Impressive Management Team:
Manu Kumaran - Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Kumaran is a second-generation international film producer who has produced 19 feature films in four languages.
The oldest son of renowned Malayalam film director-producer K P Kumaran, he has been engaged in the film business from an early age, working primarily in production and distribution.
Kumaran joined the Interpublic group agency Lintas in 1993 and quickly rose to become the youngest VP in the history of Indian advertising. In 1998, he produced Bombay Boys, a movie that altered the landscape of Indian cinema forever. The film opened a new market for alternative cinema, bringing it into the mainstream.
In 2002, Kumaran established Medient and created ABOB, India's first boy band. He later leveraged ABOB’s success to produce Kiss Kis Ko (Who Gets the Kiss?), a film based on the band's life. In 2008, he produced the award-winning Malayalam film Aakashagopuram (Castle in the Air), based on the Henrik Ibsen play Master Builder), which was the first Indian film to be entirely produced outside of that country. The film set a new benchmark in East-West collaboration within the industry.
The first Indian producer to successfully manage the migration to the West, Kumaran is an expert in film tax credits and incentives and has built a reputation for producing theatrical quality releases at minimal costs with strong net margins.
Graham Bradstreet - Executive Operations Director
Bradstreet joined the Working Title Group of Companies in 1986 as a shareholder and Finance Director. Working Title grew to become the UK’s pre-eminent production company (Drop Dead Fred, A World Apart, Map of the Human Heart….) Bradstreet developed innovative film financing structures that have established him as one of the leading motion picture financiers in the world. He developed the concept of insurance-backed financing and, through ICE Media, raised in excess of US$1 Billion of insurance-backed funding that contributed to budgets in excess of US$ 3 Billion covering more than 100 movies (including The Truman Show, Face/Off, Runaway Bride, Sleepy Hollow) for both the studio and independent sectors of the film industry.….
Pankaj Kapoor - Executive Creative Director
Kapoor is veteran journalist-turned-script-writer and co-founder of Medient. He started his career with Times of India (the world's largest English language newspaper), reporting extensively on the Indian film industry. He was a film critic for Asian Age newspaper before turning to screen writing on a full-time basis. He wrote the controversial Hindi film Ek Choti Se Love Story, which was considered one of the sleeper “hits” of 2002. This was followed in 2004 by a Bollywood musical film, Kiss Kis Ko (Who Gets the Kiss?), which was based on the lives of ABOB, India's first boy band. In 2005 he wrote Time Bomb, a mini- series produced and directed by internationally acclaimed filmmaker Ketan Mehta that won the Indian Television Academy Award for best mini-series. That year Kapoor also wrote a horror show, Rooh (Spirits), which won the RAPA award.
Kapoor has executive produced Yellow and Storage 24. He has served as associate producer on the Hindi films Mr. Singh Mrs. Mehta and Tera Kya Hoga Jonny (Ride the Wave Jonny), which he also co-wrote.
Yogesh Ishwar Dhabuwala: President - Filmed Entertainment
Dhabuwala is a Los Angeles-based film director and writer. A graduate of the Bombay School of Art, he started his career in advertising as a visualzer, prior to following his passion for film making . He worked on a number of TV series and films, including two award-winning films, Parinda and 1942 - A Love Story, as an associate director. Independently, Dhabuwala produced and directed several music videos and company films and made his directorial debut with an Indian film, Aaghaaz (released theatrically in the global market). His strongest talents include a balanced acumen for both budgets and artistry. He joined Medient in 2008 as vice president of the film division. Dhabuwala manages the development and production of all Medient feature films.
Manoj Koshy: President Infrastructure
Koshy, a graduate of College of Engineering, Trivandrum, has been involved in project management for the last five years. He has been a long time resident of the Middle East and been involved in various type of projects from the initial engineering and planning phases through to execution. He has just finished the management of a major project for the construction of two new Jack Up rigs with a cost of US$345 Million for one of the major owner/operators in the Middle East. He is responsible for the oversight of the successful; construction and management of the infrastructure of the mega studio complex in Effingham, GA.
Shilpa Sharma: Vice President - Production
Sharma, an engineer by training, has over 10 years of experience in marketing and production. She joined Medient in 2006 as an assistant line producer and since then has worked on all of the films produced by the Company. She is a global expert on tax credit structures and has end-to-end knowledge of the production process. As Vice President – Production, Sharma has specific responsibility for managing co-productions, vendor relationships, and delivering films within budget and on schedule.
Megan C Murphy: Vice President - Strategic Affairs
Murphy is a multi-media executive with over 15 years of business development, content creation, and feature film development experience. She has worked as an Executive Producer at HRO and was Vice President of Affiliate and Business Relations at AnswersMedia, a premier technology and content creation company, where she led the launch of AnswersTV.com, a multi-platform, lifestyle know-how television network. Megan also served as VP, Managing Director, and Executive Producer of Kurtis Productions, a long-form documentary production company, which under Murphy’s leadership provided over 500 hours of content for major cable and network clients and won several prestigious media awards, including National Emmys and an Oscar Nomination.
Victoria Foster: Vice President - Content Development
Foster has worked in development on feature films, television, and interactive content since 2003 at companies that include CAA, Mosaic Media and the top TV commercial production company MJZ. She was involved in the screenplay development of Season of the Witch (starring Nicholas Cage), Pathfinder (Karl Urban), Priest (Paul Bettany). She also helped package, with Kevin Spacey and Robin Williams, the indie feature Shrink which premiered at Sundance Film Festival, 2009. She served as Director of Development for action filmmakers Kevin Donovan (The Tuxedo) and Marcus Nispel, director of the rainmaking Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Friday The 13th. Most recently, she has served as Vice President of Development & Production at Voyage Media, a company that helps established filmmakers and emerging talent develop, market and sell their projects. She holds an M.F.A. from the U.S.C. School of Cinema-Television and a B.A. from Stanford University.
Steve Cook: Vice President - Post Production
Cook joined the film industry as a re-recording mixer working on major productions, including The Godfather, Return of the Pink Panther and Deliverance. In 1975, he became Studio manager at John Wood Studios in London, where he was responsible for one of its most profitable sound mixing studios. In 1982, he started Megamasters Sound Studios, which became one of London's leading sound and post production houses. In 1992 Cook opened a Magmasters sister facility in Burbank California, the clients of which included such companies as Disney, Universal and Warner Bros. Cook received a BAFTA nomination in 2000 for Best Sound for The Testimony of Taliesin Jones. Throughout his career, he has worked on over 300 feature films, thousands of TV commercials and dozens of TV drama series.
Manu Kumaran - Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Kumaran is a second-generation international film producer who has produced 19 feature films in four languages.
The oldest son of renowned Malayalam film director-producer K P Kumaran, he has been engaged in the film business from an early age, working primarily in production and distribution.
Kumaran joined the Interpublic group agency Lintas in 1993 and quickly rose to become the youngest VP in the history of Indian advertising. In 1998, he produced Bombay Boys, a movie that altered the landscape of Indian cinema forever. The film opened a new market for alternative cinema, bringing it into the mainstream.
In 2002, Kumaran established Medient and created ABOB, India's first boy band. He later leveraged ABOB’s success to produce Kiss Kis Ko (Who Gets the Kiss?), a film based on the band's life. In 2008, he produced the award-winning Malayalam film Aakashagopuram (Castle in the Air), based on the Henrik Ibsen play Master Builder), which was the first Indian film to be entirely produced outside of that country. The film set a new benchmark in East-West collaboration within the industry.
The first Indian producer to successfully manage the migration to the West, Kumaran is an expert in film tax credits and incentives and has built a reputation for producing theatrical quality releases at minimal costs with strong net margins.
Graham Bradstreet - Executive Operations Director
Bradstreet joined the Working Title Group of Companies in 1986 as a shareholder and Finance Director. Working Title grew to become the UK’s pre-eminent production company (Drop Dead Fred, A World Apart, Map of the Human Heart….) Bradstreet developed innovative film financing structures that have established him as one of the leading motion picture financiers in the world. He developed the concept of insurance-backed financing and, through ICE Media, raised in excess of US$1 Billion of insurance-backed funding that contributed to budgets in excess of US$ 3 Billion covering more than 100 movies (including The Truman Show, Face/Off, Runaway Bride, Sleepy Hollow) for both the studio and independent sectors of the film industry.….
Pankaj Kapoor - Executive Creative Director
Kapoor is veteran journalist-turned-script-writer and co-founder of Medient. He started his career with Times of India (the world's largest English language newspaper), reporting extensively on the Indian film industry. He was a film critic for Asian Age newspaper before turning to screen writing on a full-time basis. He wrote the controversial Hindi film Ek Choti Se Love Story, which was considered one of the sleeper “hits” of 2002. This was followed in 2004 by a Bollywood musical film, Kiss Kis Ko (Who Gets the Kiss?), which was based on the lives of ABOB, India's first boy band. In 2005 he wrote Time Bomb, a mini- series produced and directed by internationally acclaimed filmmaker Ketan Mehta that won the Indian Television Academy Award for best mini-series. That year Kapoor also wrote a horror show, Rooh (Spirits), which won the RAPA award.
Kapoor has executive produced Yellow and Storage 24. He has served as associate producer on the Hindi films Mr. Singh Mrs. Mehta and Tera Kya Hoga Jonny (Ride the Wave Jonny), which he also co-wrote.
Yogesh Ishwar Dhabuwala: President - Filmed Entertainment
Dhabuwala is a Los Angeles-based film director and writer. A graduate of the Bombay School of Art, he started his career in advertising as a visualzer, prior to following his passion for film making . He worked on a number of TV series and films, including two award-winning films, Parinda and 1942 - A Love Story, as an associate director. Independently, Dhabuwala produced and directed several music videos and company films and made his directorial debut with an Indian film, Aaghaaz (released theatrically in the global market). His strongest talents include a balanced acumen for both budgets and artistry. He joined Medient in 2008 as vice president of the film division. Dhabuwala manages the development and production of all Medient feature films.
Manoj Koshy: President Infrastructure
Koshy, a graduate of College of Engineering, Trivandrum, has been involved in project management for the last five years. He has been a long time resident of the Middle East and been involved in various type of projects from the initial engineering and planning phases through to execution. He has just finished the management of a major project for the construction of two new Jack Up rigs with a cost of US$345 Million for one of the major owner/operators in the Middle East. He is responsible for the oversight of the successful; construction and management of the infrastructure of the mega studio complex in Effingham, GA.
Shilpa Sharma: Vice President - Production
Sharma, an engineer by training, has over 10 years of experience in marketing and production. She joined Medient in 2006 as an assistant line producer and since then has worked on all of the films produced by the Company. She is a global expert on tax credit structures and has end-to-end knowledge of the production process. As Vice President – Production, Sharma has specific responsibility for managing co-productions, vendor relationships, and delivering films within budget and on schedule.
Megan C Murphy: Vice President - Strategic Affairs
Murphy is a multi-media executive with over 15 years of business development, content creation, and feature film development experience. She has worked as an Executive Producer at HRO and was Vice President of Affiliate and Business Relations at AnswersMedia, a premier technology and content creation company, where she led the launch of AnswersTV.com, a multi-platform, lifestyle know-how television network. Megan also served as VP, Managing Director, and Executive Producer of Kurtis Productions, a long-form documentary production company, which under Murphy’s leadership provided over 500 hours of content for major cable and network clients and won several prestigious media awards, including National Emmys and an Oscar Nomination.
Victoria Foster: Vice President - Content Development
Foster has worked in development on feature films, television, and interactive content since 2003 at companies that include CAA, Mosaic Media and the top TV commercial production company MJZ. She was involved in the screenplay development of Season of the Witch (starring Nicholas Cage), Pathfinder (Karl Urban), Priest (Paul Bettany). She also helped package, with Kevin Spacey and Robin Williams, the indie feature Shrink which premiered at Sundance Film Festival, 2009. She served as Director of Development for action filmmakers Kevin Donovan (The Tuxedo) and Marcus Nispel, director of the rainmaking Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Friday The 13th. Most recently, she has served as Vice President of Development & Production at Voyage Media, a company that helps established filmmakers and emerging talent develop, market and sell their projects. She holds an M.F.A. from the U.S.C. School of Cinema-Television and a B.A. from Stanford University.
Steve Cook: Vice President - Post Production
Cook joined the film industry as a re-recording mixer working on major productions, including The Godfather, Return of the Pink Panther and Deliverance. In 1975, he became Studio manager at John Wood Studios in London, where he was responsible for one of its most profitable sound mixing studios. In 1982, he started Megamasters Sound Studios, which became one of London's leading sound and post production houses. In 1992 Cook opened a Magmasters sister facility in Burbank California, the clients of which included such companies as Disney, Universal and Warner Bros. Cook received a BAFTA nomination in 2000 for Best Sound for The Testimony of Taliesin Jones. Throughout his career, he has worked on over 300 feature films, thousands of TV commercials and dozens of TV drama series.
