HOLY HUSTLE
Short Film
Project Type: Short Film
Project Status: Pre-Production
Director / Writer / Composer: Iman June Blackwell
Producer: Pierce Carmichael Whitney
Associate Producer: Calvin Ryerse
Casting Director: Devon James Winston
Second Associate Producer: Sara Vianna
LOGLINE
A restless Bible salesman teams up with a sharp-tongued hijabi in the Arkansas Delta to save his college dreams.
SYNOPSIS
Summer of 1979. The Arkansas Delta swelters under the sun. MARVIN JONES, a first-generation college student from St. Louis, turns to a door-to-door Bible selling program in the Deep South to raise his tuition money. It’s one week before the fall semester begins, and Marvin has two options: sell the rest of his Bibles or forfeit his spot at school. With every slammed door and shotgun pointed at his back, Marvin’s dream grows dimmer. Until…
Enter NUR TURNER, a young local hijabi with a sharp tongue and a knack for reading her neighbors, thanks to her experience running her family’s diner. Reluctantly, they partner up. She helps him rework his pitch and perspective. Together they make strides to make Marvin’s sale deadline, but Marvin quickly realizes that not every sale is worth the price...
In the end, Marvin makes a choice that sacrifices his mission but earns him something deeper: clarity, humility, and loyalty to an unlikely friendship. The Delta sun rises the next morning, and Marvin bids farewell to Nur. On his way out of town, he finds Nur’s tip pouch in his glove compartment. Back at the diner, we see Nur offering free Bibles to her morning regulars.
Three hundred miles away, Marvin takes a moment to give thanks to the unexpected angel looking over him. At last, he revs his engine into St. Louis.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT ABOUT THE PROJECT
Writer-director Iman June Blackwell's father sold Bibles throughout the American South in the 1970s. This short film serves as a modern retelling of her father's rural adventures as a Bible salesman. The story also draws inspiration her parents marriage, which blended two faith traditions: Sunni Islam and Southern Baptism. The union of these faiths created friction between separate families that hesitantly, but ultimately, became one. They provide the thematic foundation for our story…
HOLY HUSTLE is a gritty and vulnerable “hoot” intending to distinguish faith from piety, while simultaneously highlighting cultural diversity within the Deep South. Beneath the adventure, this film will critically examine how tradition shapes religion and emphasize the importance of spiritual autonomy. This is especially relevant as America's current cabinet continues to impede individuality and freedom within religious structures.
“HOLY HUSTLE is an ode to my home state of Arkansas and the interfaith communities that raised me. It is a chance for us to not just set and physically shoot a story in one of the most culturally-rich parts of the South. Through this time capsule, we hope to illustrate what true faith and community is.”
– Iman June Blackwell
Meet The Filmmakers
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Iman June Blackwell
Director
Iman June Blackwell is a Malay-American film director, writer, producer, and composer with a mission to use audiovisual media as an agent of social and environmental justice. She has worked in production and post-production at studios including National Geographic, FX Networks, and 20th Television. As director-composer, Blackwell premiered her debut short film, Sharps & Flats, at the 2025 Bentonville Film Festival. She speaks 4 languages, graduated Cum Laude from Georgetown University, and continues her studies at UCLA Extension in Film and Music. Holy Hustle is Blackwell's ode to her home state of Arkansas and the interfaith communities that raised her. -
Pierce Carmichael Whitney
Producer
Pierce Carmichael Whitney is a social-first writer & producer raised between the polar opposite lands of St. Louis and San Francisco. She’s worked for renowned companies such as Sony Pictures, FX Networks, and EA Games on projects like Welcome To Wrexham and an unannounced Star Wars: Jedi video game title. As of 2026, Pierce was named a Winner in the Shore Scripts: Script to Screen Initiative and a Semifinalist in the Humanitas New Voices Fellowship. She earned her BFA in Dramatic Writing and Producing from NYU Tisch. -
Calvin Ryerse
Associate Producer
Calvin (they/them) is a filmmaker and organizer based in Brooklyn and originally from Springdale, Arkansas. They have experience in everything from nuclear weapons deterrence, arts education, resistance to Christian Nationalism, program coordination, and online content creation, but have found a home helming productions as an assistant director and producer. Their filmmaking work has screened at Film at Lincoln Center, Anthology Film Archives, DCTV, Millennium Film Workshop, The Roxy Cinema, and more. -
Devon Winston
Casting Director
Devon James Winston is a casting director, filmmaker, and screenwriter based in Los Angeles. A graduate of Chapman University's Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, he has cast Dodge College thesis films, numerous short films, and a web series pilot. Professionally, he supports senior leadership at The Walt Disney Company, contributing to casting initiatives and productions including the 2025 and 2026 Disney Television Discovers Talent Showcase. His experience also includes development and production roles at Campfire Studios, The Kennedy/Marshall Company, and Citizen Skull Productions. As a writer and director, Devon is drawn to bold, character-driven stories rooted in genre and history. -
Sara Vianna
Second Associate Producer
Sara Teixeira Vianna (she/her) is a Brazilian filmmaker and multi-hyphenated professional with award-winning work spanning Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York. Passionate about authentic representation, her storytelling celebrates the complexities of the human experience, favoring nuance over black-and-white portrayals and truth over convention. Rooted in her perspective as a Latina immigrant and woman in film, Sara’s work is driven by a deep commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion. Her films don’t seek to offer easy answers but to illuminate the rich, often overlooked intersectional dimensions of life in all its forms.
Your Help
HOLY HUSTLE is a fiscally sponsored project of Cinematography for Actors, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Your donation will be tax-deductible!