In this episode, Kirsty chats to Leela Varghese, a writer and director, most recently of Lesbian Space Princess, which she co-wrote and co-directed with Emma Hough Hobbs, winning Best Indie Film at the AACTA Awards and the Teddy Award for Best Feature at Berlinale.

Leela also wrote and directed the short film I’m the Most Racist Person I Know, which won the Special Jury Award at SXSW and the AACTA Award for Best Short Film.
Kirsty and Leela discuss her career trajectory, including the strategies she applied on both recent films to try to build her profile as a director.

Listen to hear Leela discuss:

• strategically aligning project ideas with grant criteria or historical festival programming to give them the best chance of success
• the importance of building relationships with festival programmers
• how bold titles have played a role in her films’ success, and the way they’ve been seen by audiences
• working with distributors and sales agents as part of your festival strategy
• the relevance of film festivals in an age of social media and streaming
• how to pivot and give your project the best chance of market success, while holding onto your creative vision
• why you should be thinking about distribution as you develop your projects

Follow Leela and her work:

• Leela on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leelavargoose
• Lesbian Space Princess: https://lesbianspaceprincessmovie.com
• Lesbian Space Princess on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lesbianspaceprincessfilm
• Lesbian Space Princess: Official Trailer:
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nra14aUNYS8

This Deep Dive interview is hosted and edited by Kirsty Stark.

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