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Nisha Ganatra
Born (1974-06-25) June 25, 1974 (age 50)
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Alma mater New York University
Occupation
  • Actress
  • filmmaker
Years active 1996–present

Nisha Ganatra (born June 25, 1974) is a Canadian-American film director, screenwriter, producer, and actress. She is known for her work on both movies and TV shows. Nisha wrote, directed, and produced the independent comedy drama Chutney Popcorn (1999). She also directed the independent film Cosmopolitan (2003) and the romantic-comedy Cake (2005).

Nisha Ganatra has directed many popular television shows. These include The Real World, Transparent, You Me Her, Better Things, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. She also directed the comedy-dramas Late Night (2019) and The High Note (2020). Nisha was a consulting producer for the first season of Transparent. For this work, she was nominated for a big award, the 2015 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series.

Becoming a Filmmaker

Nisha Ganatra was always interested in films. She first explored this interest through acting. Later, she decided she wanted to direct and make films herself. She felt that filmmaking was a powerful way to share stories and ideas.

Nisha started her journey at The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Even though she wasn't officially studying film, she found ways to learn. She would attend screenwriting classes to learn how to write movie scripts. This helped her start making her own short films.

She then moved to New York City to study film at New York University Film School (NYU). While at NYU, she created a short film called Junky Punky Girlz (1997). This film won a special award from NYU, the Tisch Fellowship. It was also named the most outstanding short film by PBS. Nisha graduated from New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts.

Nisha's Career in Film and TV

While still in film school, Nisha Ganatra directed episodes of MTV's TV series The Real World in 2001. Before this, she had already written and directed two short films. She also made her well-known independent film Chutney Popcorn (1999).

Nisha is part of a special program with NBC. This program helps talented female directors get the same chances as male directors. Female directors in the program get to watch and learn from experienced directors on a TV series. After learning, they get to direct at least one episode of that show themselves.

Nisha noticed that male cinematographers often had more impressive work examples. This was not because they were more talented. It was because they often had bigger budgets and better equipment. This made Nisha want to help other women in film. She decided to hire female cinematographers and try to hire more women for her film crews. In 2020, it was announced that ABC was developing a new comedy show. Nisha Ganatra is set to write, direct, and produce this show.

Movies and TV Shows

Short Films

Nisha has directed and written several short films.

Year Title Director Writer Producer
1996 Junky Punky Girlz Yes Yes No
1997 Drown Soda Yes Yes Yes
2014 Code Academy Yes Yes Yes

Feature Films

Nisha Ganatra has directed many full-length movies.

  • Chutney Popcorn (1999) (She also wrote and produced this film)
  • Fast Food High (2003)
  • Cake (2005)
  • Late Night (2019)
  • The High Note (2020)
  • Freakier Friday (2025)

Nisha has also acted in some movies.

Year Title Role
1999 Chutney Popcorn Reena
2000 The Acting Class Exotic Dancer
2005 Bam Bam and Celeste Linda
2011 Small, Beautifully Moving Parts Mother

Television Series

Nisha has directed many episodes for different TV shows.

Year Title Director Producer Notes
2001 The Real World: Back to New York Yes No 4 episodes
2002 The Real World/Road Rules: Battle of the Seasons Yes No 1 episode
2011 Futurestates Yes No 1 episode, also writer
2012 Haven Yes No 1 episode
Big Time Rush Yes No 1 episode
2014 Transparent Yes Consulting 3 episodes
2015 The Mindy Project Yes No 1 episode
Mr. Robot Yes No 1 episode
Married Yes No 3 episodes
Red Oaks Yes No 2 episodes
2016 Shameless Yes No 1 episode
Brooklyn Nine-Nine Yes No 1 episode
You Me Her Yes Co-executive 10 episodes
Better Things Yes Co-executive 3 episodes
2017 Girls Yes No 1 episode
Dear White People Yes No 2 episodes
Fresh Off The Boat Yes No 1 episode
Future Man Yes No
2018 Love Yes No
2019 Black Monday Yes No 1 episode
2022 And Just Like That... Yes No
Welcome to Chippendales Yes No

TV Movies

Nisha has also directed and worked on movies made for television.

Year Title Director Writer Producer
2003 Cosmopolitan Yes No No
2008 The Cheetah Girls: One World No Yes No
2013 The Hunters Yes No Yes
2013 Pete's Christmas Yes No Yes
2016 Center Stage: On Pointe No Yes No
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