Gandja Monteiro is a director, writer and producer based in Los Angeles and Mexico City. Raised between New York's Lower East Side and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, she has been making films since she was 17 and traveling the world since she was just three months old. This early exposure to such vast cultures instilled a curiosity that has always inspired and informed her work. The desire to discover new people and places has fueled her love of film and storytelling and has led to countless adventures. She is a graduate of NYU Film School at Tisch School of the Arts and AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women. It was recently announced that Gandja will direct the Universal Pictures feature TALENT SHOW, written by Lena Waithe and to be produced by State Street Pictures and Hillman Grad. Gandja directed 2 episodes of VIDA Season 2 on Starz which just premiered to rave reviews and just booked an episode of the CW series IN THE DARK, as well as an episode of Showtime’s acclaimed series THE CHI. Gandja has directed work in more than a dozen countries, four continents and eight languages; and commercials and branded content for industry heavy-hitters such as Nike, Adidas, Google, Coca-Cola, AT&T, Chevrolet and Smirnoff, and music videos for rappers like Pusha-T. BENEATH THE CANOPY, a film she directed for Google Brand Studio, was shortlisted at the 2018 Cannes Lions Festival. She participated in the 2018 Universal Directors Initiative and the 2018 Fox’s Director’s Lab