From Idea to Sale (and beyond): The Screenwriter's Journey with Bash and Nabil [Film Festival Masterclass]

Event Details
Date: Saturday, March 6th

Time: 4pm PT / 7pm ET

Duration: 1.5 hrs
Location on the Festival Map: ‘The Hall’

Speakers: Bash Naran and Nabil Chowdhary
In partnership with The Salon

This Session
Join Nabil Chowdhary (Black List screenwriter) and his manager, Bash Naran, as they discuss workflow, the creative journey, and the ins and outs of a career in screenwriting.

Speaker Bios
Nabil Chowdhary
Born and raised in the UK and of Pakistani descent, Nabil is a screenwriter and director. His sci-fi feature script “POD” appeared on the 2019 Black List. He is represented by Bash Naran at Writ-Large Management and David Boxerbaum and Sara Nestor at Verve Talent and Literary Agency. He currently lives in Melbourne Australia and is developing several projects in LA.
Twitter: @nabilchowdhary
Instagram: @nabilchowdhary
Website: www.nabilchowdhary.com

Bash Naran
Bash Naran is a literary manager & producer at Writ Large where he represents a diverse roster of writers, directors, producers and documentarians. His clients have been nominated and or won Academy Awards, Emmys, BAFTAs, and WGA Awards, amongst others. His clients’ projects have premiered and/or screened at Sundance, Tribeca, SXSW, Venice, Cannes, and many more. In film & television, his clients have worked with major & independent studios and networks including Netflix, Amazon, Apple, A24, Warner Bros., HBO, Marvel, and Imagine Entertainment, amongst several others. Prior to his work at Writ Large, Bash was at Plattform and CAA, and before entertainment, he was a successful start-up executive in New York City, where he’s also proud to be from! Outside of his work at Writ Large, Bash is the co-founder of The Salon, a forum for South Asian artists & executives to connect, collaborate, and share resources. The organization works to accelerate the creative development of South Asian-American film & television through community organizing and empowerment.
Website: www.writ-large.com & www.thesalon.xyz
Handles: @bashnaran (Instagram + twitter + clubhouse)

About The Salon
The Salon is a forum for South Asian artists and executives in entertainment to connect and collaborate, share resources, facilitate mentorship, drive public advocacy, and disburse grants. Founded in 2019 by Nik Dodani, Bash Naran, and Vinny Chhibber, The Salon’s mission is to accelerate the creative development of South Asian-American television and film through community organizing and empowerment.

About The South Asian Film Fest of America
Showcasing diversity, creativity and a multi hyphenated identity, the South Asian Film Festival of America (#southasianfilmfest) is an international screening and awards platform for South Asians to showcase their films and digital work. We're a culture-impact film festival for the new generation of South Asian creatives to share their experiences and narratives through feature films, short films, web-series, and music videos with global audiences. We welcome stories from and inclusive of individuals with South Asian heritage, the diaspora, immigrants, and from the sub-continent itself. SAFFA is funded by Product of Culture, a WOC founded and funded collective that amplifies brown brands and creatives with strategy, content, and experiences rooted in culture.

**This event is included in the following tickets:
South Asian Film Fest [All Masterclasses]
South Asian Film Fest [ALL Screenings + Q&As + Masterclasses]

Film Funding + Distribution with Milan Chakraborty [Film Festival Masterclass]

Event Details
Date: Saturday, March 6th

Time: 2pm PT / 5pm ET

Duration: 1.5 hrs
Location on the Festival Map: ‘The Hall’

Speakers: Milan Chakraborty
In partnership with The Salon

This Session

Film Funding + Distribution
How to get your film/project funded? This will be an interactive discussion talking about the state of independent film.
This workshop will focus on the art of producing a film in our entrepreneurial age, where the means of manufacture and distribution are in flux and where finding your audience is key. Creating distribution strategies to get a distribution deal for a film/project. The workshop will look at how to develop, finance and complete a movie from the viewpoint of a producer.

Speaker Bio
Milan Chakraborty is a 17-year veteran of the film industry after a career as an auditor/Certified Public Accountant. He started his career at Warner Bros. ("WB") and New Line Cinema ("NLC”), where he performed detailed reviews of 10 feature film productions with budgets ranging from $5 - $200 million.  Productions include: WB: BATMAN BEGINS – London; DUKES OF HAZZARD – Baton Rouge; V FOR VENDETTA – Berlin and NLC:  HISTORY OF VIOLENCE – Toronto. In 2008, Milan left the studios to focus on independent films, and has since produced 15+ features including MY FRIEND DAHMER, released in November 2017 and “certified fresh” by Rotten Tomatoes.  He was also an Executive Producer for the Sam Levinson directed film, ASSASSINATION NATION, which premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. More recently he has been an Exec Producer on PLUS ONE starring Maya Erskine which won the audience award at the 2019 Tribeca Film Fest as well as THE KILLING OF KENNETH CHAMBERLAIN which won the audience and jury award at the 2019 Austin Film Festival. Most recently he was an Exec Producer for THE DARK & THE WICKED, written and directed by Bryan Bertino (THE STRANGERS). Additionally, Milan is a producer on REARRANGED written by and based on the life of Zarna Garg. REARRANGED was a 2019 Nichol semi-finalist as well as the winner of the 2019 Austin Film Festival best comedy script.
Milan is Bengali and grew up in Terre Haute Indiana. His family in India is from Bihar and Jharkand.
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3065255/

About The Salon

The Salon is a forum for South Asian artists and executives in entertainment to connect and collaborate, share resources, facilitate mentorship, drive public advocacy, and disburse grants. Founded in 2019 by Nik Dodani, Bash Naran, and Vinny Chhibber, The Salon’s mission is to accelerate the creative development of South Asian-American television and film through community organizing and empowerment.

About The South Asian Film Fest of America
Showcasing diversity, creativity and a multi hyphenated identity, the South Asian Film Festival of America (#southasianfilmfest) is an international screening and awards platform for South Asians to showcase their films and digital work. We're a culture-impact film festival for the new generation of South Asian creatives to share their experiences and narratives through feature films, short films, web-series, and music videos with global audiences. We welcome stories from and inclusive of individuals with South Asian heritage, the diaspora, immigrants, and from the sub-continent itself. SAFFA is funded by Product of Culture, a WOC founded and funded collective that amplifies brown brands and creatives with strategy, content, and experiences rooted in culture.

**This event is included in the following tickets:

South Asian Film Fest [All Masterclasses]

South Asian Film Fest [ALL Screenings + Q&As + Masterclasses]

Salon with Smriti Mundhra [Film Festival Masterclass]

Event Details
Date: Saturday, March 6th

Time: 1pm PT / 4pm ET

Duration: 1 hr
Location on the Festival Map: ‘The Hall’

Speakers: Smriti Mundhra

In partnership with The Salon

This Session

Join this fireside chat with Smriti Mundhra, Creator & Executive Producer of the hit series, Indian Matchmaking and Co-Director & Producer of St. Louis Superman talk about her journey to becoming an Academy Award-nominated director/producer.

Speaker Bio 
Smriti Mundhra is an Academy Award-nominated director/producer and one of DOC NYC’s 40 Under 40 Filmmakers to Watch. Her latest film, St. Louis Superman, has been nominated for a 2020 Academy Award in the short documentary category. Her debut feature, the documentary A Suitable Girl, world premiered in competition at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival to rave reviews from Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Magazine and was awarded the Albert Maysles Best Documentary Director prize at the festival. Smriti also helmed ad campaigns for Google, the United Nations (starring Theo Germaine) and Bumble (starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas). She created and executive produced Indian Matchmaking, an eight-part Netflix original documentary series currently streaming on the platform. 

Prior to A Suitable Girl, Smriti produced Bomb the System, a 2004 Independent Spirit Award nominee for Best First Feature, and the SXSW Audience Award winning feature film Waterborne. She also co-produced Punching at the Sun, an official selection of the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, as well as over one dozen award-winning short films, including the 2010 Sundance Film Festival official selection and Women In Film award winner “New Media.” She has written, directed and produced both short- and long-form documentary content for BET, Al Jazeera English and other platforms. Her work has been supported by the Tribeca Film Institute, Film Independent, Women In Film, ITVS, Doc Society, the Bertha Institute and the International Documentary Association, among other esteemed organizations. 

Smriti holds an MFA in Film from Columbia University and a BA from California State University, Northridge and Art Center College of Design. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, screenwriter Christian Magalhães, their daughter Isabel and son Jag.

About The Salon

The Salon is a forum for South Asian artists and executives in entertainment to connect and collaborate, share resources, facilitate mentorship, drive public advocacy, and disburse grants. Founded in 2019 by Nik Dodani, Bash Naran, and Vinny Chhibber, The Salon’s mission is to accelerate the creative development of South Asian-American television and film through community organizing and empowerment.

About The South Asian Film Fest of America
Showcasing diversity, creativity and a multi hyphenated identity, the South Asian Film Festival of America (#southasianfilmfest) is an international screening and awards platform for South Asians to showcase their films and digital work. We're a culture-impact film festival for the new generation of South Asian creatives to share their experiences and narratives through feature films, short films, web-series, and music videos with global audiences. We welcome stories from and inclusive of individuals with South Asian heritage, the diaspora, immigrants, and from the sub-continent itself. SAFFA is funded by Product of Culture, a WOC founded and funded collective that amplifies brown brands and creatives with strategy, content, and experiences rooted in culture.

**This event is included in the following tickets:

South Asian Film Fest [All Masterclasses]

South Asian Film Fest [ALL Screenings + Q&As + Masterclasses]

Salon with Aneesh Chaganty [Film Festival Masterclass]

Date: Saturday, March 6th

Time: 11am PT / 2pm ET

Duration: 1 hr
Location on the Festival Map: ‘The Hall’

Speaker: Aneesh Chaganty 

In partnership with The Salon

This Session

Join this fireside chat with Aneesh Chaganty, an incredible writer/director whose journey has positioned him to be a director to remember from our generation.

Speaker Bio: 
Aneesh Chaganty is a writer/director whose 2 minute short film, a Google Glass spot called "Seeds", became an internet sensation after garnering more than 1 million YouTube views in 24 hours. Following its success, Aneesh was invited to join the Google Creative Lab in New York City, where he spent 2 years developing, writing and directing Google commercials. His work has been aired during the Superbowl, Summer Olympics and viewed more than 45 million times online. His directorial debut, SEARCHING, premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, was awarded the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize, and was acquired by Sony Pictures for distribution, during which it grossed more than 75 million dollars worldwide. His second film, RUN, starring Sarah Paulson, was released on Hulu this past November and became the streaming service’s most watched movie ever during its opening weekend. 

About The Salon

The Salon is a forum for South Asian artists and executives in entertainment to connect and collaborate, share resources, facilitate mentorship, drive public advocacy, and disburse grants. Founded in 2019 by Nik Dodani, Bash Naran, and Vinny Chhibber, The Salon’s mission is to accelerate the creative development of South Asian-American television and film through community organizing and empowerment.

About The South Asian Film Fest of America
Showcasing diversity, creativity and a multi hyphenated identity, the South Asian Film Festival of America (#southasianfilmfest) is an international screening and awards platform for South Asians to showcase their films and digital work. We're a culture-impact film festival for the new generation of South Asian creatives to share their experiences and narratives through feature films, short films, web-series, and music videos with global audiences. We welcome stories from and inclusive of individuals with South Asian heritage, the diaspora, immigrants, and from the sub-continent itself. SAFFA is funded by Product of Culture, a WOC founded and funded collective that amplifies brown brands and creatives with strategy, content, and experiences rooted in culture.

**This event is included in the following tickets:
South Asian Film Fest [All Masterclasses]

South Asian Film Fest [ALL Screenings + Q&As + Masterclasses]