Indian American Filmmaker Geeta Malik Selected for Warner Bros. Television Group’s Director’s Workshop
- Launched in 2013, the workshop aims to discover new talent, and prepare women and POC directors to transition to television.
Indian American filmmaker Geeta Malik is among seven directors selected for this year’s Warner Bros. Television Group’s Director’s Workshop, the group announced on June 23. The 2022 edition will be the first in-person class of the workshop since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, as reported by Deadline. Directors Bethany Rooney and Stacey K. Black were instructors for this year’s class.
Launched in 2013, the WBTV Directors’ Workshop aims “to discover new and innovative talent, to prepare directors from other creative fields for the transition to television, and to provide increased opportunities for women helmers and those from underrepresented groups,” according to its website. It has since helped launch or promote TV directing careers of more than 60 women and/or people of color, according to WBTV.
Malik will be directing an upcoming episode of the breakout WBTV/ABC hit comedy “Abbott Elementary.” She is the director and writer of the dramedy “India Sweet and Spices.” Starring Bollywood superstar Manisha Koirala, Adil Hussain, Sophia Ali, and Rish Shah, the film premiered at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival, was released theatrically by Bleecker Street, and is currently streaming on Hulu.
It revolves around Alia Kapur (Sophia Ali), who returns to her family’s posh suburban New Jersey home after a year away at college and upends their well-ordered life with her brash independence. After befriending Varun (Rish Shah), the handsome son of the new owners of the local Indian grocery, she invites his family to a dinner party where family secrets are revealed. Alia’s surprise turns to rebellion when she uncovers secrets about both her parents that push her toward a daring and ultimately hilarious confrontation.
Malik, a Film Independent Project Involve Fellow, is an alumna of UCLA’s graduate film program. She wrote and directed the viral narrative short, “Aunty Gs,” which earned a College Television Award (a “student Emmy”) in comedy from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Her other short films include “Shameless,” “Beast,” and “Apu’s Revenge.” Her first feature, “Troublemaker,” premiered at the 2011 Cinequest Film Festival. Her accolades include the inaugural Academy Gold Fellowship for Women and the Academy Nicholl Fellowship.