The Team

Jhanvi Motla

Jhanvi is a Los Angeles based filmmaker from Mumbai and a graduate of the American Film Institute Conservatory. Her films have been exhibited at AFI Fest, Deauville American Film Festival, Rochester International Film Festival and more. Her short film “MIRAGE” which she wrote and directed, won the Grand Jury Prize at Santa Fe International Film Festival. “THE MANAGER’S WIFE'', her feature directorial debut, was workshopped as part of 1497’s Features Lab in 2023 and Film Independent’s Screenwriting Lab in 2024. Additionally, Motla is an alumni of Film Independent’s Project Involve Program and NALIP’s Production Incubator in partnership with Netflix. In 2024, Jhanvi shadowed director Bradley Buecker on two episodes of ABC series 9-1-1 as part of Ryan Murphy’s HALF Initiative. In addition to writing and directing her own work, Jhanvi works as a producer across mediums including the feature film “At the Gates” starring Noah Wyle and Miranda Otto. In 2026, Jhanvi was selected to be part of Women in Film’s annual fellowship program as part of the directing cohort. 

Director/Co-Writer

Tara DeSilva

Tara was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. Shortly after Tara was born, Tara's parents, both physicians, followed the lead of the great American settlers that preceded them and headed out west to Lancaster, California — a desert town full of Mexican restaurants, housing tracts, churches and little else. Tara graduated from Wellesley College with a BA in Economics, after which she worked in economic development for the City of Lancaster. She's proud of her hometown, and she's proud to say that it now has a Laemmle's. Tara went on to attend the American Film Institute, where she received her MFA in Screenwriting. After film school, Tara worked as a showrunners’ assistant, writers assistant and script coordinator at ABC Studios. Her writing has been recognized by Sundance's Episodic Storytelling Lab and the Rickshaw Film Foundation. She is repped at Anonymous Content.

Co-Writer
Producer

Aishwarya Sonar

Aishwarya Sonar is a producer from Pune, India working at the intersection of US and India projects focused on identity, humanity and joy. A UCLA film graduate, Sonar has worked with Priyanka Chopra’s Purple Pebble Pictures on features before moving to LA. She has produced over 15 short films, which have played at festivals worldwide and distributed on platforms like Disney+/Hotstar, ShortsTv. Her most recent shorts, Nails world premiered at Red Sea International Film Festival, Happy Rakhi, in association with CAPE and Janet Yang premiered at the Palm Springs ShortFest and, Hema, premiered at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles where it won the Audience Choice Award. Sonar’s projects have been selected as part of Film London’s Production Finance Market, Film Bazaar’s Co-Production Market and Blackmagic collective’s Producer Lab.  In 2025, Sonar was selected as a Film Independent Project Involve fellow where she produced the short film “Pack”. Pack premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival in 2026. Currently, Sonar is in development on a slew of different projects, namely “Teacher’s Pet” which has Vikramaditya Motwane (Udaan, Jubilee) attached as Executive Producer, and Sindhu Murthy (Achaar & Co) set to direct.

Alan Torres

Cinematographer

Alan Torres is a Los Angeles based cinematographer. He is a graduate of the American Film Institute's prestigious cinematography MFA program and an alumnus of Film Independent's Project Involve artist development program. Alan’s artistic interests focus on story driven cinematography to enhance what is on the page. His work has been featured on Hulu, Netflix, Channel 4 and BET+. His most recent narrative project is feature film “AT THE GATES”, a story about undocumented immigrants in Los Angeles, produced by Beacon Pictures. In addition to his narrative work he is also working on a documentary in Mexico on Bacanora, a spirit unknown to the world, and is also a frequent collaborator with Jaden Smith on his music videos and his fashion company MSFTSrep. More of Alan’s work can be found on his website.