manjula varghese

Hello, Nice to meet you.

Hi nice to meet you.

My name is Manjula <—thats how you spell it, and this is how you pronounce it —> Mun-jo͞o-lah.

At a young age, I fell in love with storytelling through the endless books I would get from the library and the films I would rent from my local neighborhood video store. I loved wandering the isles discovering new authors, directors and ways of telling stories.

Stories allowed me to travel beyond the four walls of my home and see what the world had to offer me, and that is why I became a storyteller and filmmaker. I wanted to give that magical gift to others.

My passion led me to beautiful Salt Lake City, Utah, where I discovered that I didn’t like green jello but I did love the mountains and the southern red desert.

I founded my production company, Mirrorlake Films with a team of amazing creatives, and we focused on producing both long and short form documentaries. After a decade of producing work in Utah, I moved to the Bay Area where I discovered my love for It’s-It and pursued my master’s in journalism from the University of California Berkeley School of Journalism.

My work has been published in The New York Times, NYT Op-Docs, PBS, America Reframed, KQED, PBS News Hour, Science Friday, Blavity and The San Francisco Chronicle. I’ve also had films screen at the Tribeca Film Festival, Eugene International Film Festival, Culture Unplugged Festival, and most recently at the Indie Memphis Film Festival, TDP’19 International Festival, SFDance Film Festival, International Social Justice Film Festival.

My work has earned me five regional Emmys, a Telly Award, Society of Professional Journalism Award, the Susan Rasky Award for Journalistic Excellence in Political Reporting and the Open Call ITVS grant.

I believe strongly in giving back to my community and served as the Vice President of the Asian American Journalist Association SF chapter for three years and as a governor on the National Academy of Science and Technology Association Northern California Chapter board for two. I’m also involved with our local Brown Girls Doc Mafia and Video Consortium chapters.

I started on this adventure of filmmaking 20 years ago, and my love for the craft continues to grow.

I believe everyone has a story to tell, and what I do best is find the heart of your story and bring it to life for your audience.

I can’t wait to hear from you.