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 ...
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 ...
...I was wrong. Growing up, I thought, "When I get old and grumpy, I'll go live in a cabin away from everybody, and then I can write and play music and not be bothered." I was wrong. I just spent nearly a week in a cabin (it's not really a cabin, it's much nicer than my house), without another living soul, except for my dog, Brando. Sure, the ...
A little birdie told me that past guest, Walter Dalton, is at the Cannes Film Festival with his lovely wife. The last two films he acting in are being shown there. I can't wait to chat with him when he gets back. Soooo coool. Speaking of cool. I'm up at a "cabin" near Lake Wenatchee, trying to get my next feature done. How lucky am I?! If I ...
Love is in the air. Actually, it's not love, it's the season of pitching. We're hosting our own PitchFest, equal parts workshop and competition (with prizes). We're also co-hosting a PitchSlam with IFP and SIFF. The Great American PitchFest is coming. Expo is in the fall. Whoa. Pitches are like a job interview and speed dating combined. How should you prepare for a pitchfest? First, read Stephanie Palmer's excellent book, ...
I just got back from my "Save The Cat" Writing Group, comprised of all Guild members, except for one, K8. She'll join soon, I just know it. Anyway, we had a good session where they broke down the first 20 pp of my next feature and read some awesome beats from Van's new feature project. Got home and watched some NBC finales off the DVR, specifically The Office and ER. I ...
I've never met anyone who's flight was almost two hours late and they were still in such good spirits. Actually, nobody is in a good mood at the airport. I knew when I picked up Marilyn Atlas from Sea-Tac and she was all smiles, that we were in a for a real treat this weekend. Coincidentally, Seth Talley, after a year of working on this event, is back from LA ...
As many of you know we've been positively slammed over at the ol' NWSG. Planning for our spring/summer program has been exhausting, but extremely rewarding. I'm learning the art and science of delegation instead of taking on too much. Damn Virgos, always overextending ourselves. We just hosted the Way of Story Workshop with Catherine Ann Jones. What a wonderful event! 15 writers showed up and tackled their inner fears, wrote ...
Past guest and buddy of mine, Sanjay Shah (Story Editor at King of the Hill) is pleased to announce that an episode he wrote, called "Pour Some Sugar on Kahn" will air tomorrow, Sunday March 30th at 8:30PM. He says it no longer has anything to do with the very great Def Leppard song by the (almost) same name because the script changed a lot from the first draft because ...
I don't know how this got past me. I guess we've been swamped over the Guild. According to Variety, Producer-writer-director Anthony Minghella died at the age 54 of a brain hemorrhage. His credits include "Cold Mountain," "The Talented Mr Ripley," "The English Patient" and "Truly Madly Deeply." I was a huge fan of both Cold Mountain and Talented Mr. Ripley. It's sad to ...