Tinku’s World is developed and produced by the following individuals:
AZHAR USMAN – Creator, Executive Producer, Talent & Writer
azhar@tinkusworld.com
Azhar Usman (TINKU PATEL) is the world’s most famous South Asian-American Muslim comedian and the star of Tinku’s World. Writing and performing comedy for the past several years, he has developed a unique act based on transethnic and intercultural issues, keen and witty insights, and general observational humor. In 2004, he co-founded Allah Made Me Funny-The Official Muslim Comedy Tour with fellow Muslim comedian Preacher Moss, a 21-year veteran of the comedy industry and a former writer for George Lopez, Darrell Hammond, and Damon Wayans. Azhar and the Tour have been profiled, featured, and/or mentioned in over 100 major world media including, The New York Times, The Washington Post, TIME, Newsweek, Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, WGN, FOX, BBC (UK), BBC Urdu (South Asia), CBC (Canada), ABC (Australia), MBC (Middle East), Al-Ahram Weekly (Egypt), Jawa Pos (Indonesia), DAWN (Pakistan) and dozens more. In March 2005, Azhar was the subject of an entire episode of ABC NIGHTLINE; he was interviewed on NPR’s All Things Considered during the following summer; and in August he became a regularly featured on-air personality on Viacom’s newly established MTV DESI. Azhar has performed at universities and prestigious theatre halls and auditoriums across the world, as well as North America’s top comedy clubs, including The Improv (DC, Brea, and San Jose), The Comedy Zone (Charlotte and Knoxville), Yuk Yuk’s (Toronto), and his hometown club, Zanies (Chicago).
MATT SUNBULLI – Creator, Executive Producer, Writer
matt@tinkusworld.com
EAMES H. YATES JR. – Creator, Executive Producer, Writer
eames@tinkusworld.com
Eames Yates Jr. has an extensive background in television production. He has worked on five documentaries for the award-winning “America Undercover” series on HBO. In 2002 he worked as a Senior Production Associate on the Emmy award-winning film “Crank: Made in America”, for which he shot on location in Iowa interviewing and filming methamphetamine drug addicts, incarcerated dealers, and police officers. In 2003 he was a Senior Production Associate and Cameraman on “The Shift”, a one-hour documentary about the Emergency Services Unit of the NYPD. Eames has also personally worked with Kim Bassinger, William Styron, and Mike Wallace on various documentary films over the past several years. He has appeared on camera as well for MTV International and the National Geographic Channel. He is currently working at MTV Networks for an Executive Vice President, in addition to pursuing a degree in Media at The New School University. Eames resides in New York City.
JULIUS ONAH – Editor and Website
julius@tinkusworld.com
Julius Onah is an independent filmmaker-actor-editor who has worked for filmmakers Marc Levin, Spike Lee, Michael Skolnik, and Rebecca Chaiklin. A recent graduate of Wesleyan University’s theater program, as a student he conducted research that brought acclaimed playwright Robert Alexander’s hip-hop play “A Preface to the Alien Garden” to Wesleyan and served as an assistant director and lead actor under his direction. His student films have screened at a number of festivals including the Philadelphia International Film Festival and Film Fest New Haven. Since graduating he has been a member of NBC’s Page Program, has served as assistant editor on the documentary feature “Lockdown, USA” (Official Selection 2006 Tribeca Film Festival), and as writer, director, editor, producer, and actor on his short film “She Waits In The Restless Horizon.” (2005 Color of Filmmaking Award) Born in Nigeria and raised in The Philippines, Nigeria, Togo, and Virginia, Julius lives in New York City and is currently pursuing his M.F.A. at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Film Program where he has been selected as a Dean’s Fellow and a Jack Kent Cooke Scholar.