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Who am I?
I’m Rajendra Thakurathi, an MFA candidate of film and television production at University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles, California. I believe in magic and cinema. I make films out of feelings, ideas and poetry. My most recent film My Claire is screening at the Short Film Corner at Cannes Film Festival in May 2016. My screenplay The Black Friday was in the second round at the Sundance Screenwriting Lab in 2015. I have won a number of film awards at various national and international film festivals (Tripoli Film Festival, Toronto Nepali Film Festival, Trojan Film Festival, Julien Dubuque International Film Festival, Iowa Motion Picture Association, among others). I am studying at USC with gracious support from Frank Sinatra Foundation and the Foundation of Mary Pickford, who was one of the original founders of Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences. I want to make meaningful films in Hollywood, Kollywood and Bollywood and also wish to start a film school in Nepal some day.
I am from Mahendranagar, Nepal and spent a lot of my childhood at my dad’s hardware store observing people from all walks of life. I often used to bike across the Nepal-India border to buy comic books and play video games. I did my undergraduate in media studies at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, where I was the executive editor of my college newspaper, the Lorian, ran my own television show, worked for the NY Times as a research intern covering the BP oil spill disaster and worked as a photojournalist at Telegraph Herald. I also worked as a photographer at Shooting Star Productions in San Francisco before joining USC film school.
What am I raising money for?
Film.
I have made a number of short films at USC and before. I’m raising money to fund my new short film, LA RAIN, which is a romantic drama about Michelle Hart, a kind-hearted wannabe musician and school teacher, who “married” her friend and ex-lover Manish Joshi to help him obtain a green card after his student visa went out of status, but on the day they are to sign their divorce papers as per their agreement, Manish tells her that he has fallen in love with her and can’t let her go.
The story is told in one scene at a coffee shop on a Los Angeles rainy day when emotions pour out first like drizzle and then like a downpour. I’m making this film as a project for CTPR 552 Advanced Directing class under the mentorship of Sundance Award winning director and professor Patricia Cardoso (Real Women Have Curves). She also has an Academy Award for her student film The Water Carrier.
Budget
The budget of the film is $6000. The rest of the budget is funded by two executive producers and some of my personal savings. As you may know, making a film needs actors, location, equipment and labor charges among a myriad of other costs.
This is my breakdown for the film.
DEPARTMENT ESTIMATED COST
Camera $1200
Lights $300
Location $690
Special Effects (Rain) $600
Art/Production Designer $300
Food $300
Costumes/Make Up $250
Sound $300
Grips/Electrics $1000
Color Correction $300
Music $300
Total $5540
Contingency $554
Grand Total $6094
How soon do I need the funds?
2 weeks
What this means to me?
This short film is my last film as a student at USC. It's the culmination of all my expertise and education I have attained till now.
The short film is the final scene from a potential feature film that I want to make in the future. The feature film would explore the story’s characters, backstories, relationships and the world in much more depth to culminate in this final scene for an even greater emotional impact. I also want this short film to pitch to different film studios for my feature. I also plan to send this to different film festivals around the world. With a story I believe in and A-list actors, I have confidence that this is going to make some noise.
I am also constantly working on stories and screenplays. I want to make good, meaningful films with strong characters. I will also be making commercials and plan to do freelance works at production companies in Los Angeles.
Parting Words
I’m reaching out to friends and families for this support. I have always been proud of my roots and just like in a tree, the roots are what make me stronger. Coming from a small town in Nepal and trying to make Hollywood films may be possible in fiction, but when it’s your life, you can only imagine the struggle. Making film is a tough job. But constantly practicing this craft under the guidance of award winning faculty, doing it over and over again, and working as a teaching assistant for different professors for the past three years, I think I’m in a position to tell good stories. In fact, I just finished directing My Claire, a USC funded project for which I was selected as one of the three directors from a pool of more than 50 candidates. My family, friends, faith and my own background are what make me relentless in my pursuit. This persistence, drive and the creativity in me must be why I got admitted in the number one film school in the world – USC School of Cinematic Arts, the alumni of which have included George Lucas (Star Wars), Steven Spielberg (he was rejected twice, but got an honorary degree in 1994), Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump), Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind, Appollo 13), Matt Weiner (Mad Men), Bryan Singer (X-Men), James Foley (House of Cards), to name a few. I will keep making films and with your support, I can make one step ahead to my future.
I’m Rajendra Thakurathi, an MFA candidate of film and television production at University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles, California. I believe in magic and cinema. I make films out of feelings, ideas and poetry. My most recent film My Claire is screening at the Short Film Corner at Cannes Film Festival in May 2016. My screenplay The Black Friday was in the second round at the Sundance Screenwriting Lab in 2015. I have won a number of film awards at various national and international film festivals (Tripoli Film Festival, Toronto Nepali Film Festival, Trojan Film Festival, Julien Dubuque International Film Festival, Iowa Motion Picture Association, among others). I am studying at USC with gracious support from Frank Sinatra Foundation and the Foundation of Mary Pickford, who was one of the original founders of Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences. I want to make meaningful films in Hollywood, Kollywood and Bollywood and also wish to start a film school in Nepal some day.
I am from Mahendranagar, Nepal and spent a lot of my childhood at my dad’s hardware store observing people from all walks of life. I often used to bike across the Nepal-India border to buy comic books and play video games. I did my undergraduate in media studies at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, where I was the executive editor of my college newspaper, the Lorian, ran my own television show, worked for the NY Times as a research intern covering the BP oil spill disaster and worked as a photojournalist at Telegraph Herald. I also worked as a photographer at Shooting Star Productions in San Francisco before joining USC film school.
What am I raising money for?
Film.
I have made a number of short films at USC and before. I’m raising money to fund my new short film, LA RAIN, which is a romantic drama about Michelle Hart, a kind-hearted wannabe musician and school teacher, who “married” her friend and ex-lover Manish Joshi to help him obtain a green card after his student visa went out of status, but on the day they are to sign their divorce papers as per their agreement, Manish tells her that he has fallen in love with her and can’t let her go.
The story is told in one scene at a coffee shop on a Los Angeles rainy day when emotions pour out first like drizzle and then like a downpour. I’m making this film as a project for CTPR 552 Advanced Directing class under the mentorship of Sundance Award winning director and professor Patricia Cardoso (Real Women Have Curves). She also has an Academy Award for her student film The Water Carrier.
Budget
The budget of the film is $6000. The rest of the budget is funded by two executive producers and some of my personal savings. As you may know, making a film needs actors, location, equipment and labor charges among a myriad of other costs.
This is my breakdown for the film.
DEPARTMENT ESTIMATED COST
Camera $1200
Lights $300
Location $690
Special Effects (Rain) $600
Art/Production Designer $300
Food $300
Costumes/Make Up $250
Sound $300
Grips/Electrics $1000
Color Correction $300
Music $300
Total $5540
Contingency $554
Grand Total $6094
How soon do I need the funds?
2 weeks
What this means to me?
This short film is my last film as a student at USC. It's the culmination of all my expertise and education I have attained till now.
The short film is the final scene from a potential feature film that I want to make in the future. The feature film would explore the story’s characters, backstories, relationships and the world in much more depth to culminate in this final scene for an even greater emotional impact. I also want this short film to pitch to different film studios for my feature. I also plan to send this to different film festivals around the world. With a story I believe in and A-list actors, I have confidence that this is going to make some noise.
I am also constantly working on stories and screenplays. I want to make good, meaningful films with strong characters. I will also be making commercials and plan to do freelance works at production companies in Los Angeles.
Parting Words
I’m reaching out to friends and families for this support. I have always been proud of my roots and just like in a tree, the roots are what make me stronger. Coming from a small town in Nepal and trying to make Hollywood films may be possible in fiction, but when it’s your life, you can only imagine the struggle. Making film is a tough job. But constantly practicing this craft under the guidance of award winning faculty, doing it over and over again, and working as a teaching assistant for different professors for the past three years, I think I’m in a position to tell good stories. In fact, I just finished directing My Claire, a USC funded project for which I was selected as one of the three directors from a pool of more than 50 candidates. My family, friends, faith and my own background are what make me relentless in my pursuit. This persistence, drive and the creativity in me must be why I got admitted in the number one film school in the world – USC School of Cinematic Arts, the alumni of which have included George Lucas (Star Wars), Steven Spielberg (he was rejected twice, but got an honorary degree in 1994), Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump), Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind, Appollo 13), Matt Weiner (Mad Men), Bryan Singer (X-Men), James Foley (House of Cards), to name a few. I will keep making films and with your support, I can make one step ahead to my future.