Getting It Done: Best Practices of Production [Film Festival Masterclass]

Event Details:
Date: Sunday, March 7th
Time: 1pm PT / 4pm ET
Duration: 1 hr
Location on the Festival Map: ‘The Hall’
Speaker: Mona Barkat
In partnership with South Asians in Entertainment (SAIE)

This Session
Production starts well before Day 1 production.  Mona Barkat teaches us best practices of pre production, managing  fires on productions and best way to communicate with your team at all time.

Speakers Bio
After three-years in the Business Affairs division of Academy Award winning motion picture company Miramax, Barkat eventually shifted her attention to television—where she has served has served as Production Manager then Line Producer and Executive in Charge for series airing on VH1, E!, FOX Sports, Bravo, Discovery, and ABC. She has launched series like ALASKA THE LAST FRONTIER (Discovery Channel), CASTAWAYS (ABC), EMERGENCY CALL (ABC). She has rendered production management services for industry giants—director Don Weiner and fifteen-time Emmy Award winning director Don Mischer.

She wrote, directed and produced a scripted web-series, with writing partners from THE PATH and HEMLOCK GROVE, that lived on YouTube for a short time. 

With a deep respect for the creative process, Barkat intelligently sets new series budgets, manages production from pre-pro to field to post in a way that serves the creative vision, be it her own projects or those brought to her. 

With an airtight track record for success, Barkat is distinguished for successfully keeping her projects on budget without compromising the creative vision. 
She is based in Los Angeles.

About South Asians In Entertainment (SAIE)
SAIE (and it’s womxn-forward community, South Asian Women In Entertainment SAWIE) are dedicated to using the voices of South Asian’s in entertainment and their experiences, knowledge and power to uplift each other and the next generation of talent in the entertainment industry through education, partnership, and mentorship.

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.

**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]

The Power of the AD [Film Festival Masterclass]

Event Details:
Date: Friday, March 5th
Time: 1pm PT / 4pm ET
Duration: 1 hrs
Location on the Festival Map: ‘The Hall’
Speaker: Meta Valentic
In partnership with South Asians In Entertainment

This Session
Assistant Directors keep the set in balance. Interfacing with every department and the cast, the AD’s manage everyone and everything in the production cycle. Meta Valentic walks us through best practices for a first time AD.

Speakers Bio
Meta Valentic began her career as the youngest member of the DGA Assistant Director's Training  Program. Her assistant director credits include “Nixon”, “Castle”, “Lost”, “Bones”, and the Emmy  and Golden Globe winning musical comedy “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”.  

Meta recently joined producer Sandy Climan (“The Aviator”) in Entertainment Media  Management, a full service management-production company dedicated to creating  groundbreaking television shows and feature films inspired by true events and real people in the  espionage genre. With a network of storytellers that ranges from diplomats, to newsmakers, to  world-class intelligence agents, and exclusive access to adaptations of books, articles, podcasts  and real-life events, EMM is positioned to curate unique and authentic content. Meta is  spearheading development and actively partnering with diverse filmmakers to boost  underrepresented voices in the EMM slate. 

Meta has been Producer’s Guild Diversity Workshop Fellow, and a Sundance Film Financing  Intensive Fellow. She is a judge and conference panelist at the annual Austin Film Festival. Meta  is active in the Producers Guild of America’s Mentorship Committee and Women’s Impact  Network. Meta grew up in Washington DC and attended The Sidwell Friends School, where she  developed a lifelong love of politics and Quaker values (and believes they are not mutually  exclusive).

About South Asians In Entertainment (SAIE)
SAIE (and it’s womxn-forward community, South Asian Women In Entertainment SAWIE) are dedicated to using the voices of South Asian’s in entertainment and their experiences, knowledge and power to uplift each other and the next generation of talent in the entertainment industry through education, partnership, and mentorship.

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.

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