​Abby Ispahani - Project Manager



 

Abby Ispahani is the Project Manager for the award-winning PBS/Impact/Tribeca comedy documentary MEET THE PATELS, which tells the story of an Indian American man torn between the woman of his dreams... and his parents. A highly creative, heartfelt, and entertaining film, Meet the Patels has won audience awards at the majority of festivals where it has screened, including The Los Angeles Film Festival, HotDocs, and an historical double-win as Best Film and the Audience Award at Michael Moore's Traverse City Film Festival. Having grown up abroad, in both the Netherlands and Sydney, Abby developed an interest in social justice and societal issues through her perspective of the world. While studying sociology at Colorado College, she took a documentary filmmaking course that opened her eyes to the important role film plays in enacting social change. This class inspired her to move beyond her passion for watching film and, instead, begin creating film. She began by directing and editing a documentary short called, Sid & Alice, a portrait of an elderly couple who examine what it means to grow old. After moving out to Los Angeles to pursue film producing, Abby became an executive producer on the film, Miss India America, which follows an Indian-American high school graduate as she struggles with balancing ambition and humility.