The Ansari Podcast 165: Reverts Get Married & Create The LARGEST Muslim Kids' Film w. Flordeliza Dayrit & Michael Milo
Mar 18, 2026
Flordeliza Dayrit, director and educator who builds Islamic history media for kids, and Michael Milo, producer with a background in children’s Islamic programming, share their journey creating Time Hoppers: The Silk Road. They discuss building a major Muslim kids' film from scratch. They explore making history fun and relatable for children, casting notable voices, and the scale and challenges of large-scale Muslim storytelling.
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Flordeliza's School Project Led To Her Conversion
- Flordeliza first learned about Islam in school and became curious after seeing a picture of shoes outside a mosque and studying Islam for a year in high school.
- Her teacher predicted she would become Muslim; that prompt led Flordeliza to visit a mosque and recite shahada in Canada at age 18.
Michael's Media And Friendship Path To Islam
- Michael's interest grew through media influences like Malcolm X and friendships with a Muslim family while living above their store, which led him to read the Quran directly.
- That reading, plus practical curiosity about Islam's social systems, convinced him to convert and later marry Flordeliza after the community introduced them.
Time Hoppers Evolved Across Formats
- Time Hoppers started as children's books, then became a video game after grant funding, then a TV series, and finally a movie when the creators saw theatrical potential.
- Rolling an IP across formats let Muslim Kids TV reuse characters and build audience familiarity before the film release.