Life & Work with Vaishnavi Vasudevan

Today we’d like to introduce you to Vaishnavi Vasudevan.

Hi Vaishnavi, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My story probably started when I was eight years old. I used to enjoy reading the newspaper and learning about governance and politics. Years later, news turned into a passion and my profession. My career path was rather clear and simple. I wanted to be a journalist and storytelling through the visual medium was my interest. I started to chase my dream and interned during my undergrad. Soon, at the age of 20, I landed a job as a reporter in one of the leading national newspapers in India, Hindustan Times. Since then, there was no looking back for me. I moved from print to television news and covered stories on a variety of subjects – ranging from politics, crime, legal and government. I was one of the only four reporters in the western region of India representing the Times Network’s national news channel, Times Now. I traveled across the country for state and prime ministerial elections, chased politicians, uncovered scams, and investigated big stories that became the talking points in the country. I enjoyed every moment as a journalist and being able to live my dream was a blessing.

As I did interviews and the big stories, I also worked on some really interesting long-form stories/ news documentaries. The subjects were interesting and telling a story in the long-form gave me a certain level of satisfaction, which I felt was a little more than doing daily news. In daily news, there were time limitations and a fast format of producing news. But with documentaries, I could tell the full story with care and much more time, depth and critical thinking. I knew this form of non-fiction storytelling had a bigger platform than just a news channel. Thanks to the advent of OTT platforms, it was starting to grow faster and wider. It is then that I decided to polish my skills in documentaries and get a formal education (a Master’s degree had been long pending). I chose the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Now my alma mater, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism awarded me a 90% scholarship. Yet another dream came true. I graduated from one of the world’s best journalism schools and worked with some well-known industry professionals, who were my mentor and guide for two years. It gave me the confidence and skills to step into the big world of documentaries. Today, here I am, working with an Oscar and Emmy-nominated director whose work is known for South Asian representation in the entertainment industry. I feel privileged to be currently working as one of the producers on projects for three big OTT platforms.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Well, each one of us faces many challenges in our journeys and so did I. A profession like journalism comes with many professional hazards, often threats and other personal issues. There’s never a work-life balance and health is almost always compromised. I had faced a number of such professional and personal challenges during my journey as a journalist. The changing landscape of journalism over the past decade and coping with it is one such challenge.

Honestly as journalists, there are challenges every day and I have just grown over the years taking these obstacles head-on and finding solutions to the problems that come my way. It’s a skill I have learned through experience – the skill to think on my feet, manage people and think critically from different perspectives – all this at once (often in a few seconds). It’s so naturally imbibed in me now that I tend to apply in everything I do and perhaps will continue to do so in future.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a journalist with a specialization in documentaries. I produce and direct documentaries. I recently produced and directed an investigative documentary titled ‘Clean Up’. It centered around the journey of billions of masks, gloves and personal protective equipment we disposed of during the pandemic. The impact of the waste has been unimaginable and it’s a story that was untold. In 2020 during the height of the pandemic, I left home with my camera and followed a waste picker in Mumbai who collected thousands of tons of waste from hospitals. What started as a curiosity to track its journey turned into a gripping investigative documentary. The deeper I delved into it, the more shocking stories I encountered. The film soon expanded beyond India and the documentary covered the challenges faced around the globe, including in the UK, Southeast Asian countries and the United States. I feel really satisfied about telling this story and being able to bring to light the large-scale impact of the waste on the environment. ‘Clean Up’ recently won the Los Angeles Film Awards for the Best Documentary and was also selected to be aired on Spectrum News for their 11+ million subscribers.

I love telling such important but often untold stories. I think that’s where my journalism background helps. Usually, documentaries are learned in the film school that mostly focuses more on the production and marketing aspects of filmmaking, but having a degree in documentaries from the journalism school has helped me to focus more on storytelling, critical thinking and ethics rather than just the production. I believe that’s a rare combination of skills to possess and I am extremely proud of it because nonfiction is not just about bringing real stories but it also requires a journalistic approach. That makes it a credible and impactful documentary and I feel my experience as a journalist plays a crucial role here.

What’s next?
I am eagerly looking forward to working on the upcoming big projects. It is a great opportunity for me and I want to give my best in whatever I do. What’s most exciting is that some of these stories are from South Asia and being able to represent their culture and stories and to bring more diverse stories in the world of documentaries is a great opportunity for me.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.vaishnavivasudevan.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vaishnavi-vasudevan-98009973
• Twitter: vaishnavi_1001