The PennZone

ATLANTA - PennZone -- As NIL deals continue to reshape student athletics and challenge the fairness of competition, Eye Candy Studios has launched a crowdfunding campaign on Seed&Spark to produce "NAWFSIDE," a short drama examining the intersection of youth sports, identity, and ambition.

The film follows a rising Black basketball star growing up in suburban Atlanta who must choose between chasing athletic fame and following a deeper personal 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, headed by Ivan Carrasquillo Diaz, who worked on set of Avatar: The Way of Water.

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

"NAWFSIDE" enters production at a critical time in youth sports, as young athletes and their families wrestle with the effects of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) policies that have turned high-school sports into a marketplace of brands, influence, and public pressure. Originally designed to allow college athletes to benefit from their image rights, these policies have increasingly influenced high school competition, bringing new challenges around fairness, access, and identity.

The film approaches these themes through the story of Jaymin Barber, a high school student torn between basketball and music. Caught between personal ambition and the expectations of those around him, Jaymin faces a choice between external success and inner purpose.

For Gwinnett County native Dilwood, "NAWFSIDE" is a deeply personal project.

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"'NAWFSIDE' is my love letter to where I grew up," Dilwood said. "It's the mixtape of every hoop dream, heartbreak, and creative spark I've ever seen in my community."

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 lead screenwriter, with Miffy Hornsby as production designer and art director. Tony DiCaro-Smith joins as unit production manager and video editor.

The crowdfunding campaign will run from October 27 to November 27. Rehearsals are scheduled to take place concurrently with the campaign. Afterward, the team will finalize casting, secure filming locations, and conduct final rehearsals in preparation for production.

Principal photography is planned for March 4–11, followed by post-production. The completed film is expected to be released in fall 2026, with festival submissions and screenings to follow.

To learn more about the project or support the campaign, please visit "NAWFSIDE" Short Film on Seed&Spark.