It's time to re-invent the high school feature movie - breaking tropes and featuring characters that would only typically appear on the sidelines. We want to showcase a unique and lovable lead character that has a different trajectory to growth than the usual nerd to prom queen.
It's time to re-invent the high school feature movie - breaking tropes and featuring characters that would only typically appear on the sidelines. We want to showcase a unique and lovable lead character that has a different trajectory to growth than the usual nerd to prom queen.
Participating In

Hometown Heroes 2017
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Story
Mission Statement
This feature film showcases a teenage Indian girl in America. Our story showcases various ethnicities, sexualities, and provides several strong relationships between women. Behind the camera, we have an international film team, including our amazing female director/co-writer. Prarthana Mohan.About The Project
We wrote it because we were sick of them. You know, “Coming of Age” stories featuring guys and their all too familiar problems in high school. In the end, they have a happy ending where the protagonist learns to deal with love, friendship, and conquering puberty!
...All that heartwarming stuff.
But, that’s not how we grew up. For both of us women, we didn’t see any protagonists who went through puberty like we did—all the girls in Film and TV seemed to wake up one day beautiful and perfect. Not us. Where was the agony?
The terribly awkward?
There were hardly any characters that spoke like us, looked like us, and had experiences that resonated with us. Characters who could let us know we weren’t alone. And that’s what united us to create The Miseducation of Bindu. While we could identify with those painfully hard years of high school, Prarthana provided conflicting realities of being a young girl growing up in a conservative family from India.
Experiences of a girl caught, not only between girlhood and womanhood but a girl with a foot in India’s traditional past and the promise of global future where she can blend in to be whomever she wants to be. From that self-conscious discomfort, we met and fell in love with our painfully bright, awkward heroine: Bindu, a 14-year-old Indian American girl.We loved Bindu for the pureness of her emotions and feared for her as she approached the hallowed halls of public high school, completely unprepared for what came next. We united our voices and wrote the coming-of-age yearning inside of us.
The Miseducation of Bindu was inspired by A Girl’s Own Story and Welcome to the Dollhouse because they each have a voice to show unflinching, brutal awkwardness of young women coping with sexuality, and Napoleon Dynamite because of the film’s ability to scrutinize the numerous bizarre facets of life—and laugh at the truth of it.
Incentives
$10
Thank you for your support!
A massive thank you from the production team for contributing and being part of this adventure!
$25
Sharable Shout-out!
Ever wanted to see what it would be like to see your name all over social media? Here is your chance!
$50
Key Chain/Pin
Get yourself cool key chain or pin to show your support for the movie!
$75
Copy of the Film
If you are feeling a little more generous, you get the copy of the film itself. You can show off to everyone that you helped get that film made.
Claimed: 43 of 50
$100
Copy of the Script
Nothing cooler than a script. You can see how it all began, on the page, the real deal.
Sold Out!
$150
Signed Movie Poster
Get your very own copy of the movie's poster signed by cast & crew.
Claimed: 6 of 30
$200
Signed Copy of the Movie
What is better than a copy of the movie? A copy signed by the cast & crew.
Claimed: 9 of 30
$250
Signed Copy of the Script
Your very own copy of the script, signed by all the actors and crew.
Claimed: 8 of 15
$300
Script reviewed by Script Doctor
Have your script reviewed and covered by a professional script doctor with over 10 years of experience
Claimed: 0 of 15
$350
IMBd credit and Special Thanks!
Ever wanted to see your name on IMDb? Well this is you chance to have your very own IMDb credit as well as a special thanks in the films credits.
Claimed: 6 of 15
$400
Invitation to the LA premier of the Film
Come walk the red carpet at the LA premier of the film.
*travel and stay not provided
Claimed: 2 of 10
$450
Be an extra
Fulfill your life long dream of being on the silver screen with incentive and enjoy a extra role in the film
*travel & stay not provided
Claimed: 4 of 10
$500
Indian Curry Starter Kit
Get any great Indian meal started with this spicy incentive.
Claimed: 0 of 10
$750
Indian Family Recipe
Spice up you next family meal with this great recipe
Claimed: 0 of 10
$1,000
Prop from the film
Bring home a little magic from the movie with an official prop from the movie.
Claimed: 4 of 7
$1,500
Exclusive Cooking lesson
Earn the title of chef and impress your friends with some hard to make Indian dishes. If you live in LA, we can do this in person. If you live elsewhere, the power of the internet will help us make culinary magic!
Claimed: 0 of 7
$2,500
Invitation to the table read
See the script come to life before it hits the big screen.
*travel & stay not included
Claimed: 0 of 5
$5,000
Associate Producer Credit
See you name in big letters on the screen, by itself, everytime you watch the movie
Claimed: 0 of 2
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Wishlist
Use the WishList to pledge cash and loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an incentive directly.
$10
Thank you for your support!
A massive thank you from the production team for contributing and being part of this adventure!
$25
Sharable Shout-out!
Ever wanted to see what it would be like to see your name all over social media? Here is your chance!
$50
Key Chain/Pin
Get yourself cool key chain or pin to show your support for the movie!
$75
Copy of the Film
If you are feeling a little more generous, you get the copy of the film itself. You can show off to everyone that you helped get that film made.
Claimed: 43 of 50
$100
Copy of the Script
Nothing cooler than a script. You can see how it all began, on the page, the real deal.
Sold Out!
$150
Signed Movie Poster
Get your very own copy of the movie's poster signed by cast & crew.
Claimed: 6 of 30
$200
Signed Copy of the Movie
What is better than a copy of the movie? A copy signed by the cast & crew.
Claimed: 9 of 30
$250
Signed Copy of the Script
Your very own copy of the script, signed by all the actors and crew.
Claimed: 8 of 15
$300
Script reviewed by Script Doctor
Have your script reviewed and covered by a professional script doctor with over 10 years of experience
Claimed: 0 of 15
$350
IMBd credit and Special Thanks!
Ever wanted to see your name on IMDb? Well this is you chance to have your very own IMDb credit as well as a special thanks in the films credits.
Claimed: 6 of 15
$400
Invitation to the LA premier of the Film
Come walk the red carpet at the LA premier of the film.
*travel and stay not provided
Claimed: 2 of 10
$450
Be an extra
Fulfill your life long dream of being on the silver screen with incentive and enjoy a extra role in the film
*travel & stay not provided
Claimed: 4 of 10
$500
Indian Curry Starter Kit
Get any great Indian meal started with this spicy incentive.
Claimed: 0 of 10
$750
Indian Family Recipe
Spice up you next family meal with this great recipe
Claimed: 0 of 10
$1,000
Prop from the film
Bring home a little magic from the movie with an official prop from the movie.
Claimed: 4 of 7
$1,500
Exclusive Cooking lesson
Earn the title of chef and impress your friends with some hard to make Indian dishes. If you live in LA, we can do this in person. If you live elsewhere, the power of the internet will help us make culinary magic!
Claimed: 0 of 7
$2,500
Invitation to the table read
See the script come to life before it hits the big screen.
*travel & stay not included
Claimed: 0 of 5
$5,000
Associate Producer Credit
See you name in big letters on the screen, by itself, everytime you watch the movie
Claimed: 0 of 2
- Updates
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Current Team
About This Team
Born and raised in Chennai, India, Prarthana Mohan has always been interested in
the arts. Hailing from a film family, her grandfather's (renowned composer M.S.
Viswanathan) stories about the film industry ignited her imagination. In college,
Prarthana pursued Visual Communication and her documentary, Hush, won the state
award for best film.
Prarthana completed her MFA in Film Production with an emphasis in Directing atChapman University in California. Prarthana was the recipient of the Leo Freedman
Award for excellence in visual storytelling. Her thesis film, Turn Around, showcased
in the Cannes Short Film Corner and screened in multiple film festivals including
Seoul International Film Festival, Portland Women's Film Festival, and Davis Film
Festival.
The short film version of this feature screened at multiple festivals and the featurescript won 2nd Place at Cynosure Screenwriting Competition and a semifinalist at the
Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowships. She is currently working on several projects that
have strong and compelling female characters.
Kay is an Arizonan who's wandered west until she reached the ocean, peeling away
her Northern Arizona University Bachelors of Science degree in Biology for a pen
and paper. A graduate of Chapman University's Screenwriting MFA program and a prestigious Knott Scholar, Kay co-created a one-on-one writing coach program through Writersstore.com and assists writers, from novices to showrunners on their projects.
She has written shorts that have screened at festivals such as Cucalores Film Festival,deadCenter Film Festival, and Portland Women’s Film Festival. She's earned numerous
contest placements and wins, including Scriptapaloozatv, Cynosure Screenwriting
Competition, and Austin Film Festival. The MisEducation of Bindu Semi-finalled in the Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowships.
She produced The Awareness, which premiered on Shortoftheweek.comand selected as a Vimeo Staff Pick.
Growing up in Indiana, Ed’s passion for basketball enticed him to pursue a career
as a sports broadcaster. While studying Kinesiology at Indiana University, Ed was
bitten by the film bug. After completing his bachelor’s degree, Ed headed west and
received his MFA at Chapman University in Film Production with an emphasis in
Cinematography.
As well as shooting numerous short films that have screened at festivals around theworld, Ed has worked in television production for such shows as Cha$e and
The George Lopez Tonight Show and feature film production for Junkyard Dog
and Once Fallen.
Ed has taught cinematography and editing at SAE and New York Film Academy.For two and a half years he was Director of High School Programs for New York
Film Academy and currently is the Associate Faculty Chair for Filmmaking at the
New York Film Academy in Los Angeles, the largest BFA program within
the Academy. Ed hopes to continue to tell dynamic stories with cultural relevance.
Kirill immigrated to United States from Odessa, Ukraine at the age of nine with
big dreams. He received his BFA at the University Of California State Northridge
with a concentration in Cinematography.
As member of the local 600 Union and working for nearly fifteen years as a freelancecinematographer and producer, Kirill's vast body of work includes feature and short
films, music videos, commercials and events. Unscripted shows include Deadliest
Catch, Ice Road Truckers, Bad Girls Club, and Giada at Home. He has worked with
such networks as ESPN, Discovery, Speed Chanel, G4, Showtime, Oxygen and
Food Network.
Kirill's recent accomplishments include producing two feature films - Lights andQuarries - both currently in post production. Most recently, Kirill has taken on his next
feature as the Executive Producer which will shoot later this year.
Dani has studied Film and Visual Arts in Spain, the UK, New York and California.
He received an MA in Film at Cornell University and an MFA in cinematography
at Chapman University. He is currently completing a PhD.
Dani specializes in narrative feature films at the edge of Bollywood such as Tamanchey,Ishqeria and San Pacchattar (Year 75). His latest project, The Journey Within, about
the musical scene of Pakistan, funded by Coca-Cola, is running the festival circuit.
He has been awarded Best Cinematography at Hatchfest, Best Cinematography atGoldeneye Festival, the Cecil B. DeMille Award for Best Cinematography, the Jesse
Epstein Kodak Award, and a nomination for an ASC Heritage Award.
Dani has taught at Film and Television Institute of India, Sanjan Institute in Lahore,EUSA in Spain, and for several international film festivals. He headed the
cinematography department in the film school of the University of Mumbai, and now
works at Idyllwild Arts Academy in California.
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