Nandini Rao grew up in Bangalore, India, watching and dreaming of Hollywood. But it was when she trained at the Oxford School of Drama, years later, that she realised if she wanted to see flawed, funny characters from “emerging countries” on screens worldwide, she may have to write them herself. Cut to now—Nandini takes big swings, penning bold features and pilots from her uniquely international point of view. She spent several years in Stockholm before moving to Paris, where she currently lives on love and questionably fresh air.

• Awarded a grant from the French National Centre for Cinema (CNC) to co-write an international TV drama series (2025)

• Finalist for the Enderby Entertainment Fellowship and Semifinalist in the Comedy Feature Category at the Austin Film Festival (2024)

• Best TV Pilot at the Geneva International Science in Fiction Screenplay Awards (2023)

• Writer, co-director and co-producer of Spirit of the Forest (2022), an animated short film officially selected for more than 50 festivals around the world, including the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.

• Winner of the CANNESFILMS Unlimited residency in 2021—a programme organised by The Black List, Vivendi, Canal+ and the Université Côte d’Azur with the aim of nurturing the next generation of screenwriters.

LinkedIn | Black List | IMDb

nandini@lightercollective.com