“Being confused is not always a bad thing”. I will  never forget these words from an ex-employer who was counseling me through my dilemma in choosing the right profession back when I was still an undergrad student. 5 years later, I think he was telling me what I would eventually come to realize on my own. You know that one question your elders ask you when you are growing up, “what do you want to become?”. Of all the trick questions, math problems, angry questions and million other types of questions, THIS was the one I most dreaded. I’d turn pale and speechless, while a family friend peered through his glasses judging every molecule of my existence as if that answer proved whether I was a bright kid or not. But the truth is I simply never bothered deciding upon ONE career path. Which is a problem if you are from a humble, middle-class family like mine from India because there are mostly two or three options you are expected to pursue in order to have a stable and well rewarding career; a doctor, an engineer, a business school graduate or if your family didn’t cringe too much at the sound of this, maybe a professor.
However, there was one single medium that influenced me over and above everything else and decided the course I was to take in my adult life professionally. It was the television. Growing up in the 80s in India, with a single national network, my world was expanding even as I sat within the four walls of my home. Cable was yet to be affordable, so we watched (mostly Sunday mornings through evening because television was strictly a limited entertainment for young kids) BBC dramatic series, cartoons from Europe, old westerns from Hollywood, documentaries from across the globe and of course Indian cinema, mostly the neo-classical arty ones, not your regular Bollywood numbers, some of my Newhouse friends often asked me about. Needless to say all that visual content was enthralling especially if it’s your most awaited release into the surreal world of make believe in an otherwise boring little city. I think I realized eventually through my fantasy of first wanting to be a narrator of wild life documentaries (heavy dosage of Nat Geo and Gerald Durrell books were to blame) and then a travel journalist, that all I wanted to do all my life was to tell stories to people from around the globe, but do so on a more visual level. It’s true just as one of the topics here on 4th Wall reads : A picture’s worth a thousand words, and video is worth a million!”
That epiphany led me to start out at as a Broadcast reporter in India and then when I realized I wanted to script and present longer format, an Associate producer for a TV series. Two and a half years into my television career, I was still craving for more visual and narrative freedom. And so I made the decision to quit my job and pursue a Master’s in the US to give me some time, sort of a sabbatical to understand what aspect of story-telling in the media I wanted to invest myself in. To be very honest, Newhouse was almost accidental. I had made up my mind that I would pursue higher education in either cinematography or filmmaking. But amongst my numerous applications to universities and conversations with Indian students abroad, Newhouse gained more points over any film school. Most people who had graduated from the TRF course, spoke of having a unique vantage view of the industry, an insight into how the creative, business, the legal and technical of the media were enmeshed. A week after I changed my mind from wanting a pure aesthetic and technical training in filmmaking and instead take up a course that would help me understand the business side of the industry as well, I got a mail from Professor Schoonmaker offering me an IA’s position and a fantastic scholarship. By then I had spoken to at least 4 Newhouse alums and a faculty to know this course was going to give me a chance to dabble in a bit of everything. And going by how I never wanted one defining career path so that I could have a diverse and richer learning experience from my professional escapades, I realized Newhouse made more sense. I accepted the position and got a mail from Professor Schoonmaker that simply read “YAAAAAAAAAAAY! We will have a fantastic team with you on board”. I instantly knew I was headed the right place 🙂
A year later, I think he couldn’t have been more right. TRF turned out to be a great team experience more than being a whirlwind of an academic experience. I not only got to pursue writing, film production and lighting but also got a peek into the world of the business of “show business”. Somewhere within, I realized I wanted to marry the creative side of my personality to the more strategic. I know I love stories and I want to take more unique, fresher films to a wider audience. Shouldn’t I be looking at becoming a “Development Executive” or what in India we often dub as “Creative Producers”? After my first Newhouse “Industry Trip” to LA with Schoony and Tom Seely, I came back thinking more about the conversations I had with business executives and producers I met on the trip. After weeks of searching for an internship that would allow me to learn more about development while also getting to observe what producers do in Hollywood, I landed an internship with Mandalay Pictures. The company started by Peter Guber (also an Orange-man) is presently in active development mode with its “first-look deal” arrangement with Universal. Added to that, the internship promised no running errands or carrying coffee but an opportunity to spend as much time as possible learning any aspect of the industry that Mandalay specialized in namely development, production and financing. I couldn’t be happier! Two months have passed by and I am done with my internship and more clear than ever what I want to specialize in as I go ahead. As Peter Guber says “it’s not just show-show but show business” and as much as I earlier stayed away from this side of the motion picture industry, given how money translates today from Indian conglomerates to Hollywood studios, I know that I want to be in a position a few years from now where I can help bring in financing for the stories that don’t get to be made or help distribute the films that people don’t get to watch. I am international student and so the job hunting process is going to be even tougher but armed with more practical knowledge than I had before and a sound internship with some good contacts that have followed, I hope the job hunting process will be exciting albeit daunting. Thank you Newhouse and thank you TRF 63. The journey’s just begun.