Cast & Crew of Vol 1
Jivan Atman
Director
Born: Phnom Pehn, Cambodia
Raised: Phnom Pehn, Cambodia + MA, FL, CA, GA
Current: Florida ✈️ Long Beach, CA
Jivan Atman is an emerging media-maker and performative director. Jivan strives for innovative new ways of mixing media that accompany transformative experiences. His focus is in emotional literacy and restorative justice where theatre and film are the main mediums. His works prioritize raising consciousness through introspecting identity, race, gender, class, sexuality, and spirituality. He has studied at Smith College, San Francisco Art Institute, Stanford University, and graduated from Morehouse College.
Contact:
jivanatman@gmail.com
Steve Dabal
Cinematographer
Born: NJ
Raised: LA
Current: NY
A creative mind inspired by telling the stories of others through documentary, or finding himself through creative narratives. Lover of metaphors, disbeliever in biographies.
Tricia Torley
Editor
Born: San Angelo, Texas
Raised: Clifton, New Jersey
Current: Austin, Texas
Tricia Torley works to tell stories that inform and entertain. She was drawn to this project immediately, and hopes to do justice to the experiences of each individual involved.
Charon Baya Cummins
Public Relations
Born: London, UK
Adopted by: Atlanta, GA
Current: London, UK
Charon fell in love with the project whilst on an international exchange program in Atlanta. As a creative who enjoys traveling, blogging and performance, she is excited to continue to dedicate herself to different types of storytelling.
Julian Booker
Writer & Performer
Born: Oakland, CA
Raised: Honolulu, HI
Current: Atlanta, GA
Hailing from the most diverse melting pot from a rock in the middle of the ocean, Julian grew up with a passion for intercultural studies. His creativity and fascination with cultures from around the world resulted in a house full of cardboard armor, paper masks, broom guns, dream catchers, calf skin drums, and books upon books about ancient, indigenous, and modern civilizations.
Julian carried this fascination with him through college, where he received a BA in International Studies and completed the Peace Studies program at Morehouse College. With a humanities concentration, Julian focused on intercultural communication and how cultures develop their behaviors from a grass roots level. Julian believes that cultures can come together through creative media, and it is his belief that music is the key to transcend intercultural misunderstandings and barriers.
Julian is an adventurous Sagittarius and accepts birthday gifts in the month of December. Wrestling and rugby are his favorite sports, and during his free time, he often dreams of the ocean while in land-locked Atlanta. In addition, he writes and produces songs with Gold Shades Music, and plays multiple instruments including bass, French Horn, guitar, and the dizi.
Marlon Booker
Writer & Performer
Born: Oakland, CA
Raised: Honolulu, HI
Current: Atlanta, GA
Marlon hails from the 808 State, a group of tiny islands in the Pacific also known as Hawai’i *shaka*. Growing up in such a culturally diverse place, it was easy to develop cross-cultural interests. Particularly, he has had a longtime fascination with the music of different nations, and as a musician himself, his goal is to bring people of different walks of life together through harmony. During his leisure time, Marlon likes to write music, swim, explore the outdoors, and try different kinds of beers. He’s also quite a big sports fan.
Cenisa Gavin
Writer & Performer
Born: Anchorage, AK
Raised: Anchorage, AK
Current: Brooklyn, NY
Cenisa attended a diverse high school in the northern hemisphere, the “freezing pot” of Anchorage, Alaska where she was exposed to many identities including Polynesian, Vietnamese, West African, Filipino, etc. Her mother is Korean and Eskimo and her father African American. Cenisa primarily grew up with her Korean and Native family, therefore, she felt under-exposed to black culture.Cenisa felt fortunate that she attended a diverse school but still found herself struggling with embracing an identity due to being multi-racial. After graduating from high school, Cenisa specifically chose Spelman College—a historical black and women’s college. There, not only did she learn what it meant to be black, but also what it meant to be a black woman.
Cenisa Gavin is currently a 3rd grade teacher in the undeserved area of District 23 in Brooklyn, NY. As she writes and tells her story of figuring out which ethnicity she identifies the most with, now, Cenisa is navigating new territories with her identity being perceived as “Chinese” by her predominantly Black and Latino students. Growing up in Anchorage, Alaska, Cenisa struggled with only being seen by Asians as black and by Blacks as Asian. Cenisa believes that this is the fault of our academic system, which lacks resources in providing the space and structures for these type of cultural fluency. This school year, Cenisa wants to dedicate discussions to figuring out identities and exposing her students to different people from all over the world. She believes it is important to hear more than one story because all stories are multi-sided.
Shiranthi Goonathilaka
Writer & Performer
Born: Saint Paul, MN
Raised: Saint Paul, MN
Current: Atlanta, GA & Saint Paul, MN
Shiranthi Goonathilaka was raised by her Sri Lankan mother and instilled with the teachings of everything Sinhalese. While her mother intentionally put her in black spaces, it wasn’t until Shiranthi was connected with her passion for STEM education and Social Justice, and more specifically how she can merge the two, did she make the decision to attend Spelman College to follow her dreams as a socially aware and active pediatrician. In her free time, well she doesn’t really believe in having free time, she works on new projects that aim to create access for other young people to discover their personal passions. Her favorite color is Galapagos Blue.
Jessica Lam
Writer & Performer
Born: Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach
Raised: Westminster, CA
Current: San Francisco Bay Area
Jessica grew up in a culturally Vietnamese family in Orange County, CA. She is Vietnamese and a quarter French Caribbean. In her free time, she enjoys playing tennis and basketball, listening to music, and watching TV.
Malcolm Lizzappi
Writer & Performer
Born: Novara, Italy
Raised: Houston, TX
Current: San Francisco, CA
Janei Maynard
Writer & Performer
Born: Denver, CO
Raised: Aurora, CO
Current: San Francisco, CA
Janei Maynard grew up immersed in both of her cultures, as well as many other cultures in the diverse Denver-Aurora Metro Area. She continues to nurture this appreciation of culture and identity in Northern California after earning her B.A. Comparative Studies in Race & Ethnicity. When she’s not in front of the camera, Janei is pursuing her passion as a singer-songwriter by the stage name of “Jae”. She also loves reading up on synastry & Myers-Briggs and playing board games for hours with family & friends.
Tatiana Hobson
Cast Member
Tatiana Hobson is an original cast member in Blasian Narratives, the theatre project. Due to conflicting schedules, she was not able to be a part of the inaugural online edition. She identifies as a free spirit who likes adventures and being out in the sun.
