FSTVS - The Sandbox Sessions - Chitra Soundar

In this episode of the Festivus Sandbox Sessions, Rachel Bardill sits down with Chitra Soundar - award-winning author, storyteller, and screenwriter - for a rich and inspiring conversation about what it really takes to build a career in children's media. Chitra shares her remarkable journey: from oral storytelling as a child in Chennai's film-making heartland, through a career in computer science and multinational business, to quitting her day job in 2018 to write full-time. She opens up about the unconventional choices that defined her path. We hear about her research process, the UCLA vs. NFTS dilemma, a timely COVID refund, and the Manimation 2019 conference that helped her zero in on her passion: preschool storytelling. All roads led to Nikhil & Jay - her groundbreaking animated series about two brothers growing up in a dual-heritage UK family. Chitra also tackles the big question of global storytelling — why Western markets resist stories from the rest of the world, and why that needs to change. A must-listen for anyone building a career in children's media. More at fstvs.net