Thiyagaraja M.

Director, Writer, Producer, Actor

Malaysia

Born & raised in Malaysia (of South Indian descent), Thiyagaraja M. set his foot into the world of filmmaking at the age of 18, interning at Astro & Tayangan Unggul Sdn Bhd. He left home at 19 to pursue film studies in Los Angeles. He’s a bachelor’s degree holder, graduating from New York Film Academy. He had directed & written commercials, music videos & short films; bagging awards & nominations in several film festivals all over the world including winning Best Scifi Short in Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards. Three of his shorts, “Trail”, “Than All Else Ever” & “Gostan” were selected for the Short Film Corner in Cannes Film Festival 2015, 2016 & 2018 respectively. He had also directed a telemovie, “Kilas”, and served as a producer in a mini-series, “Sembilan”, both for Astro. Recently he had produced a feature film under his own company (Lumidor Productions), “Adam Ashburn’s Showreel” (yet to be released) which has won Best Experimental Film in Tekka International Film Festival & World Film Carnival Singapore. At this moment he is working with Astro Sooka as a show creator & writer for a tv series, “Kamcing”, slated for release later this year as well as working as a writer under Revolution Media for their upcoming TV series. He has also recently ventured into acting: having starred in RTM’s Resort Kasih Bunga Raya (2021), Shopee Food ads, short films and the upcoming Theatresauce EDL play, “Children Should Not Play In The Dark Because They Might End Up Dead, Or Worse, Lost.”