Committed to supporting unique voices which resonate universally, No Pressure Productions creates high-concept, independent films for the global marketplace.

With this combination of low-budget, high marketability and high playability for each of the films on its slate, No Pressure Productions creates studio projects at indie prices, designed to transcend boundaries and engage international audiences.

SOMAN CHAINANI

Soman Chainani is a graduate of the MFA Film Program at Columbia University, and the recipient of the school's top prize, the FMI Fellowship for writing and directing. In addition, Soman is the recipient of the CINE Golden Eagle Prize for excellence in directing, a coveted award which launched the careers of Ron Howard, Steven Spielberg, and Robert Altman. His short films have played over 150 international film festivals, won over 20 jury and audience awards, and secured theatrical and ancillary distribution in over 100 territories.

Before joining the Columbia University film program, Soman graduated Harvard University in 2001, summa cum laude and top-ranked in his field, with a degree in English & American Literature. He then worked alongside Mira Nair at the acclaimed director's production company, Mirabai Films, and was the co-founder of the South Asian International Film Festival, the largest event of its kind in the country, now entering its fourth year in New York City.

SUHANE SAPNE ('SWEET DREAMS'), Soman's first short film, was shot in December 2004 in Bombay, India, toured with Asian Cinevision, and ultimately concluded its festival run with a rare theatrical release in Bombay.

In 2005, Soman directed DAVY & STU, an adaptation of Anton Dudley's acclaimed stage play. DAVY & STU became one of the most celebrated short films of 2006, winning Grand Jury awards at the Rhode Island International Film Festival, the Hamptons International Film Festival, and the CINE Awards during its international tour which took it to over 50 events on five continents. DAVY & STU has been acquired for distribution in over 100 international territories, and in November 2007 was released exclusively in North America by Strand Releasing, as part of the long-standing, best-selling BOYS LIFE series.

Soman's latest and biggest short film, KALI MA, exploded onto the international festival scene, winning jury or audience prizes at its first three events in Honolulu, New York City, and Philadelphia. It then played over 55 film festivals on 6 continents, including events in Seattle, Dublin, Sao Paolo, Johannesburg, Lisbon, Melbourne, San Francisco, Copenhagen, Warsaw, Moscow, New Orleans, Tehran, Madrid, and Mumbai, and recently was featured in The Times of India, the country's largest newspaper as one of the 'undiscovered gems' of the year. Only two days after its premiere, KALI MA finalized North American distribution with PictureThis Entertainment, international distribution with Ouat Media, and premiered on the MTV-owned channel LOGO in October 2007.

Soman's first feature script, LOVE MARRIAGE, was the subject of front-page features in the Bombay Times, Hindustan Times, and Times of India, and was a finalist in the prestigious C.A.P.E. Foundation Competition, NewDraft Competition, selected for the IFP Market, and shortlisted for Expo 5 and the 2006 Sundance Screenwriters and Sundance Directors' Lab. In October 2007, Soman's script LOVE MARRIAGE won the coveted Pearl Grant at the first Middle East Film Financing Circle, given by a jury selected from 40 top international film executives, including Harvey Weinstein, Paul Haggis, former BBC head David Thompson, Hyde Park CEO Ashoke Amitraj, and celebrated Asian producer Nansung Shi. The story of an Indian family torn apart by dueling weddings, LOVE MARRIAGE will be produced by Ophira Dagan (SWIMMERS), Tracy Brimm (FAR FROM HEAVEN), and Kate Myers and likely go into production in late 2008 or early 2009.

In November 2007, Soman was invited as part of the CBS Directing Initiative to shadow director Joshua Marston (MARIA FULL OF GRACE) on the set of the upcoming CBS series SWINGTOWN. In 2008, he also attended the prestigious Berlinale Talent Campus as part of the Berlin Film Festival, invited on the strength of his writing and directing. This year, he was also nominated for a NewNowNext Award, sponsored by LOGO, in the Brink of Fame category for his work as a writer/director.

Soman currently lives in New York City.

SUNIL SADARANGANI

Sunil Sadarangani has worked as a producer on an array of international projects including Bollywood Extras, Indien Pa Vag, and the highly acclaimed September Tapes, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004 and was released theatrically by First Look Media.

He is currently producing an international feature documentary on religions of the world, part of a 15 hour series to broadcast on Al Jazeera's new channel. The series is a UK-Lebanese production, filmed in Delhi, Amritsar, Dharamsala, Mumbai and Varanasi that covers religions including Sikhism, Tibetan Buddhism and Hinduism. Sadarangani arranged a 1-hour exclusive interview with the Dalai Lama for the documentary.

Sunil has worked as an Assistant Director to many prominent filmmakers including Jaideep Punjabi (American Desi), Ashim Aluwahlia (Film Republic), and Richard Solarz (Bollywood Extras). Sadarangani has also directed his own documentary, Nimble Feet, about Mumbai children who sell newspapers and magazines at traffic signals. He has also worked extensively in theater as a producer, production manager, and actor.

Sadarangani spends half the year in Mumbai and half the year in New York City.

PURNA VIRJI

Purna Virji is a multiple-award winning producer who has worked on an array of international projects in film, television and theater.

She is currently producing the show "Student Voices on PSTV", as part of the national Student Voices campaign. Purna has also produced the Emmy-nominated talk show series on WYBE-TV, Philadelphia which featured guests such as world renowned spiritualist Deepak Chopra, chief adviser to the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Roberth Thurman, and Nobel Prize winners Wangaari Mathai and Betty Williams.

Purna was recently awarded the prestigious Telly Award for her show on the families of soldiers in Iraq, as well as the PAB Award for the Best Public Affairs Show/Talk Show Series.

Purna graduated from the esteemed University of Wales, Cardiff, in Britain, where she received her Masters degree in International Journalism. She is currently based in Philadelphia, but travels frequently for work.

AUSTEN RACHLIS

Austen Rachlis is a second-year MFA candidate at Columbia University in New York, where she is concentrating in screenwriting. She received her BA in American Studies from Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, where she received a Harold F. Johnson Scholarship (a four-year award for outstanding academic achievement). Portions of her senior thesis, entitled "X-Philes, Gamers, and The Tomahawk Chop: The Fan in Modern America," were originally published in The American Prospect Online, where she interned in the summer of 2002.

While only a senior in high school, she served as a post-production intern on the Academy Award-winning documentary, Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories from the Kindertransport (Best Feature Documentary, 2001). She recently worked as a research intern for the multiple-award-winning PBS documentary series, POV, for which she received a grant from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Austen's first short film, Love, Tenderness, and Swelling, a romantic comedy involving spilled coffee, full body patient assessments, and witty repartee, has screened at various venues around New York City.

In the summer of 2005, she wrote and produced a short film, Chavez, starring Louis Arcella, who recently co-starred with Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger in Door in the Floor. Directed by Columbia classmate Khary Saeed Jones, and telling the story of a fading Mexican television star facing his future and understanding what it means to be a star, Chavez was selected as part of Cinequest San Jose's Viewer's Voice competition and is currently under consideration at major festivals worldwide.

Austen is currently working on her third feature screenplay.

SEHR THADHANI

Writer-producer Sehr Thadhani is an internationally renowned musician who has sung at The White House, The MCI Center and The Kennedy Center. She was recently featured in The Bombay Times as one of India's up-and-coming stars, and is currently preparing her debut record for a major studio release next year.

Sehr is currently developing two television shows for No Pressure Productions, as well as associate producing the short film KALI MA.