ATLANTA - s4story -- At a time when NIL deals are reshaping student athletics and challenging the fairness of competition, Eye Candy Studios announces the launch of a crowdfunding campaign on Seed&Spark to produce "NAWFSIDE." The short drama follows a rising Black basketball star growing up in the suburbs of Atlanta who must choose between chasing athletic fame and following his true calling.

"NAWFSIDE" is directed by Jordan Dilwood a.k.a. Coda of Eye Candy Studios, who is known as a co-producer of the 12-episode show Cycles and the short film A Hopeless Father. Producing "NAWFSIDE" is The ARADA Company, an innovative startup run by Ivan Carrasquillo Diaz, who worked on set of Avatar: The Way of Water.

The Eye Candy-ARADA duo aims to raise $30,000 to compensate the cast and crew and secure key filming locations near Atlanta. Any funds raised beyond this goal will go toward film festival submissions and a contribution to the Gwinnett County education department.

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"NAWFSIDE" is in production at a critical time in youth sports, when young athletes and their parents wrestle with the effects of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) policies that have transformed high-school sports into a marketplace of brands, influence, and pressure. The short film captures that tension through the eyes of Jaymin Barber, a high school student with a knack for basketball and love for music. Afraid to disappoint his family and friends, Jaymin is forced to choose between the promise of fame and the pursuit of purpose.

Damian Delano Young, who portrayed a young Michael Jordan in Ben Affleck's Air, stars as Jaymin alongside Frantz Calixte, Justin Edwards, and Alessandro Folchitto. Xzaviah J. Stone Sr. serves as the lead screenwriter, with Miffy Hornsby as production designer and art director, and Tony DiCaro-Smith as unit production manager and video editor.

The crowdfunding campaign is scheduled to launch on October 27 and will conclude on November 27. To learn more about the project or support the campaign, please visit NAWFSIDE Short Film on Seed&Spark.