insaanza media

full-scale production SERVICES

We are a film and video production team of creatives who help bring stories to life through visual storytelling.

Our projects entail intentionality and heart, with the goal of impacting audiences by giving them the most immersive experience through video. Our process of producing films and videos from start to finish includes creative strategy, planning and pre-production, filming, field producing, editing and post-production.

Our projects span the documentary film and television, corporate branding, advertisement, educational, entertainment, community organization and nonprofit realms.

Contact us to request a proposal.

Telling people’s stories is a privilege. Making it our life’s work is surreal.

We value the trust placed in us to be allowed to step beyond walls and barriers into someone else’s world. It comes with a great responsibility to share and communicate someone’s vision effectively, accurately, and sensitively. These privileges and responsibilities are not lost on us.

It is through story telling that we have had the opportunity to manifest our passion and curiosity for humanity in a tangible way. Over many years of storytelling, traveling to various areas, carrying out thousands of interviews, and meeting innumerable people from all walks of life, we have found ourselves saying the same thing over and over. One line that sums up everything we've learned: People are people. Deep at the core, beyond literal and proverbial walls, all humans are stitched with the same threads that connect humanity. insaanza Media is the embodiment of our passion for people.

Two creatives and media professionals named Ayesha and Randall met on set in 2013. Their likemindedness extended to many areas, especially life aspirations of both exploring and giving back to humanity. Eventually, the two decided to join forces — in life and business. insaanza Media was born.

Together, their recent media projects have allowed husband and wife team, Ayesha and Randall, to work on some incredible projects with some very talented teams. They were on the crew of both seasons of Field Studio's thought-provoking television show "The Future of America's Past," which premiered on PBS National around the nation in fall of 2019.

Other notable recent projects include working with the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Greater Than AIDS national billboard and video campaigns, the Southern Poverty Law Center's Teaching Tolerance series, a mini-documentary film on Egyptian Olympic swimmer Farida Osman for Vogue Arabia, a pro bono music video with the Girl Scouts of the USA, an advertisement for the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute of Contemporary Arts building, for Martha's Table, and an upcoming documentary film on renewable energy by the Property Brothers.

They have also contributed as panelists on the Pulitzer Center Journalists Panel: "The Way We Tell Stories," and have taught a “Storytelling and your Perspective” workshop at the William and Mary Global Film Fest.

Though they met working in television production, the two have quite different individual backgrounds and bring a diverse set of experience and skills to film making.

Ayesha Gilani Taylor

Working on both ends of the camera lens has given Ayesha a well-rounded understanding of how to cover unique angles of a face, a frame, and a story (puns intended).

Ayesha has worked in television and digital media since 2009. For five years, she worked as a multimedia producer for Voice of America where she had her own television show. While there, she worked in infotainment and news and wore several hats. Along with news reporting for multiple platforms from radio to web, social media and television, Ayesha also anchored, hosted, and reported for her primetime television show. In this role, her functions spanned all aspects of production.
 
The show aired internationally for three years, with two half-hour episodes airing every week, totaling 331 episodes at the end of its run. Ayesha was involved in each episode from start to finish, including conceptualization, writing, planning, translation, capturing video, editing, pre-, post- and field production, and leading teams.

Storytelling for almost ten years has allowed Ayesha the privilege of gaining the experience of working both on camera to deliver messages, and behind the scenes to function as the various individual gears in the machine that make it possible for these messages to be seen and heard.

Ayesha's notable on-camera work includes advertisements for Barclay Card and Barnes and Noble, and she finds creative therapy in acting in student films. Although, her professional focus is on production and communications work behind the lens.

In addition to her work in production, Ayesha's professional background also includes charitable causes, management, event coordination, and writing of proposals, contracts and marketing material. English is Ayesha's first language, and she is also fluent in Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, and Spanish.

Early in her media career, Ayesha spent some time on the other side of the lens. Driven by the desire to shine a spotlight on causes important to her, such as breaking stereotypes about South Asian and Brown women, and encouraging younger generations of the same to challenge the status quo, she competed in international pageants. She also honed in on her passion for impactful storytelling and the power of individual interactions to effect change. Before retiring from competition, she earned ten titles, including the only continental title for Pakistan to date. Ayesha walked on international runways including Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week, China's Qingdao International Fashion Week, and Pilipino ramps. She received international recognition for breaking barriers and promoting the empowerment of South Asian women.

Randall Ricardo Taylor Jr.

The versatility of Randall’s work as a Cinematographer, Producer and Editor is exemplified through his diverse body of work.

As a freelancer, some of Randall’s projects have included work with Bloomberg, Discovery, National Geographic, PBS, Essence Magazine, Kaiser Family Foundation, National Institute of Health, NASA, Lexis Nexis, Nationwide, the Raben Group, and Martha’s Table in DC. In addition to freelancing, Randall has worked as a Multimedia Producer at the Voice of America since 2012.

Randall’s experience in storytelling began at The College of William and Mary, where he attained his BA in Literary and Cultural Studies: Film. Upon graduating, Randall continued at William and Mary, consulting with students and faculty members from different disciplines to enhance the learning and teaching experience through the use of various multimedia tools, and taught classes on the proper use of multimedia equipment and editing software. Randall attended American University where he worked toward an MA degree.

His work has taken him to all parts of the U.S. as well as India, Kenya, Guatemala, Pakistan, France, and the U.K.