Saila, a filmmaker, writer, and entrepreneur pursued a career as an electrical engineer and builder while dreaming of filmmaking and writing. After obtaining her Ph.D. in electrical engineering, Saila worked as an engineer, manager, and marketeer at IBM and at a start-up. She also founded a residential construction company, Mukti Properties.
Saila studied film at San Jose State University and was the valedictorian of the class of 2008. She made several short films before embarking on her first feature which she wrote, directed, and co-produced. The Valley is the story of an Indian American entrepreneur seeking answers after the suicide of his daughter; it is a commentary on the anxiety and depression faced by young people, especially in Silicon Valley. It was selected by over twenty film festivals and won best feature film in four, notably being invited to the Mumbai Film Festival. The Valley is currently streaming on Peacock. Her other feature screenplays include Gods and Demons, Love in the Time of Corona, Release, Gray and Jesus Land, which is currently in development. She is a member of The Writer’s Grotto, Film Fatales, and SFFilm.
Saila is married and has two grown daughters, Sabina Kariat (an animator and illustrator) and Tara Kariat (an arts administrator). She lives in the SF Bay Area with her husband and dog Kaya.
www.sailakariat.com- The Valley (Trailer)
Neal Kumar is a successful entrepreneur living in Silicon Valley. He has an enormous mansion, a beautiful wife, and two daughters in college. His world is shattered when his bright and sensitive younger daughter, Maya tragically commits suicide during her freshman year. He struggles with his own mental health, the pressures of pushing his new start-up to success and answering his lingering questions as to why his seemingly perfect life is unraveling. Neal’s quest to find out the truth about his daughter’s suicide propels him on an increasingly frantic journey that brings him to the brink of disaster.