selection of the Ottawa International Animation Festival. “Simulacra”, an experimental 3D/live-action hybrid, won Gold in the Alternative/Experimental category at the 2020 Student Academy Awards.

Who else deserves credit in your story?
There are many professors and mentors who helped me along the way. From the professor of that Neuroscience Fiction class that let me submit a short film as a final project to my boss in the USC Industry Relations office who suggested I reach out to the animation department because she recognized my passion for animation. I’m thankful for my family who has always supported me, even with my surprising change in careers. And I could never have gotten to where I am today without God, who deserves the most credit of all.

Pricing:

• Goddess Poster $15.51

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.jumaiyusuf.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamjumaii/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/iamjumaii
• Other: https://vimeo.com/user27659093

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