Artist Profile: Writer & Producer Minoti Vaishnav
You may remember the name ‘Minoti’ as the artist behind the smash hit song “Psychologist” that took over radio waves all over the US and UK in 2010. Or from the viral TV-show inspired music video of the 2013 single “So Will You.” But now, Minoti Vaishnav is quickly becoming a household name as a writer and producer in the film and television industry.
It was right around the time she was wrapping up touring after her last award-winning album “Secret Garden” in 2013 that she began to seek out other avenues of creativity. Writing was always one of these avenues — she has a certificate in Screenwriting from the University of Southern California and a degree in Screenwriting from California State University Northridge. Her first job in the business? Working on the prestigious IDA Awards — a ceremony she co-wrote the script for in 2012. Components of the awards show were featured on the Documentary channel.
While Vaishnav continued to work at the IDA, she was simultaneously writing and producing narrative film & television content. She wrote the film R.I.P for Lang Productions, and was then hired to write and produce a television pilot called 3 Orbs of Light, starring The Vamps Next Door’s Rachel Bailit and Cali T Rossen (Along Came Polly, Hollywood Quad). She switched back and forth between narrative and unscripted content, working on the Emmy® nominated HBO film American Winter in 2013, where she learned a lot about producing documentaries, and on the 2014 film Stones, for which she co-wrote the script. With a portfolio of work under her belt, Vaishnav decided to venture into writing and producing on a larger scale.
In 2014, Vaishnav started her work as a Creative Producer at Prophecy Girl Films, working in film development on projects like Let Them Eat Cake, Being Independent, My Guardian Angel, and Abducted — a film she directed, wrote and produced, and which gathered rave reviews at Miami’s prestigious IndieWise Film Festival. My Guardian Angel was also selected at the Festival De Cannes. Let Them Eat Cake has won several awards and screened at festivals all over the world. Vaishnav also wrote the screenplays for Safe House and Realm of The Stones, which won her several prestigious writing awards through prestigious screenwriting organizations like The Script Lab and Cinevana. Other films she worked on through Prophecy Girl Films include Doris (selected at over 40 festivals worldwide), Dispossessed (selected at over 30 festivals worldwide) and Women Behind the Camera (winner of 5 ‘Best Documentary’ Awards at various awards competitions and festivals).
In 2016, Vaishnav also co-wrote the script for the 57th Annual Genii Awards, produced by the Alliance for Women in Media Southern California, and became the youngest President of this 65-year-old organization, working through several initiatives to advance the impact of women in media. Through this non-profit, Vaishnav worked with prestigious organizations like SAG-AFTRA, CBS, and 21st Century Fox, producing content with them and bringing AWM SoCal to the forefront of the industry.
With every new step Vaishnav took, she found herself growing in the field. In 2017, she started working at Emmy® nominated production company Karga 7 Pictures as a writer and producer, where her job included writing episode outlines for the History Channel shows Hunting Hitler and JFK Declassified. She currently works in TV Development as a Producer at Karga 7 Pictures, where she helps write, produce, and develop unscripted content for Netflix, A&E, Discovery, Travel Channel and History Channel among other networks. Recent notable shows include Legends of the Lost with Megan Fox for Travel Channel, Killing Time for Investigation Discovery, and the upcoming Ottoman Rising for Netflix.
But that’s not all. Vaishnav’s also an accomplished writer in the scripted side of the industry. Her pilot script Catalyst was one of the winners of the Hollywood Radio and TV Society and New York Television Festival’s pilot competition. Her other pilot, Double Cross, has gotten her placements in every prestigious script competition from Austin Film Festival to Final Draft’s Big Break. And now she’s even working on feature film scripts, novels and other new material at the University of Oxford.
With new development deals and writing and producing opportunities coming her way, there’s clearly no stopping this force of nature as she storms into the film and television world, ready to become the next big thing.
