Aadip Desai is a Los Angeles based new dad, sideburns enthusiast, comedy writer, producer/co-host of the On The Page screenwriting podcast, and drummer for The Spanglers, a comedy musical act.
He will be a recruit on the fourth season of the popular Food Network reality show, The Worst Cooks In America.
His writing has appeared on The Conversation with Amanda de Cadenet, in City Arts Tacoma Magazine, Geekweek, Los Angeles Or Bust, and he blogged as President of the Northwest Screenwriters Guild. His produced work includes an award-winning romantic short, a Get Out The South Asian Vote PSA, and a math rock music video starring Leuko. As a stand-up comedian, Aadip has performed at The Improv, The Comedy Store, Flappers, Red Rock, and Elderberries. He also performed musical comedy at the Improv Lab, Upright Citizens Brigade, Steve Allen Theater, and SF Sketchfest.
Aadip has also interviewed/moderated panels featuring EMMY and OSCAR-winning filmmakers at The Northwest Screenwriters Guild, Austin Film Festival, and Pacific Northwest Writers Conference.
In the music business, Aadip music supervised several action sports films for Ally, a feature film called Unsung, and several commercials. He has interned for Randy Jackson at Sony Music, Capital Public Radio (NPR), and assisted Jim Wilke at Jazz After Hours (PRI). He managed the $5m global music account for Starbucks Coffee Company and programmed music at Muzak.
As a trumpet player, he has performed with Ramsey Lewis, T.S. Monk, Pancho Sanchez, Stanley Turrentine, Arturo Sandoval, Cleo Laine/John Dankworth, Jack Sheldon, Reggie Watts, Easy Big Fella, toured with The Diablotones supporting The Voodoo Glow Skulls (Epitaph Records), and recorded on Gardener’s New Dawning Time on Sub Pop Records.
As a drummer, Aadip has recorded, performed, and/or toured as a member of several bands, including The Far West, Juhu Beach, Martian Memo To God, and Pint O’Guinness.
Aadip’s training includes classes and workshops at The Groundlings, Upright Citizens Brigade, Writers Homicide School, UCLA Ext. and UW Ext. He’s also taken courses from Robert McKee, Steve Kaplan, Ellen Sandler, Blake Snyder, Pilar Alessandra, Jen Grisanti, Michael Hauge, Marilyn Atlas, and Walter Dalton.
He holds a BA in Economics and a Minor in Music from The University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA
Aadip lives in Los Angeles with his universally adored wife, his sassy newborn daughter, and two reactive Malteses. He melts when animals who are natural enemies become friends, enjoys a good TV slap fight, and marvels at the plethora of items that can be stuffed into a pizza crust.
Here's a glossary I've written in an attempt to help get your head around the terminology often used in screenwriting, TV writing, and the film industry writ large. It is by no means comprehensive, and there is much debate about what some of the terms may mean. But, it's a start. Enjoy. Above The Line: Expenditures/costs negotiated/spent before filming begins, including source material rights (for adaptations) and salaries ...
Creative folks, if you are contemplating giving up on your dream, please read this essay Ang Lee wrote post-Brokeback Mountain. It's just what I needed and felt very familiar (Asian pressure to be something respectable, young dad, money is tight). He was lucky enough to have a supportive partner, and even if you don't have one consider us all your emotional patrons. http://whatshihsaid.com/2013/02/26/ang-lee-a-never-ending-dream/
I got behind on my movie watching, so I just crammed a whole bevy of films down my throat. The Brood: Cronenberg. Very dated, but cool. It has one of the most disturbing scenes of any movie in it--at the climax. Very f-ed up. Teeth: Vagina Dentata. Yep, that's pretty much it. Hulk: Pretty cool. Live Tyler was wispy as usual. Graphics were killer, except I wanted to see a ...
One of my favorite comics of all time just passed away. When Laura and I merged our households, we had a few duplicate DVDs: Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and Reservoir Dogs. Another thing we both shared was a love of stand-up comedy--Foxx, Pryor, Cosby, Murphy, Rock, Seinfeld, Rickles, Smothers Brothers, Newhart, Rivers, Carvey, Mac, Cook, etc. AND Kevin Smith films. George Carlin fits ...
Tonight, I watched Untraceable with Diane Lane. No, she wasn't there with me (I wish), but she happens to be the star of the film. This was an interesting movie because it combined some of the graphic aspects of Saw with a cyber-thriller tone. This was directed by Gregory Hoblit (Fracture, Hart's War, Frequency, Fallen, Primal Fear), and I think it's worth seeing for several reasons. 1st: It is set ...
Just got back from Spokane for the Democratic State Convention. What did I learn? I learned that politicians' stump speeches are actually pitches to the voters. It's all very similar to our story/screenplay pitches where we need a solid hook with a concrete beginning, middle, and end, a repeated theme, a focused delivery, and emotional impact. Yesterday, I finished the rough draft of my next script. Of course it's ...
So Katherine Heigl in today's news pulled her name from the running in this year's EMMY awards. She told Tom O'Neil, "I did not feel that I was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination and in an effort to maintain the integrity of the academy organization, I withdrew my name from contention. In addition, I did not want to potentially take away an opportunity from an ...
Laura is back in town, so we were able to go see (or hear) Jack Black and company in Kung Fu Panda. It had a couple different styles of animation (dream sequences vs. the rest of the thing), great sound, and followed the Vogler/Campbell/Snyder methods very closely. The beats just hit right on time. This movie is just plain fun. I highly suggest seeing it with kids--it helps ...
As many of you know, I try to keep up on what's being sold down in the old H-W. So after analyzing the recent sales posted on Done Deal Pro, I was slightly disheartened. Out of the 21 sales: 9 - Adaptations (comic books, graphic novels, novels, video games) 5 - Original Specs (2 of which are under Hilary Swank's prod co) 3 - Remakes of films (the original films were adaptations of books or ...
Today was a good day. #1 - I got to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. No spoilers here, I promise. I thought it started out a little slow and expositional, but Laura reminded me that they needed to set it up for the younger viewers. OK, I'll give her that one. I thought once the ol' hat and lasso were back in the picture, it was ...