UCLA SCREENWRITERS
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Sanj Krishnan

 Name: Sanj Krishnan
Graduation Year: 2020
Feature Track or TV Track: Feature Track
Contact Email: 
sanjkrishnan@g.ucla.edu

Short Bio: Sanj is a screenwriter based in London and Los Angeles. Born and raised in England (with a couple of years spent in India), he found a love of storytelling and filmmaking from a young age. So naturally he went and studied law, graduating with degrees from the London School of Economics and New York University. After working as a human rights and criminal defense barrister, with stints in policy work, he traded his powdered wig for a copy of Fade In Pro. Whilst at UCLA, Sanj received a Pigott/BAFTA Scholarship and a Ron Baham Memorial Fellowship in Comedy.

Short Artist Statement: Sanj's writing blends adventure, fantasy and magical realism with themes of power and oppression, family ties/shackles, and characters whose worldviews are upended by journeys to new worlds.

Logline #1: Coolie Crusade (feature) - A peasant brother and sister from India become indentured laborers in Belize as they search for powerful Maya artifacts that could give them a fair shot at life in the British empire—or the power to overthrow it.

Logline #2: THE HONOURABLE AND CHIVALROUS SIR GREGOR MACGREGOR OF POYAIS (feature) - The real-life story of a glory-hunting Scot who fights in South America's Wars of Independence and declares himself ruler of a fictitious country, defrauding investors and luring migrants to squalor and death in the 19th century equivalent of Fyre Festival.

Logline #3: Far from the Tree (half-hour) - After fleeing his despotic home country of Libertad, snowflake Simón has a good life and exile cred in the safe space of grad school in the USA. Until the State Department forces him to become a double agent and befriend the dictator back home — his father.

Name three movies or TV shows that inspire you: 
Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Princess Mononoke (1997)  ​
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  • Creative Directory
    • Class of 2021 >
      • Abreu, Lucas
      • Angonese, Kristen
      • Arthur, Zachary
      • Bernhardt, Payton
      • Cardamone, Giulia
      • Celani, Bia
      • Deibert, Adam
      • Flanagan, Vanita
      • Gallion, Candice
      • Garcia, Isabella
      • Gaudet, Kelly
      • Grush, Rosalind
      • Hamilton, Kody
      • Hirsch, Jacob
      • Huchton, Connor
      • Jennings, Matthew
      • Lena, Amber
      • Lyu, Philip
      • Natarajan, Divija Mohan
      • Schiff, Augustus
      • Sharp, Aaron
      • Silverman, Erica
      • Wen, Amy
      • Whitaker, Marian
      • Wolf, Caitlin
      • Wootton, Samuel
      • Zhao, Jen
    • Class of 2020 >
      • Adams, Katie
      • Allender, Miranda
      • Azul, DJ
      • Bentley, James
      • Chatham, Tyler
      • Dalton, Aaron
      • Danna, Tyler
      • Dawson, Sophie
      • Doyle, Megan Patricia
      • Jakim, Elyssa
      • Johnson, Julian
      • Joyce, Natasha
      • Kim, Regina
      • Krishnan, Sanj
      • McCain, Amber
      • Overy, Alexandra
      • Parker, Jaclyn
      • Sarin, Mrittika 'Mou'
      • Sprangers, Paul
      • Strickland, John
      • Wang, Gene
      • West, Aidan
      • Wilkins, Catherine
      • Wilson, Jordan
      • Wilson, Mark Skeele
      • Wynn, Trevor
      • Quintanar, Jacqueline Eva
    • Class of 2019 >
      • Ainsfeld, Jeff Austin
      • Bean, Abigail
      • Berger, Stephanie
      • Berger, Taylor
      • Borg, Christina
      • Dil, Tanha
      • DiTullio, Alex
      • Fuller, JorDan
      • Gurzi, Jeremiah
      • Hines, Ryan Michael
      • Johnson, Griffin
      • Kozak, Jessica
      • Losch, Ariana
      • Malhotra, Yashna
      • Monaghan, Amy
      • Pascal, Lea
      • Priest, Sonny
      • Rasso, Erika
      • Reilly, Shannon
      • Shaffer, Tyrrell
      • Shore, Kianna
      • Sim, Harrison
      • Soares, Barbara
      • Strathmore, Kelly
      • Wignall, Catherine
      • Yin, Yiyi
    • Class of 2018 >
      • Abedin, Cooper
      • Ademulegun, Bisi
      • Altunin, Yaroslav
      • Batavia, Julia
      • Beall, Charles
      • Buda, Liz
      • Chambers, Mark
      • Cieslar, Katrine
      • Emerson, Skye
      • Gilman, Dan
      • Hamill, Ian
      • Harter, Julia
      • Masters, Leon
      • Mizrahi, Jake
      • Moriarty, Julia
      • Pinzon, Nico
      • Potter, Jordan
      • Schmid, Belinda
      • Segal, Guido
      • Stratton, Danielle
      • Tino, Dan
      • Tucker, Trina
      • Vivell, Steven
      • Wankier, Andrew
      • Whang, Laura
      • Wolter, Kimberly-Rose
      • Yim, Paul
    • Class of 2017 >
      • Adams, Nick
      • Atrach, Dana
      • Calbert, David
      • Carnie, Karolyn
      • Elbogen, Eli
      • Giles Dunn, Raeann
      • Gordon, Jeff S.
      • Jahagirdar, Mitali
      • Kazer, Vincent
      • Larsen, Mads
      • Maloney, Maggie
      • Mejia, Natalia
      • Shields, Anthony
      • Siara, Joey
      • White, Lynelle
      • Zhu, Yijun
    • Class of 2016 >
      • Adeeb, Mouhamed
      • Christensen, Jeremy
      • Donovan, Christian
      • Karch, Kevin
      • Sachi, Shoshana
    • Additional Alumni >
      • Horton, Aubrey
    • Alumni in the News
  • Screenwriters Showcase
    • Showcase Info
    • 2020 Showcase Winners
    • 2019 Showcase Winners
    • 2018 Showcase Winners
    • 2017 Showcase Winners
    • Previous Winners
  • Incoming Students
    • Do Now
    • Enrollment
    • International Students >
      • Before You Arrive
      • After You Arrive
    • Bureaucracy Stuff
    • First Quarter Info
    • California Residency
    • Money and Working >
      • Internships
      • Scholarships, Fellowships, Grants
      • Teaching Assistantship
    • Questions Incoming Students Ask in June: Answered
    • Quotes and Advice >
      • Class Advice
      • Five Pointers
      • Got a Family? Read This!
      • “Incoming”
      • Specific Writing Tips
  • UCLA Life
    • Living in LA
    • Driving in LA
    • Health Insurance
    • Food on Campus
    • Westwood
  • Resources
    • Campus Info
    • International Screenwriters Association >
      • ISA Emerging Screenwriters Screenplay Competition
      • ISA FastTrack Fellowship
      • ISA Table Read My Screenplay
    • Nerative (script reading service)
    • Screenwriting Resources
    • Writing Contests
    • Writers' Lounge