Meet Prashant Thakker & Roberto Donoso | Filmmakers

We had the good fortune of connecting with filmmakers Prashant Thakker & Roberto Donoso and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Prashant Thakker, why did you pursue a creative career?
Prashant Thakker: My desire to tell stories rose from a deep-rooted need to examine the brokenness of humanity. Escaping from abuse in India, my mother and I came to America when I was ten. I spent my teens living in small towns across the Midwest; a brown-skinned boy who never really belonged. It wasn’t until I moved to Miami for an airline job in my twenties that I encountered people from all walks of life. I understood that everyone has a story, and more importantly, that each story matters. The chains of childhood conditioning broke as I took a leap of faith toward self-discovery. In doing so, my artistic journey began.

Prashant Thakker & Roberto Donoso: Writing is often a solitary endeavor, for obvious reasons. When creating characters and/or a story, no one can see exactly what your mind sees. We are lucky enough to be creative partners who “get” one another. We have a common, clear vision when it comes to our storytelling style. Our individual strengths are complementary, thus enhancing our creative process. We both wish to tell visually-stimulating, thought-provoking stories about the human condition. What sets us apart is the fact that we both started our careers as writers / filmmakers later in life. We see it as a blessing, because with experience comes knowledge. We have worked in other industries and have traveled extensively for the past twenty years. Collectively, we have seen and gone through much of what we use to develop our stories. We are most proud of our award-winning short film “The Woman Under The Tree”, which we co-wrote and produced, and worked tirelessly to bring to fruition. The film premiered at the Miami Film Festival in March 2020, and has been chosen to participate in many film festivals in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Like in every profession, challenges abound. Making a movie is no easy task. It is a competitive industry and getting your work noticed takes patience and perseverance. The biggest lessons from our journey come down to: Trust your vision. Build your tribe. Follow your instincts – they’re usually right. Ignore the naysayers – everyone has an opinion. If you want it badly enough, never give up!

Miami is an incredible city, full of life. Ordinarily, the list of things to do is endless. As South Beach locals, we might be a bit biased, but the beach is always a must! Having said that, right now we would tell our best friends not to visit until the covid19 virus is contained, and things reach some level of normalcy.

Prashant Thakker: For me, it began at the Miami Media and Film Market, a local film and entertainment marketplace that connects people in the industry. Each year, founder Patricia Arias, creative director Jose Luis Martinez, and the amazing MMFM team, bring together industry insiders who not only teach you about the business, but really encourage you to go after your dreams. I am forever grateful to MMFM for inspiring me to keep going. I also want to recognize James Franco, who spent a summer in New York teaching me and other filmmakers how to make a horror film. A big shoutout and thank you to director Karishma Kohli, whose webseries I script-supervised in India last year. This led to Karishma offering to direct our short film “The Woman Under The Tree” which I co-wrote and produced with Roberto. Last but not least, a shoutout to the awesome team who worked on our short.