Leena Pendharkar
Associate Professor of Production | Loyola Marymount University
Los Angeles, CA, UNITED STATES
Leena Pendharkar is an award-winning writer and director in film and television.
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Biography
Leena Pendharkar is an award-winning writer and director. Her most recent work is the television movie, A Date with Deception for Mar Vista/Lifetime, and two episodes of the kids’ show, Hello Jack!, for Apple TV Plus. Leena is also an alum of the Warner Brothers, CBS, and Sony Diverse Directors programs.
She premiered her sophomore feature film, 20 Weeks, at the Los Angeles Film Festival. Based, in part, on her own story, it is about a couple that must make some tough decisions after their baby is diagnosed with a serious health condition at 20 weeks in utero.
20 Weeks played in festivals all over the country, won the Best Feature Film Award at the Maryland Film Festival, the Best Editing Award at the Tallgrass Film Festival, was selected as one of the best independent films of 2017 by Film Threat, and was described as an “intimate, compassionate take on abortion” by the Los Angeles Times. It was distributed in theaters and on Hulu, and is now available on a number of platforms. She has also made several award winning short films, including Dandekar Makes a Sandwich, which was selected as a Vimeo Staff Pick.
Education (3)
University of California at Riverside: MFA, Master of Fine Arts, Screenwriting
University of California at Berkeley: M.A., Master of Journalism, Emphasis in Documentary Filmmaking
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: B.A., Public Policy Analysis / English Literature
Areas of Expertise (5)
Screenwriting
Directing/Producing Independent Film
Directing/Producing Digital Media Web TV
Film/Media Financing
Directing
Industry Expertise (5)
Media Production
Writing and Editing
Research
Motion Pictures and Film
Education/Learning
Affiliations (4)
- Directors Guild of America
- Writer's Guild of America
- Film Independent
- Women in Film
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