Stoop Chat with Jimmy & Shanaya is an award-winning short doc film featuring “Harmonica Jimmy” and his neighbor, Shanaya, who forge an unlikely friendship as they discover a shared love of poetry, music and street games. This short is the first in a series of intergenerational “Stoop Chat” videos that celebrates stoop culture and preserves neighborhood stories. It builds on the Stoop Stories community project founded at the beginning of the COVID pandemic to connect, support, and celebrate our NYC neighbors. The goals of the project are to uplift and encourage more community connections in a time of significant loneliness and isolation, particularly for youth and elders. Funded by Brooklyn Arts Council and the Stoop Stories community, this series pilot was directed by Stoop Stories founder and Emmy-nominated producer Marj Kleinman, and Student Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Gabriella Canal, in collaboration with the Stoop Stories Collective of storytellers and artists. Stoop Chat with Jimmy & Shanaya is a finalist for The Anthem Awards and has been accepted to nine film festivals, including Project Unlonely, Queens World Film Festival, We Are Home, The NYC Mental Health and Wellness Festival (Best Documentary), Cinema Touching Disability (Winner), Women Over 50 (Best Documentary, Runner Up), and Better Cities Film Festival.