We were lucky to catch up with Kunal Sengupta recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Kunal thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I came to film and specifically screenwriting at a very strange time in my life. To paint the picture- I was in the second year of my Geology degree and after a particularly horrible day out in the field collecting rocks, I decided to change career paths to something I thought I could actually enjoy and be good in. At my university in Canada, we did have a film program but it was tiny in scope. There was only one screenwriting course and I found myself absolutely obsessed with the form. Beside just sitting down and writing (which I still believe is the quickest way to learn, keep on writing), to actually get better, the only way is to read a bunch of screenplays. And that’s what I did early on, I read the screenplays for my favourite movies. It wasn’t really to understand structure but to understand the language of cinema. How am I going to show the audience the images in my head? How should I write these out? I learned all of this from reading scripts. My advice for anyone who wants to speed up their process and learn quickly, just read and try to figure out why your favourite movie IS your favourite. This is the most essential skill as a writer- to be able to analyze why something is good or bad. It helps with your own work but also when you’re trying to critique someone else’s work.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

As I mentioned before, Film is not something that runs in the family but it definitely runs in the blood. My parents grew up with the works of Satyajit Ray and I was put through the same education. Growing up all around the world from India to the Middle East to Canada, film quickly became a sort of communication device. Regardless of the language, films cut deep into emotion and everyone can understand that. I may not speak the same language but maybe we’ve watched the same movie! Maybe we’ve had the same feelings. I think the reach of this art-form is pretty powerful and that is one of the big reasons I wanted to get into the film industry. I wanted to be a powerful storyteller, not just for my own stories but the stories that have been passed down to me for generations.

As a fresh AFI grad, much of my professional experience has been in film development. As an executive assistant at Paper Plane Productions, I worked on a variety of different tasks ranging from handling scheduling to coverage of screenplays to doing extensive research on formats around the world and helping put together decks. Film/TV development is exciting work. It gives you a chance to see what and WHY things actually get made and my experiences at my internships gave me a better understanding for the business and how it ticks. I stayed with my internship for over a year and I worked well with them because I truly loved my work. I was willing to be extremely dedicated to the projects I was given and be self reliant.

My time at AFI was especially valuable due to the amount of work we did critiquing each other’s writing in our workshops. Critiquing and giving notes has become a very important part of my skillset and it goes hand in hand with my internship experience as well. I am proud of the writer I have turned into since AFI because they taught me what it means to bring yourself to a project, to use your experiences and be able to tell the story that weighs heavy. Being a writer is like being your own therapist and I believe I would be a great shrink!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

My parents were born and brought up in India. I was also born there but grew up in the diaspora. It is safe to say we have very different tastes. I might enjoy binging True Detective while their favourite show is Midsomer Murders. This gap is even wider when it comes to my family that still live in India. Even though I speak the language and remember my home very well, they still think I’m quite the outsider. Which is probably fair. But being able to create something that connects with them is a hard task at times! When it DOES happen, it is easily the most artistically satisfying thing ever.

My thesis project in undergrad was a documentary film about my grandfather. He had passed away when I was a baby so I never really got to meet him. My parents and I travelled to India and I interviewed many of my family about him and what that time was like in India; pre/post Independence. The final product was a rough one, but given that it was my first real movie ever, I was incredibly proud of it. I made use of archival footage, interviews, scripted sequences and I even utilized rotoscoped animation to tell his story. Although since I used unlicensed music and unlicensed archival footage (which I thought was ironic because it was old footage of India but it was owned by the BBC), I wasn’t able to send it to a festival circuit, I was able to show it to my family. And they loved it. They connected with what I had to say and how I had to say it. In that moment, I saw the great power of being an artist, of being able to connect with people. You don’t have to connect with everyone, you just have to start with one. The simplicity of making something for others to enjoy is an incredible feeling.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

This might not exactly count as a resource but I really wish I understood how many fellowships and competitions there are out there. Submitting to them and getting through a few rounds can be really useful in your resume and any possible visa applications in the future. I’m currently in the hunt for an O-1B and I really wished I would have submitted to competitions in the past. So for all of my international brothers and sisters out there- SUBMIT YOUR SCRIPT! I believe in you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kunalsen2008.wixsite.com/mysite
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kunalthespicynoodle/
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/kunal-sengupta-5bb775165