Sanjana DeSilva

Education

Equipment

My Equipment/Kit:

I can use:

About me

A committed third-culture kid, I was born in Australia and raised in Sri Lanka, Singapore and on both US coasts. To survive I had to find any way possible to connect to people who were completely different from me - and the only thing that worked was telling stories. Now I want to tell these stories that showcase bonds between people - stories that highlight our differences in a way that allows us to better respect and relate to each other.

As a creative I am currently focused on writing and directing children’s programming and comedy. The biggest lesson I learned while teaching film to underrepresented youth is that children’s programming today is totally off the mark. It disrespects the intelligence and experiences of your everyday school kid, and only caters to certain demographics. I want to help fill this void, provide the kind of content I was missing while growing up.

In addition to creating content I believe in, I’m working to grow within the production management department - specifically as an assistant director. I have experience working as a grip, lighting tech and production assistant as well and use those experiences to create a positive and efficent set.

I am the project manager with the non-profit ‘Strong Asian Lead’ and producer with ’Do Yu Productions,’ while growing my own company ‘The Angry Elephant Productions.’ Under the Angry Elephant banner, my web series ‘Riding in Cars with Strangers’ was chosen as a finalist in the 'Gold Coast Film Festival.' Other short films have been showcased at 'CreaTV San Jose,' 'Broad Perspectives,' and 'Cinema Femina.'
Referees:
Available on request.
Additional information:
The co-director and a lead teacher, teaching filmmaking to underrepresented youth at 'New Voices 4 Youth.' (2018 - 2020)

The office assistant at 'California Newsreel' digitizing and organizing archival footage, subtitling, inventory organization and streaming platform orgaanization (2018-2019).

License & Passport

Skills

Secondary Job Title	AD (2nd)
Job Titles	Production Coordinator, Post Production Assistant, Teacher, General Staff, Live Programming / Broadcasting, Casting Assistant, Marketing / PR, Key Grip, Lighting Tech / Operator, Props Assistant / Support, Boom Operator, Camera Assistant, Researcher, Production Support, Production Supervisor, Closed Captioner / Subtitler, Production Manager, Script Supervisor / Coordinator, 3rd AD (Assistant Director), 2nd AD (Assistant Director), 1st AD (Assistant Director), Production Assistant (PA), Line Producer, Producer, Director, Script Reader, Writer, Script Writer, Screenwriter
Years in industry	6+ years