An Interview With Edward Sylvan

Know your strengths. Learn the filmmaking language thoroughly. Learn and develop the confidence to build connections. Always thinking for the good of your entire team. Don’t overlook sound.

Asa part of our series about pop culture’s rising stars, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Aditya Patwardhan.

Based in Los Angeles, filmmaker Aditya Patwardhan is known for a wide array of works. With a filmography that has been recognized nationally and internationally, his work has been showcased through prestigious platforms, news networks, and film festivals across the world. With an international experience in filmmaking, Aditya has shot films and documentaries in the United States, India, Baltic & Eastern Europe, South Korea, and Colombia. Though being from an English and Marathi-speaking background, he has directed projects in non-native languages like Spanish, Portuguese, and Korean. Apart from filmmaking, Aditya is a proficient drums and tabla player, along with being skilled at playing the Piano and Guitar.

With a professional experience in feature filmmaking, documentary filmmaking, political campaigning, public speaking, and music, he heads the team at his film and media production company Mithraspect, based in Jaipur and Los Angeles.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

Hi, I am delighted to be on this interview series, and first of all, thank you so much. I grew up in India, in the city of Jaipur. I did high school and later my graduation in computer science and IT in the same city. Though no one in my family is professionally an artist or does this for a living, almost everyone pursues some or the other form of art as a hobby. My father plays the guitar and the piano, so naturally, I was inclined to do the same very early on.

Though Jaipur was where I was brought up, my family traditionally is a part of the Chitpavan community of the western coast of India, in the state of Maharashtra. My mother tongue is the language Marathi, which we still speak at home. My late grandmother, Dr. Manorama Patwardhan, started her medical practice in the 1950s in the city of Jodhpur, and so my father and the rest of my paternal family were raised in the northern state of Rajasthan, far from our native region in Konkan.

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

My filmmaking journey began at the age of seven when I was introduced to music. After learning to play tabla, drums, and piano during my early school years, one of the first things I was enticed with was observing how background score shapes a film. It became one of my primary obsessions to notice background scores and try to duplicate them at home on my instruments. Films like Dil Se, The Lion King, Titanic, and The Matrix played a key role in influencing me in terms of music and its association with videos. Naturally, I assumed that I would want to grow up to be a music director.

My love for music continued, and while I was doing my B. Tech degree in Information Technology from Jaipur Engineering College and Research Centre (JECRC), I played the drums for a rock-metal band called Jettatura from 2007–2011.

Apart from my band, I developed an interest in photography and public speaking during my engineering days, hosting multiple events in my hometown, Jaipur. Jaipur is a major cultural and tourist hub of India, and that put me in touch with some amazing people from media and arts.

My first professional involvement with films was a short film called “Kiski Kahani” directed by Hiren Pandya Rahi, on which I worked as the music director.

It is no surprise that even now, I often professionally collaborate with some of my associates from my college days. Hiren Pandya Rahi from Kiski Kahani is the lyricist for my feature film “A Nomad River”, and has been the lyricist of multiple music videos that I directed in the past. Amit Jain, the lead guitarist from my band, is the music composer for 5 of my short films and the feature film “A Nomad River”.

After finishing my degree in computers & IT, I decided not to go for a software job and instead joined a local jewelry brand as the branding and communication manager. In addition to this full-time job, I took up part-time work at a political party as the social media head for the 2013 winning elections for the Rajasthan state assembly.

All this while, the dream to become a filmmaker was always brewing in my mind. With time to spare on the weekends, I started working with Gaurav Bhatt, a Jaipur-based musician from the Bhatt Gharana of Classical Musicians (known for Grammy-winner Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Pandit Krishna Mohan Bhatt) and together with Hiren Pandya Rahi’s lyrics, we started making music videos that we launched on YouTube. Again, what started as a part-time passion turned into a full-time job as our songs received media attention in Rajasthan and were subsequently released by Zee Music Company, Pepsi MTV Indies, etc.

With the experience of a music video director, the social and cultural exposure due to working in a political party, and advertisement experience from the jewelry and fashion brand, I decided to come to the United States to do a one-year filmmaking program at the New York Film Academy’s Los Angeles campus.

What was going to be a one-year educational trip turned into a fully-fledged career and now I have been in Los Angeles as a film director and producer for almost 9 years.

Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

One of the most interesting stories in my career has been the fact that I have often directed award-winning films in foreign languages that I do not speak. I have so far directed two short films in Portuguese, two short films in Spanish, and one feature film in Korean, and all the projects have gathered accolades and awards internationally. It may come as a surprise, but it all started when I was offered to direct a Spanish-language student short film while I was still at school.

First of all, I am a fluent speaker of Hindi, Marathi, and English, but I don’t have a background in Spanish, Portuguese, or Korean. Being alien to those languages, naturally, I didn’t go out seeking a foreign language project. But call it a happy coincidence, but a Panamanian producer called Ricardo Diaz-Guillen approached me to direct a 20-minute TV pilot that he was writing and producing.

Apprehensive at first, I took up the opportunity, and with a lot of help, of course, from the writers, on-set language assistants, and amazing actors, I directed the Pilot. The episode was very well received internally by networks we pitched it to, as well as film festivals and news media in Panama. That gave me a confidence boost that I could direct more projects in foreign languages.

When I first started directing foreign-language films, it was a major challenge to make sure that the actors were conveying what I wanted from them. But that very challenge helped me in developing a knack for understating emotions and performances through facial expressions, voice pitch & modulation, and body language. That combined with a reliable language assistant on-set during filming made sure that I was able to translate the scene from page to screen.

One of the factors that helped me in this was the fact that I was fluent in three Indian languages. Having grown up in Rajasthan, with primarily Hindi-speaking social circles and a Marathi-speaking family, I had started analyzing early on in life how meaning translates between languages and how it shapes our body language and thought processes.

My Portuguese language short called Um Toque Da Aurora (A Touch of Aurora) went on the win numerous awards and accolades across the world, and it features the celebrated Brazilian actress Thaila Ayala.

Recently I released my first Korean Language feature called And the Dream that Mattered (꿈의 의미), primarily set in Seoul, Busan, and Los Angeles. This film had the privilege to host a special private screening at the Lionsgate Studios in Los Angeles. Additionally, within a month of concluding post-production, it won the prestigious award for the best independent film at the 26th Korean Cultural Academy Awards, hosted by the Korean Cultural Centre of Los Angeles.

It has been said that mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Nothing specific comes to mind on this one. There have been mistakes for sure, but the outcomes are not necessarily funny. But I would like to add that one of the most important lessons for me has been paying attention to pre-production. I can’t stress enough how important pre-production is for a project. Many times filmmakers will want to leave the artistic decisions for the day of filming, trusting their creative impulses to be better than a planned approach. This might be true in a closed room, or on paper, but when one is on set, the logistic pressure is so great, that often there is no room left for creative decisions, and one might end up with a mediocre-looking scene.

During my initial music videos, it often happened that I did not make a thorough shot list, thinking that being on location with the actors might inspire me more. That was not the case! Most of my time on set went into dealing with location issues, weather, sound, etc.

I am not saying that last-minute inspirational ideas don’t happen. They do! But they are even better if you already have a road map in mind. So that is the most important lesson from all the silly mistakes I have made:

Pred-production and its importance! haha.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

Currently, I am working on three projects that I am thrilled about:

My fourth drama feature film, titled The Web of Life, featuring LA Law’s Corbin Bernsen, and Battlestar Galactica’s Aaron Douglas, is set to be released in 2023 and is currently in post-production. The Web of Life is a coming-of-age story about a young surfer and his family in Santa Barbara. The post-production is happening in New York, and I am actively overseeing the process.

Over the pandemic years, I have developed a World-War II-based fictional mini-series with Lucy Walsh, daughter of The Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh and niece of The Beetles Ringo Starr. The series is based on Lucy’s grandparents’ letter from the 1940s. Being a history buff, I am very excited about this project, and thoroughly enjoying the development and pitching process.

Thirdly, I am currently developing a science fiction television show, called Infinitum Revolutions, based on an upcoming game of the same name, with acclaimed writer and producer Peter J Wacks, known for working on the award-winning franchise Predator, NBC’s acclaimed Heroes, and the global classic Cyberpunk.

You have been blessed with success in a career path that can be challenging. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?

I always think that there are three things one should always consider:

1. Pay attention to time and financial resources:

Filmmaking is a costly and time-consuming field that requires a lot of patience. But with modern portable cameras, there is a way around it. If you are not sure about whether you want to do it or not, or what kind of stories you want to tell, there is always an option to take weekends off, so you don’t risk your day job and time, and experiment with short films, music videos, short documentaries, etc. This will help the artist understand themselves and their strengths while keeping time and money expenditure at bay.

2. You can conform to standard filmmaking style, but never conform to the film’s ideas: Knowing the filming craft according to a set standard is important but bringing new ideas to the table is one of the best things a filmmaker can do. It should always be about what stories you want to tell and not about what stories work well. It is only in the initial days that one can experiment freely, and one should use that time to the fullest.

3. A close team of artists, your creative companions:

Your team is the most important thing in the world of filmmaking, sometimes more important than anything else. Much of the robust team that I formed during my days in film school days, is still working with me on bigger professional projects. One of the best examples is my longtime associate and cinematographer Anup Kulkarni. Anup, a cinematographer and VFX artist from Mumbai was my classmate at the film academy in Los Angeles. Working together in school films led to bigger and larger projects, and today I and Anup have worked together on more than 20 short films, 1 documentary, and 2 feature films.

Even to this day, my regular music composer Amit Jain, who has composed 5 of my short films and 1 feature film, is my bandmate from my college days. Gaurav Bhatt, with whom I made music videos, is the one who composed songs for my feature A Nomad River. Hiren Pandya Rahi, who directed the short film where I worked as a music director, is still the lyricist for all my films that have Hindi songs.

We are very interested in diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers about why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in film and television? How can that potentially affect our culture?

Simply put, diversity brings out the same stories and ideas in new and interesting perspectives. I, as an Indian director, might bring unique perspectives to the films I direct, which I might have because of my upbringing in a foreign culture. Similarly, diversity within the cast makes sure that the artwork is accessible to the people of the particular community represented, making the film more universal. And I have to add, that personally for me, Los Angeles and the industry here have been the most accepting, inclusive, and supportive places I have worked at.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.

– Know your strengths

Within storytelling, a filmmaker should know their strength in terms of what types of stories they can write, what kind of genre they feel comfortable in, etc. To give an example, one of my first short films in India was a small drama based on a rivalry between two bandmates who play in the same band. As I came from a background of playing in a band, I felt very comfortable writing the story and filming it. When starting in films, there is a lot one wants to experiment with about the camera, visual style, etc, and it is always best to do so within a story that you completely understand.

– Learn the filmmaking language thoroughly

Like any other spoken or written language, filmmaking is a language too. And so to be thoroughly in control of what you want to say, you need to know the language. Often new filmmakers will consider filmmaking rules to be a hindrance and will be open to the idea of breaking them. I would like to add that rules should be broken only when you have complete control and understanding of all the rules. A class project comes to my mind, where I wrote a conversation scene between a doctor and a mentally-disabled patient. I deliberately decided to go against the standard filmmaking rules, thinking I was going in for a revolutionary narrative, but lo and behold, it was not so. The film was hard to follow and I would have been better off having followed the rules and left the experimentation for the dialog and the story. Haha.

– Learn and develop the confidence to build connections

The film industry is a very social machine, and the more connections you build, the better. Don’t hold back on showing your work to as many people as possible, for you might never know where the next opportunity comes from. My latest film, The Web of Life with Corbin Bernsen is one such example. I had no prior connection with any of the producers before getting hired, other than the fact that they had seen my previous features and shorts.

– Always thinking for the good of your entire team

In films, much like many other professions, one cannot succeed alone. Even if you have the best idea or story in the world, it can only be turned into a successful film with an amazing team of cinematographers, editors, composers, actors, etc. So when you grow, make sure you also think of how you can help your team grow. I like to use some of my shorts and the latest two features as an example. I am always working with many of the same cast and crew members, ensuring that we all succeed as a group.

– Don’t overlook sound

This advice should be the first one. Many filmmakers, including myself, will take sound lightly on set, thinking it can be fixed in post-production. It won’t! Once on the editing table, you will find that bad sound will spoil the entire film, and there will be no way to fix it. On one of my semester films in film school, I went on a location scout and finalized the place based on just how it looked. I never noted the busy road next to it and the constant sound of cars. And as was destined, the final cut had horrible sound, and I had to spend extra time and money on ADR with the actors.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

Burning out is a very common thing to happen, especially when trying to come up with a concept, or write one as a script. Personally, for me, what helps the most is reading or watching other people’s work. I am currently developing a science fiction TV show, and often, I will burn out.

When that happens, I will simply step away from the project, and go and read a Brandon Sanderson book, watch a new movie or TV show from the same genre I am working on, or play a story-driven video game. Not only will it take your mind off the “Burn Out”, but it might also end up giving you an idea of how to get past the “stuck” stage.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I am very devoted to the idea of sustainable living. We have a planet with surplus resources even for a population of 8 billion, and yet we are facing immense amounts of disparity in terms of wealth, resources, and basic requirements, while also facing the threat of climate change.

I think a planned approach toward sustainable living is something I am passionate about and would love to contribute in whatever way I can. My first feature film, A Nomad River, is largely based on a similar idea.

As India combats climate change, river water crisis, and agrarian protests, we explore four parallel characters from our story as they look for their place in this society. Adriana is a refugee from Venezuela. With no home to go to after the Venezuelan economic collapse, she joins a news crew in India, observing similarities between the plight of her people, and the India that she documents. Ravi, a news reporter who Adriana travels with, joins the Rally for Rivers campaign, a country-wide drive to save its depleting rivers. Kankana, an actress from Hollywood estranged from her family, arrives back in Jaipur to learn Indian classical music from a Sitar maestro, unknowingly longing for a home. And Suraj, a street cleaner who is alienated from his society, looks for a purpose and relevance.

The film looks at the cross-section of Indian society, analyzing it through a lens of economic disparity, food security, and climate change, ultimately trying to look for a sustainable solution.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

I am deeply grateful to my parents and my wife for the enormous support and encouragement they have always been. My dad, Jayant Patwardhan, my mom, Arpita Patwardhan, and my wife Manasi Mahajan have been a foundation for me on which I have built my career. I would not have been a fraction of what I am without their presence in my life.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Remember tonight… for it is the beginning of always.”

-Dante Alighieri

This famous quote by Dante Alighieri is one of my favorites and I try to live by it. Though it was said in a romantic context originally, I think it also means that every single moment we have is a beginning of “Always”. The present moment is all we have, and if I can make sure that the quality of this “present moment” is good, I will call it a successful life.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂

I want to meet filmmaker Denis Villeneuve. I am a big fan of his work and I watch his films like a student. I want to meet him and ask: how does he do it!!

How can our readers follow you online?

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/adityapatwardhan/
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/patwardhan/
IMDb:
http://www.imdb.me/patwardhan

This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!