Soman Chainani is a 2008 graduate of the MFA Film Program at Columbia University, and the recipient of the school’s top prize, the FMI Fellowship for Writing and Directing. In addition, Chainani is the recipient of the CINE Golden Eagle Prize for excellence in directing, a coveted award which launched the careers of Ron Howard, Steven Spielberg, and Robert Altman. His short films, Davy & Stu and Kali Ma, have played over 150 international film festivals, won over 30 jury and audience awards, and secured theatrical and ancillary distribution in over 100 territories.

Before joining the Columbia University film program, Chainani graduated Harvard University in 2001 summa cum laude and top-ranked in his field, with a degree in English & American Literature. He then worked as Mira Nair’s assistant at the acclaimed director’s production company, Mirabai Films.

Chainani has been invited to mentor with director Joshua Marston (Maria Full of Grace) and Sundance Labs advisors Malia Sctoch-Marmo and Naomi Foner Gyllnehaal, and to participate in the Berlinale Talent Campus, Reykjavik Talent Initiative, IFP Market, and CBS Directing Initiative, where he shadow-directed for Swingtown. He was also recently nominated for an MTV NewNowNext Award in the Brink of Fame category for his work as a writer/director.

He is currently writing the musical feature Mumbo Jumbo for Aardman Animation, adapting the beloved novel The Pushcart War for Jane Startz Productions, and is the writer/creator of Wedding House, a new dramatic series for Tiger Aspect in the UK.