Here Come The Cinema Angels!

Nayar along with a group of established Hollywood producers and financers has founded Filmaka.com, a twice monthly online subscription based worldwide competition to discover new talent. Besides Nayar, the Filmaka group includes Thomas Augsberger, Christopher Sharp, Robert Herman, Tim Levy, Mahesh Mathai, Kurt Woolner and Colin Firth.

Film-makers are asked to make a short film on a given subject and submit it for competition in any language from any part of the world. Cash prizes of $3,000 are awarded for the periodic contests and at year’s end the most talented director will be given a full production deal for a feature film from Filmaka. The company also offers revenue sharing to short films it decides to pick up for distribution.  The yearly subscription of $5 allows members to upload films while the premium fee of $15 allows them to also submit their films for the contest. The first contest “Stuck in Traffic” garnered entries from 13 countries.

In the past, Nayar has put together financing packages for first time filmmakers, producing 7-teen Sips directed by Stephen Berra, Harlem Aria for William Jennings, and Matt Dillon’s directing debut City of Ghosts. He says, “I am an independent producer and feel it is my job to discover new talent, new voices and if I can find them and they become successful, then I have done my job.”