Gender Matters
Brilliant Stories funding
BIographies

The Sound of Mumbai

Michelle Sahayan Producer

In 2014 Michelle Sahayan launched Grand Pacific Picture Company under which she is developing original stories with international audiences in mind. Her debut feature, Diamond Dogs, is currently being packaged by CAA and has been fully financed at $US15 million. From 2010 to 2014 she worked as an Executive at Archer Street Films. Working alongside British Producer, Andy Paterson, she was the Associate Producer of The Railway Man, which was directed by Jonathan Teplitzky, and featured Oscar winners Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman. She previously worked on the Australian/UK film, Burning Man. In 2014 she attended the Rotterdam Talent Lab, and in 2013 she received a Diploma with Honours in Script Development from the UK’s NFTS. In 2011 she was awarded an Emerging Producers Grant by Screen Australia. Michelle has produced short films, music videos, TV commercials and factual content, and worked with award-winning production companies, such as 1st Avenue Machine (US/UK), Bootleg Films (UK), Fieldtrip (UK) and Collider (Australia). She has filmed in locations such as Argentina, South Africa, Australia, the UK, Asia and Europe. Previously she worked in the media and marketing industries, launching two magazine titles, Nylon Australia and Famous, into the competitive Australia/NZ market.

Sarah McCarthy Writer / Director

Sarah McCarthy is an Australian filmmaker based in London. Her feature documentaries, The Sound of Mumbai and The Dark Matter of Love, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival to rave reviews and strong international sales. Praise for The Sound of Mumbai includes, “It’s one of the most emotional films we’ve ever shown, in fact just thinking about it right now makes me choke up” from Head Programmer, Thom Powers, and “We are deeply in love with this documentary” from HBO Films President, Sheila Nevins. Sarah was born in Sydney and raised on the Sunshine Coast. She attended the Queensland University of Technology Film School before moving to London to work in documentary development at the BBC and RDF. Her previous television credits include Murderers on the Dance Floor for Channel 4 and Black Widow Granny for the BBC. Sarah was the subject of Morgan Spurlock's film, Committed, which documented her experience of premiering The Sound of Mumbai at the TIFF at the tender age of 27. A committed storyteller with the ability to get to the heart of her subject matter, the narrative adaptation of The Sound of Mumbai will mark Sarah’s transition into narrative feature films.

< Back to Brilliant Stories funding