Geeta Vasant Patel (born December 22, 1975)[1] is an American film and television director, screenwriter, and producer best known for her work on Meet the Patels (2014), House of the Dragon (2022–24), and Ahsoka (2023).

Geeta Vasant Patel
Born (1975-12-22) December 22, 1975 (age 48)
Occupations
  • Film screenwriter
  • Television director
  • Film director
  • Producer
Years active2001–present
Notable work

Career

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In the early 2000s, Patel began her career by serving as an assistant writer on The Beast, The Fast and the Furious, Blue Crush, The Rundown, and Mindhunters.[2] In 2008, she made her directorial debut with the documentary film Project Kashmir.[3][4] In 2014, she directed and wrote her second documentary, Meet the Patels, with her brother Ravi V. Patel.[5] In October 2015, Fox Searchlight acquired the rights to remake the film, with the Patel siblings set to co-write and co-direct.[6][7]

In the 2010s, she directed episodes of Independent Lens, Sense8, The Mindy Project, Survivor's Remorse, Superstore, The Mick, Fresh Off the Boat, Speechless, Champions, Atypical, Santa Clarita Diet, Chambers, Dead to Me, Sweetbitter, and Runaways.[8][6][9] In the following decade, she worked on the television series The Magicians, The Great, and P-Valley.[2]

In January 2020, Patel was recruited to direct episodes 6 and 7 of The Witcher season 2,[10] but, in October, it was revealed that Patel was replaced by Louise Hooper, due to scheduling conflicts and refusing to be committed to a months-long stay in the United Kingdom, after production was suspended due to the COVID-19.[11] In 2023, she directed an episode of the Star Wars series Ahsoka.[12] In April 2024, she directed an episode of the streaming miniseries Under the Bridge.[13][14] By August 2024, she directed three episodes for the streaming series House of the Dragon.[15][16][17]

Filmography

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Feature film

Year Title Credited as Note(s)
Director Screenwriter Producer
2001 The Fast and the Furious No Associate No [2]
2002 Blue Crush No Associate No [2]
2003 The Rundown No Associate No [2]
2004 Mindhunters No Associate No [2]
2008 Project Kashmir Yes Yes Yes Also additional camera operator[3][4]
2014 Meet the Patels Yes Yes Yes Also cinematographer and editor[5]

Television

Year Title Credited as Note(s)
Director Screenwriter Producer
2001 The Beast No Associate Associate 6 episodes[9]
2010, 2016 Independent Lens Yes Yes Yes 2 episodes
Also cinematographer and editor[8]
2015 Sense8 2nd Unit No No 8 episodes[6]
2016–17 The Mindy Project Yes No No 3 episodes[9]
2016 Survivor's Remorse Yes No No Episode: "The Thank-You Note"[9]
2016–18 Superstore Yes No No 5 episodes[9]
2017 The Mick Yes No No Episode: "The Mess"[9]
Fresh Off the Boat Yes No No Episode: "Driving Miss Jenny"[9]
Speechless Yes No No Episode: "M-a-May-Jay"[9]
2018 Champions Yes No No 2 episodes[9]
Atypical Yes No No Episode: "Pants on Fire"[9]
2019 Santa Clarita Diet Yes No No Episode: "We Let People Die Every Day"[9]
Chambers Yes No No Episode: "Trauma Bonding"[9]
Dead to Me Yes No No 2 episodes[9]
Sweetbitter Yes No No 2 episodes[9]
Runaways Yes No No Episode: "The Broken Circle"[9]
2020 The Magicians Yes No No Episode: "Magicians Anonymous"[2]
The Great Yes No No 2 episodes[2]
P-Valley Yes No No Episode: "Belly"[2]
2022–24 House of the Dragon Yes No No 3 episodes[18][15]
2023 Ahsoka Yes No No Episode: "Part Seven: Dreams and Madness"[12]
2024 Under the Bridge Yes No Executive Episodes: "Looking Glass"[19]

Accolades

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For her work on Meet the Patels, she won the Audience Choice Award at the 2014 LA Film Festival, the Top 10 Audience Favorite at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, Best Feature Documentary at the Mt. Hood Independent Film Festival, the Audience Award at the Mosaic International South Asian Film Festival, and Best Documentary Film and Founders Grand Prize Best Film at the Traverse City Film Festival.[20][6] For her work on Under the Bridge, she was nominated at the 1st Gotham TV Awards for "Breakthrough Limited Series".[21]

References

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  1. ^ "GEETA PATEL NEWS". ETIMES (India). April 14, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Who Is Geeta Patel? Director Of 'House of the Dragon'
  3. ^ a b Schenker, Andrew. "Human Rights Watch 2008 Project Kashmir". Slant Magazine.
  4. ^ a b Yang, Chi-Hui (April 24, 2012). "Cinema Asian America: Directors Senain Kheshgi and Geeta Patel Discuss 'Project Kashmir'". Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  5. ^ a b Miller, Julie (September 10, 2015). "Introducing Meet the Patels, the Best 2015 Documentary That You Probably Haven't Heard Of". Vanity Fair. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d Fleming, Mike Jr. (October 21, 2015). "'Meet The Patels' In Fox Searchlight Remake Deal; Ravi And Geeta Patel To Write, Co-Direct". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  7. ^ Rao, Mallika (November 11, 2015). "Master of None's Ravi Patel on Doing the Infamous Indian Accent and the Second Coming of Aziz Ansari". Vulture. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  8. ^ a b "Meet the Patels | Documentary about Indian American Arranged Marriage | Independent Lens | PBS". PBS. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Meet Geeta Patel, The Indian-origin Director Behind House Of The Dragon's Highest Rated Episode
  10. ^ "Full director lineup of The Witcher Season 2 revealed". Redanian Intelligence. January 31, 2020. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  11. ^ "UPDATED: The Witcher Season 2 adds director Louise Hooper, replacing Geeta Patel". Redanian Intelligence. October 14, 2020. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  12. ^ a b Mitovich, Matt Webb (April 8, 2023). "Ahsoka: Lars Mikkelsen to Return as Grand Admiral Thrawn, David Tennant Will Again Voice the Droid Huyang". TVLine. Archived from the original on April 8, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  13. ^ Rice, Lynette (September 27, 2022). "Hulu Orders Eight-Episode Limited Series 'Under The Bridge'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  14. ^ Rice, Lynette (February 9, 2024). "Hulu Reveals Premiere Dates For 'Under The Bridge', 'The Contestant' & 'Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  15. ^ a b Scherer, Jenna (October 9, 2022). "House Of The Dragon drops its best episode yet". The A.V. Club. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  16. ^ Hullender, Tatiana (June 30, 2024). "House Of The Dragon Season 2, Episode 3: Director Breaks Down Daemon's Visions & Rhaenyra's Plan". Screen Rant. Retrieved October 6, 2024.
  17. ^ "Episode 8: 'The Queen Who Ever Was'". Warner Bros. Discovery. August 5, 2024. Retrieved October 6, 2024.
  18. ^ Steve Toussaint [@thegenuinetoussaint] (November 20, 2023). "And we're done! These are the numbers…. #HOTD" – via Instagram.
  19. ^ Petski, Denise (March 25, 2024). "'Under The Bridge' Trailer: Lily Gladstone & Riley Keough Search For A Killer In Hulu Series". Deadline. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  20. ^ Clayson, Jane (September 15, 2015). "One Surprisingly Modern Arranged Marriage". On PointWBUR. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  21. ^ Davis, Clayton (May 14, 2024). "Baby Reindeer, Shogun, X-Men '97 and Black Twitter Doc Lead Inaugural Gotham TV Awards Nominations". Variety. Retrieved October 6, 2024.
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