Karma Calling :: Filmmakers

Sarba holds her Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Yale University and an M.F.A. in directing at N.Y.U.’s Tisch School of the Arts where she was the recipient of the Helena Rubenstein Scholarship and the Willard T. Johnson Scholarship. She has made several short films including Passage, an all-Indian production shot in the eastern state of Orissa. Her most recent short film Mausi: or how an old lady finds her way back to India was featured at the Telluride Film Festival’s Filmmakers of Tomorrow program and was distributed by Canal+. Sarba is a fellow of Film Independent’s Director’s Lab. She is the 2006 recipient of the Richard Vague Award for first time feature directors. In 2002, she directed the documentary Nagas of the Kumbha Mela with her brother Sarthak with whom she collaborates as a writing duo.

Sarthak received a BA in Sanskrit/Indian Studies & Anthropology from Harvard University and also holds a Masters degree in Public Health from Yale University. At the 2001 Kumbha Mela the largest gathering of human beings on record (held in Allahabhad, India) , Sarthak lived among Naga Babas of the Juna Akhara, the oldest order of Hindu monks, and filmed Nagas of the Kumbha Mela with sister Sarba. As a brother-sister writing team, Sarthak and Sarba have written Spirit Rising an original spiritual thriller set in India and completed a rewrite of 125th and St. Nicholas for Morgan Freeman’s Revelations Entertainment. Most recently, Sarthak has completed Santa Paws, a canine Christmas comedy set in the American Southwest. He currently resides in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea.

Rita Parikh started her career in the film industry while still an undergraduate working on a Mira Nair film in India. Since then, she has participated in the production of over a dozen films including: Hurricane Belle (Producer), Boiler Room (Production Coordinator), and This Train (Line Producer). Rita holds a BA in Ethics, Politics, and Economics from Yale University and an MBA from Duke University.

Andy received her BA. in African American Studies and Women’s Studies from Bowdoin College, and also holds a Masters degree in Public Health from Yale University and Nurse Midwifery from the University of New Mexico. In addition to work in women’s health in the United States, Cameroon, Indonesia, India, and Papua New Guinea, Andy has worked in book publishing and jewelry design. Currently she resides in Papua New Guinea with her husband and son.

Peter is a New York based director, cinematographer and screenwriter working in fictional drama, independent avant-garde and documentaries. His feature length directorial debut began in 2004 with Carnival Roots which had a limited theatrical run in the United States and Europe and was nominated for an IDA award. His short films Half Pint, Marco Polo and Seven Rules of Life have competed at numerous film festivals including the Taos Talking Pictures film festival, Toronto film festival, American Film Institute (AFI Film Festival) and Silverdocs Film festival.

In January 2007, he received a grant from the Polish Film Institute to write his screenplay Frozen Fish – A Black Comedy. Peter was the recipient of the American Center artist-in-residence award and his artwork has been displayed in numerous galleries and magazines, such as Big magazine, Smithsonian and The Drama Review. He has taught screenwriting with E. Max Frye (Something Wild , Band of Brothers) at New York University in Paris. He received his M.F.A. in film directing from New York University.

Jeremy Carmone is a seasoned production designer whose credits are too numerous to count. He has worked either as production designer, art director or leadman on hundreds of commercials from Mercedes to Hallmark and music videos from Snoop Dogg to Gwen Stefani and pretty much everything in between. He has also worked on dozens of shows in television and occasionally on features films. He lives in Los Angeles.

Jessica Hernandez has been editing since 2003. Karma Calling is her first narrative feature. She started out cutting trailers for HBO Films and has since edited both scripted and unscripted projects in film and television. Currently, Jessica is wrapping post on the global graffiti documentary Bomb It. This is her third feature documentary preceded by Tierra y Libertad (Land and Liberty) directed by Scott Hamilton Kennedy. She also continues to work in television for networks such as ABC, MTV, VHI and BRAVO.

Herb Graham, Jr. has had an extensive career as a musician and music producer. He has produced and worked on records for artists such as John Cale, Macy Gray, Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, Kurt Elling, and Charlie Hunter. His band the B Sharp Jazz Quartet put out four critically acclaimed records while touring the world for six years. Karma Calling is the third feature film Herb has scored (The Collectors, Along for the Ride) as well as several shorts. He has consulted on music for films such as Manic and About Face. He also writes and scores for television shows airing on ABC, CBS, MTV, WE, and BET.