PROOF OF CONCEPT SHORT FILM PRODUCTION
CHIAMARA & POORVI SHORT FILM: LA SHORTS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL OFFICIAL SELECTION
See how ZANE Productions helped produce and direct Chiamara & Poorvi, an LA Shorts official selection and proof of concept for a television series.
Created and written by Elsie Arisa, directed by Director Zane, and produced by ZANE Productions, Chiamara & Poorvi is an official selection of the 2026 LA Shorts International Film Festival - a prestigious Oscar-qualifying festival.
The five-minute narrative comedy follows two best friends as they confront family expectations, cultural identity, romantic commitment, career uncertainty, and the pressure to follow a more “acceptable” path. The short film was created as both a complete dramatic story and a proof of concept that introduces the characters, tone, and visual world of a potential television series.
ZANE Productions approached the project as more than a production vendor. As both a strategic creative partner and a Los Angeles video production company, ZANE Productions helped translate the larger vision for the series into a concise, emotionally authentic, and visually distinctive short film.
About the Short Film
Chiamara & Poorvi centers on Chiamara, a Nigerian-American law graduate waiting to receive the results of her bar exam.
Her immigrant parents have given her an ultimatum: pass the exam and retain her independence, or fail and return home, where her family will determine the next chapter of her life.
That same evening, a marriage proposal involving her best friend, Poorvi, is disrupted when both women’s families arrive unannounced. The families are determined to guide each woman toward an arranged marriage and a future that more closely reflects their cultural expectations.
What begins as a major milestone for two people in love quickly becomes a collision between personal freedom, romantic commitment, family loyalty, and the lives Chiamara and Poorvi are attempting to build for themselves.
Although the short film introduces these conflicts over the course of a single evening, the characters’ personal crossroads establish the foundation for storylines that could continue developing throughout a larger television series.
Official Selection of the LA Shorts International Film Festival
Chiamara & Poorvi was selected to screen at the 2026 LA Shorts International Film Festival. The film was scheduled to premiere on Monday, August 10, 2026, at 7:45 p.m. at Regal NoHo West as part of Program 58.
The LA Shorts International Film Festival is one of the largest and longest-running short film festivals in Los Angeles. The festival is recognized by several major film and television academies and has provided a platform for established filmmakers, emerging directors, actors, writers, and independent storytellers from around the world.
The selection gives audiences and entertainment-industry professionals an opportunity to experience the characters and world of Chiamara & Poorvi while the larger television concept is introduced to studios, production companies, financiers, and potential creative partners.
The Creator and Creative Partnership
Writer and creator Elsie Arisa developed Chiamara & Poorvi around the experiences of first-generation Americans balancing their personal identities with the values and expectations of their immigrant families.
Working alongside Arisa, Director Zane and ZANE Productions sought to preserve the cultural and emotional complexity at the center of the story. The objective was not to present the parents or their cultures as obstacles. Instead, the film explores how love, loyalty, and respect can coexist with disagreement—and how cultural expectations can become complicated when they no longer align with the life someone is creating for themselves.
The Challenge
Producing Chiamara & Poorvi required the creative and production teams to accomplish several goals within a five-minute runtime.
The primary challenges included:
Introducing two central characters with distinct personal and emotional conflicts.
Establishing the depth and history of their friendship within only a few scenes.
Presenting a romantic relationship in which one partner is ready for marriage while the other remains uncertain about making that commitment.
Communicating the pressure surrounding the bar exam, financial independence, and the possibility of returning home.
Exploring Nigerian, Indian, immigrant, and first-generation American experiences without reducing the characters or cultures to stereotypes.
Balancing comedic circumstances with emotionally truthful consequences.
Creating a complete short film that could stand on its own for audiences and film festivals.
Establishing the characters, visual identity, and narrative possibilities of a larger television series.
Working within budget limitations while still delivering convincing performances, intentional production design, and a polished cinematic presentation.
The short could not feel like an incomplete excerpt from a future show. It needed to provide audiences with a satisfying dramatic experience while leaving them interested in what might happen next.
The Solution
Building the Film Around Character
The characters and their internal conflicts became the foundation of the directorial approach.
One woman is deeply in love but is not yet prepared for the commitment of marriage, even though her partner is ready to take that step. The other is confronting uncertainty surrounding her career, independence, family obligations, and what she genuinely wants for her future.
Rather than relying entirely on exposition, the film uses performances, reactions, relationships, and interruptions to suggest personal histories that extend beyond what is shown on screen.
The goal was for audiences to quickly understand who these women are, what they are struggling with, and why their individual journeys could sustain a larger episodic story.
Performance-Centered Casting
Casting was one of the most important parts of the production process. Working within the project’s budget, the production team cast performers who naturally reflected the emotional essence of the characters. The cast included Katricia Coco Kariuki, Isha Kamdar, and Theodore Mark Martinez.
Each performer brought honesty, vulnerability, and specificity to the material. This allowed the tension to emerge through restrained and nuanced performances rather than exaggerated confrontations.
The objective was not simply to show characters disagreeing. The film needed to communicate that every person involved had an emotional investment in the outcome.
The characters may want different things, but their choices are rooted in love, fear, responsibility, independence, and the desire to protect the people closest to them.
Creating a Distinct Visual Identity
The short film also needed to establish a recognizable visual world for the potential television series.
The production intentionally selected a location that felt contemporary, vibrant, stylish, and lived-in. Muted and neutral interiors were avoided in favor of saturated colors, expressive details, layered textures, and geometric patterns.
The central characters’ Indian and Nigerian backgrounds helped inform the visual language, particularly the use of color.
Rather than filling the location with traditional or overly literal cultural décor, the production incorporated rich tones and culturally influenced visual elements into a contemporary interior.
The finished environment feels culturally rooted without appearing outdated or stereotypical. It reflects the women who live there: contemporary, individual, expressive, and influenced by more than one cultural identity.
The intended television world is not grayscale or beige. It is emotionally alive, culturally layered, colorful, and filled with contrast.
The setting mirrors the characters themselves—vibrant and complex, yet caught between different identities, expectations, relationships, and possible futures.
Directing a Complete Film and Television Proof of Concept
Every creative decision needed to serve two purposes. First, Chiamara & Poorvi had to function as a complete short film with its own dramatic progression, emotional conflicts, and satisfying audience experience.
Second, it needed to introduce the long-term potential of the larger concept. Performance, casting, cinematography, production design, pacing, and tone were therefore developed with the broader television series in mind. The short establishes several storylines that could expand across future episodes, including:
The uncertainty surrounding Chiamara’s career and bar exam results.
The possibility of losing her independence and returning home.
The tension between romantic love and readiness for marriage.
The influence of both families on the women’s personal decisions.
The experience of maintaining a connection to one’s cultural heritage while establishing an independent identity.
The evolving friendship between two women facing different versions of the same conflict.
By presenting these ideas through a finished cinematic project, the short allows potential collaborators to experience the concept rather than relying solely on a written pitch, series bible, or verbal presentation.
The Director’s Perspective
What made the project especially meaningful was Director Zane’s personal connection to the material: the experience of building an identity in the United States while still wanting to honor the cultures and sacrifices of immigrant parents.
The film explores what happens when those worlds begin to conflict. Someone can deeply love and respect their parents while recognizing that certain traditions or expectations no longer reflect who they have become. The desire for independence does not necessarily represent a rejection of culture, just as honoring one’s family does not require surrendering the right to determine one’s own future.
The directorial goal was to preserve that complexity. No character needed to be presented as entirely right or entirely wrong. Instead, the film allows love, cultural loyalty, generational differences, romantic uncertainty, and the desire for personal freedom to exist within the same story.
The Results
The completed short film successfully established the emotional, cultural, and visual foundation of a larger concept.
Key outcomes include:
Official selection by the 2026 LA Shorts International Film Festival.
A scheduled festival premiere at Regal NoHo West in Los Angeles.
The creation of a complete five-minute narrative comedy that can stand on its own.
A cinematic proof of concept designed to support conversations with studios, production companies, financiers, and creative collaborators.
The introduction of central characters and conflicts capable of developing across a television series.
A distinct visual identity built around saturated color, contemporary design, cultural influence, and expressive production design.
A strategic creative partnership between the creator, director, and production company.
The project demonstrates how carefully planned short film production can help creators introduce original intellectual property, establish the tone of a larger project, and provide potential partners with a tangible example of how a film or television concept can translate to the screen.
About ZANE Productions
ZANE Productions is an award-winning, full-service production company supporting independent filmmakers, creators, studios, networks, brands, and creative agencies throughout the development and production of narrative projects.
Since 2015, our team has produced and delivered more than 500 projects while collaborating with clients and partners across commercial production, film, television, branded entertainment, music, social media, and digital content.
As a strategic creative partner, we work alongside creators to understand not only what needs to be filmed, but also what the finished project needs to accomplish.
For narrative projects, that may mean producing a complete short film, developing a proof of concept, introducing original intellectual property, establishing the visual language of a series, preparing a project for the festival circuit, or creating presentation materials that can help generate interest from studios and financiers.
As a film and television production company, our services can support projects throughout development, pre-production, casting, production management, location scouting, cinematography, production design, post-production, and final delivery.
Whether producing an independent short film, proof of concept, television pilot, feature film, documentary, or episodic series, ZANE Productions brings together creative strategy, cinematic execution, and scalable production resources to help bring the larger vision to the screen.
Looking for a Short Film Production Company in Los Angeles?
If you are developing a short film, television proof of concept, pilot, feature, or original narrative project, ZANE Productions can help turn your concept into a professionally produced cinematic experience.
Contact our team to discuss your story, production requirements, creative goals, timeline, and the next stage of your project.