Comedian, actor and host of Netflix’s Patriot Act Hasan Minhaj has announced the launch of his own production company, 186K Films, and has set For The Culture, a film he will produce and star in, at Amazon.
Minhaj founded the company alongside longtime collaborator Prashanth Venkataramanujam, who he will also co-write For The Culture with. The film has landed with Amazon after a reported eight-studio bidding war.
It’s being billed as a comedy set in the cut-throat world of collegiate Bollywood dance competitions – a vibrant, joyful celebration of Indian-American culture that bridges the gap between Western audiences and those who grew up watching Bollywood films in the U.S. and India.
“When we first started our careers, the industry wasn’t looking for people like us,” said Minhaj and Venkataramanujam in a joint statement. “We were comedians on the fringes playing characters on the margins. But now, our only goal is to bring the margins to the mainstream.”
“In launching our production company, we want to focus on finding and producing stories that have been deemed culturally irrelevant, but in reality, have massive, universal appeal,” they continued. “There’s a huge audience out there that’s not seeing their experiences, their lives, and their stories on screen in prestige television or studio films. Those are the stories we want to champion.”
Minhaj previously served as a senior correspondent for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart before breaking out thanks to his first Netflix comedy special, Homecoming King.
The streamer then gave him the go-ahead to host Patriot Act, which won a Peabody, an Emmy, and a Television Academy Honor. He’s currently touring with his new one-man show, The King’s Jester.
Venkataramanujam has worked with Minhaj on almost all his projects, while also serving as staff writer for Bill Nye Saves The World and The Fix With Jimmy Carr, which were both also Netflix projects.
Minhaj did a brilliant job highlighting world issues on Patriot Act while also keeping the show entertaining. If he can find a similar balance with For The Culture, while giving an underrepresented audience a chance to see themselves and their experiences on screen, 186K Films will be off to a terrific start.
#Peace.Love.ForTheCulture
