Mindy Kaling & Riz Ahmed Among Inaugural Desi List Selection Jury; Black List Co-Founded Tally Spotlights South Asian Scribes

EXCLUSIVE: With 346 submissions since the Desi List was first announced earlier this year, the South Asian scribe spotlighting partnership between The Black List and The Salon has some big talent looking at the work of the talent of tomorrow.

“We’re committed to transforming the conversation on South Asian and Desi representation in TV and film” said The Salon’s co-founders Nik Dodani, Bash Naran, and Vinny Chhibber on new feature scripts and TV pilots. “Our goal is to shine a light on a forward-looking slate of scripts and retire the tropes and stereotypes that have defined our community on screen for so long,” the trio added.

“In order to ensure that the diversity of our large community is reflected in The Desi List – in terms of cultural background, professional experience, and creative taste – we’ve recruited an eclectic group of 43 writers, showrunners, directors, actors, producers, executives, agents, and managers to read and evaluate the submissions.”

The committee will look at through the lens of originality, character development, dialogue, pacing, structure, theme, market potential, and quality of representation, the Black List and The Salon say.

Among those nearly four dozen members of the selection committee are Mindy Kaling, Riz Ahmed, Kal Penn and Stargirl star Hina X. Khan. Hillman Grad Productions CEO and Lena Waithe producing partner Rishi Rajani, Delhi Crime 2 director Tanuj Chopra, Oscar winning producer Guneet Monga Kapoor, and performance artist ALOK are also on the Desi List selection committee.

Additionally, the multi-genre group include Aneesh Chaganty, The Salon co-founder/WME’s Naran, Bilal Baig, Chitra Sampath, Christine D’Souza Gelb, Danny Pudi, Janina Gavankar, Kabir Akhtar, Karan Soni, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Mallika Dhaliwal, and Maureen Bharoocha, Meera Menon, Munis Rashid, The Salon co-founder/Twisters‘ Dodani, Nikesh Shukla, Nikitha Menon, Nimitt Mankad, Prashanth Venkatarmanujam, Priya Satiani, Raj Raghavan, Rameez Khan, Reena Singh, Ritesh Mehta , Rohi Mirza Pandya, Roshan Sethi, Sameer Gardezi, Sanjay M. Sharma, Shayok Misha Chowdhury, Shivaani Sharma, Shruti Ganguly, Sim Hothi, Simran Baidwan, Smriti Mundhra, and Salon co-founder/Big Sky’s Chhibber round out the selection committee.

“The Desi List received 346 submissions, which is an astounding number of submissions for a Black List diversity list in its first year,” said Franklin Leonard noted of the response to the February announced project.

“It reflects the immense energy and deep bench of talent that exists in the South Asian community, and I can’t wait for the industry to read the scripts that this incredible committee selects,” The Black List foundered went on to say. “It would be unwise to ignore the scripts this committee chooses, the remarkable community of talent it represents generally, and the South Asian audience broadly.”

With that, the final selections for the very first Desi List are expected by the end of the year. Add that to your calendar, and of course the 20th anniversary picks for The Black List is coming in December too. Happy Holidays.