Imani Robinson On Faith, ‘3 Blind Mice,’ And Redefining Black Stories
Imani Robinson is showing what it means to have faith in yourself. As an actress, producer, and director, Imani is creating her own lane. Through Imani’s production company, Faith & Purpose Productions, her show “3 Blind Mice” is an indie project she’s been working on for over nine years, and it’s just now getting the recognition it deserves, with the trailer bringing in over 500K views alone. She’s been in the industry since the age of nine, and one character trait that’s been instilled in her is kindness. Even as Hollywood continues to shift, Imani is taking that kindness with her and is showing there’s power in creating, producing, and owning your own work.
Her Agenda: What did that waiting period teach you about trusting your work even though the response wasn’t immediate?
Imani Robinson: It really taught me the importance of having faith in yourself, having faith in your team, and believing in your vision, and just being triumphant in knowing that you have a great product and a great vision. Even though things take longer for it to go to the next level, [I’m] still pushing forward.
It definitely has been really challenging, just waiting, having pitch meetings, waiting to hear back from film festivals, experiencing the no’s because you usually get a lot of no’s, but you just need that one yes. As of late, the yes have been coming again, and so it really makes the wait worth it, and [I’m] just proud of myself for not giving up.
Her Agenda: I love that because your production company is actually called Faith and Purpose Productions. But how does that faith actually show up in your decision making, like behind the scenes when it comes to who you have on your team, and beyond that, [the] storytelling aspect of it?
Imani Robinson: So touching briefly on my name [and] production company name. I was actually named after two of the principals of Kwanzaa. Imani means faith, and Nia means purpose, and that’s how I came up with my production company name.
In terms of just having faith in the vision of my team, I learned I’m an artist first. So it took a while to really learn how to become a businesswoman and understand that. I knew that I had to have the right people behind the scenes, working on it with me. And you can’t pay people to care, [or] believe in your vision and want to work on it.
Even when there’s silence, and you don’t feel like you have lots of momentum at the time, but people who want to stick beside you because they know that it’s going to come in the long run. So, making sure that the people around me understand that faith is important and that we have a bigger purpose here. And just seeing how big 3 Blind Mice has been blown up, I know that at this point, it’s a lot bigger than me. It’s for the culture. And I have a really big vision for it. And I’m just really excited about what’s going on.
Her Agenda: Once the trailer took off and started going viral, and you’ve been gaining this momentum, how are you balancing listening to audience demands and what they want, but still protecting your original vision for your work?
Iman Robinson: Oh, absolutely. So the trailer going viral was heaven-sent. It was at the perfect time because I was kind of feeling down about the lack of momentum with 3 Blind Mice. So when it went viral on TikTok, it was so affirming.
And I actually really appreciate people’s feedback on it because, as I said, it’s bigger than me. It’s for us as a collective, and I want to change the trajectory of Black television. I love the 90s so much, and I take a lot of inspiration from the energy of the 90s and 3 Blind Mice, and how positive, refreshing, and diverse Black characters were back then.
I always say that you don’t need sex, drugs, violence, or trauma to tell a great Black story. And I really do care about what the viewers say [and] what they want to see. I know people are tired of seeing cliches and stereotypical characters. And so I do take heed to what they say. But honestly, what they’re saying kind of aligns with my overall vision for the show already. So I have a lot of positive feedback and so I feel really confident that I’m going in the right direction and that people will still want to stick along and be a loyal audience.
Her Agenda: You wear a lot of hats. Correct me if I’m wrong, but you’re the writer, producer, and the lead actress. I’m curious which role kind of stretched you more out of your comfort zone, and what has that taught you about yourself in that role?
Imani Robinson: I would say the producer role stretched me the most. I’m definitely a sensitive person, and I wear my emotions on my sleeve. I realized very quickly that with business, you just have to make decisions based on facts, not emotions. And so that was definitely a learning curve. But it was also really beautiful because I found my confidence with producing.
It was a lot of work hiring all these different departments and different actors and being in all these different meetings regarding the script, production, [and] post-production. It was a lot to navigate, but it was also just very empowering because I didn’t think I was able to do something like that. I never envisioned myself really being a writer or a producer because my first love is acting, but I was getting really frustrated with waiting for people to cast me in something.
Her Agenda: Baltimore, that’s where you’re from. And it’s kind of always been the center of your work. So now that you’ve found a home with Brick TV for 3 Blind Mice, now you’re going to have this bigger audience and more eyes. How do you think that the scale is going to change the responsibility or even the opportunity of telling your city story and having your city influence shown in your work?
Imani Robinson: I love Baltimore so much. It’s so important that Baltimore is its own character in 3 Blind Mice, and to show why it’s a big city, and to show the beautiful community and the artistry that comes from the city. And it’s really important that the people of Baltimore feel proud of how the city is represented in 3 Blind Mice.
So often, Baltimore gets a bad rap, and it’s known for the negatives that we see in the media. And so I feel like I have a big responsibility to show the positive aspect of it, but also keep it real and grounded. We have our pilot on Brick TV currently, but we still are searching for a rest of the series, which will be eight more episodes. So we’re still searching for a home for a distribution at this time.
Her Agenda: For young creatives that are watching you in real time, what’s something that you want them to understand about success that people don’t necessarily talk about enough within the industry?
Imani Robinson: I think the main thing is to understand that it doesn’t happen overnight. I’m coming up on my 10th year of actually working on 3 Blind Mice and trying to get it on its feet. I don’t want anyone to feel discouraged when they don’t feel like things are happening fast enough, or they don’t feel like there’s actually momentum. There’s always ebbs and flows. As long as you do a bit of dazzling on, but say towards your goals, then you’re making progress. If someone says no, say yes to yourself and create your own lane.
